Customer service

[Cochese]

I got a random email from Highland Woodworking today. I've never done business with them or been in their store, but I'm on their mailing list for the odd opportunity that I would get down there and see them. After this, I'm not sure I will.

Here is the text of the email:

hile we make every effort to please every customer who chooses to do business with us, unfortunately we don't always succeed, even though pleasing our customers has been our greatest source of satisfaction for over 30 years.
The Internet has dramatically changed the way people shop, and the way merchants peddle their wares. Information can now travel at the speed of light.

So why am I bringing this up now?

It's in response to the frustration I feel when we don't click with a customer, and then for some reason, nothing we're able to do seems to rectify the situation to everyone's satisfaction. That happened to us this week. You can read it about it here in the Google Places review dated August 10, 2011.

Online reviews of businesses and their products are a truly great resource for helping people choose what to buy and where to buy it. Sometimes though the picture gets distorted because it's often only the unhappy customer who takes the time to express their feelings and describe their experience in a review.

We're particularly troubled by the impression people may get when they first read that August 10 review, even though I have placed a response to it online. We would love for our reviews on Google Places (and elsewhere) to actually reflect how most people feel about Highland Woodworking.

If you would care to weigh in with your own impressions of the quality of our tools and the helpfulness of our sales staff, I invite you to click here and take a moment to write a short review based on your own experience.

Please know that we appreciate the support of all the customers who have enabled us to continually grow our business since 1978, and we always welcome and appreciate your feedback.

Sincerely,

Chris Bagby, owner and founder
Highland Hardware, Inc.

I thought to myself, I'll check out the complaint and see what's up. While the complaint itself is rather childish, the response to the complaint seems even more so. Turns out everyone on the mailing list was solicited to give a good review trying to cancel out this bad one. There are now 21 pages of reviews, when the negative review in question was posted there was 3. I truly don't know if trying to stack the deck on reviews will influence me in the long run, but it gives me a bad impression.

You're more than welcome to disagree, but I thought it would be interesting to get some peer feedback.

You can read the now 22 pages of reviews here: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?ci...n&ie=UTF8&z=14

[Cubsfan]

I agree with you. Wrong way to do this. On top of it, I'm not going to give a whole lot of weight to 200 reviews that were all posted on the same day. I wouldn't be totally shocked if Google removes them.

[dbhost]

I read the fuss review and big stinking deal, one guy gives a bad review. Not a pattern, and I am smart enough to write one guy with a bad review off as potentially a competitor or just somebody that is impossible to please. But followed up by 200+ glowing reviews just makes me think something is fishy and want to avoid them... This is certainly a wrong move on Highland's part...

[BigguyZ]

I agree. Bad move. It makes me think that they're scared of a two bad reviews. If they were confident of their service, they wouldn't have reacted that drastically.

[dbhost]

Funny thing is, up until this instance, I have never heard a single bad review of them... Now I have seen 2! Major PR fail guys...

I honestly haven't bought anything from them, just haven't needed what they sell. I came close when deciding between a 1 micron bag, or the Wynn filter, but the Wynn won out even though it cost quite a bit more...

[gsmittle]

I'm wondering if this was one of those emails sent off in anger or frustration, when a cooler head would have realized it was probably not the best idea.

The only order I've ever placed with Highland was promptly filled with no fuss, no muss. The price was below reasonable and the chisels are good quality. I won't stop dealing with them on the basis of one questionable email, and I certainly won't give much weight to a bad review WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS.

All in all, a bad choice of action from what seems to be a pretty upright company. Everybody has a bad day once in a while. I do agree that sometimes you have to fire your customer.

g.

[woodturner]

You can read the now 22 pages of reviews here: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?ci...n&ie=UTF8&z=14

Looks like it has been flagged or removed. What was the complaint?

[os1kne]

I'm wondering if this was one of those emails sent off in anger or frustration, when a cooler head would have realized it was probably not the best idea.

The only order I've ever placed with Highland was promptly filled with no fuss, no muss. The price was below reasonable and the chisels are good quality. I won't stop dealing with them on the basis of one questionable email, and I certainly won't give much weight to a bad review WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS.

All in all, a bad choice of action from what seems to be a pretty upright company. Everybody has a bad day once in a while. I do agree that sometimes you have to fire your customer.

g.

I agree. It's been a few years since I've ordered from them, but when I did the service was very good. When reading reviews, I always figure that most people are probably 10x more likely to post a bad review when they're unhappy than they are to post a good review when they're satisfied.

[Cochese]

It's review #369, it's still there. The owner went back and edited his response, it had a bunch of the complainer's emails in it.

Here it is:

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!! IN THE MOOD FOR A PAIN IN THE BUTT RETAIL EXPERIENCE, THEN THE HIGHLAND IS THE PLACE FOR YOU!!! IN THE MOOD TO SPEND TOP $ AND GET A HEADACHE FOR IT, THEN THE HIGHLAND IS THE PLACE FOR YOU!!! DO YOU LOVE DEALING WITH EGOTISTICAL, CONDESCENDING, AND GENERALLY ANNOYING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS THAT KNOW IT ALL AND ARE AFRAID TO TRY AND MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE AND IDIOT...THEN THE HIGHLAND IS THE PLACE FOR YOU!!! DO YOU ENJOY FEELING LIKE A MORON THAT GOT RIPPED OFF BECAUSE YOU BELIEVED THE ADVERTISING CLAIMS A RETAILER MADE, THEN THE HIGHLAND IS THE PLACE FOR YOU!!! DO YOU LOVE HAVING TO JUMP UP AND DOWN AND YELL TO GET AN INSOLENT LITTLE PAIN IN THE BUTT CUSTOMER SERVICE REP TO RETURN INFERIOR MERCHANDISE THAT YOU OVER PAID FOR, WELL THEN THE HIGHLAND IS THE PLACE FOR YOU!!! I HAVE DONE BUSINESS WITH THESE PEOPLE FOR YEARS BUT LATELY THEY HAVE TURNED INTO A BUNCH REAL *^#@&$%s. JUST READ THE OTHER REVIEWS HERE TO SEE THAT I AM CERTAINLY NOT ALONE IN FEELING THIS WAY. WHILE YOU ARE AT IT READ THE OWNER OF THE COMPANIES RESPONSE TO A COUPLE THAT HAD A BAD RETAIL EXPERIENCE AT HIS STORE...IN SHORT IT SAY THESE PEOPLE GOT UPSET BECAUSE THEY WERE LAZY AND DID NOT WANT TO DO THE NECESSARY WORK TO DO THE JOB RIGHT! SO TO SUM UP MY REVIEW...IF YOU ARE IN THE MOOD TO OVER PAY FOR STUFF AND FEEL SCREWED OVER WHILE SPENDING YOUR HARD EARNED CASH HIGHLAND WOODWORKING IS THE PLACE FOR YOU!!!

As stated, a bit childish. Now they have 39+ pages of reviews. The owner certainly got his wish.