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Maybe my expectations are just too high. I used to work in a call center and we were very customer service oriented. When replying to emails, agents would have to be very courteous and use very polite language.
I make chainmail jewelry. I order my supplies from a relatively small company and have never had any trouble with them. Their prices are good and they stock a wide variety of materials and sizes that I can use. I was getting ready to place an order last night, but I had a question about something that was out of stock on their website, so I decided to email them first before finalizing my order. In the same email, I also asked them if my and my husband's accounts could be combined. They have a customer reward program where for every order you place, you get points, and you can redeem the points for a percent off your next order. Well, my husband and I have separate accounts but we are now ordering our stuff together, so it would make sense for us to combine our accounts and our points if we can.
I got a response this morning that, to me, sounded very curt and informal.
1) There was no greeting. No "Hello Maggie," or even just "Maggie," at the start of the email. It went straight into answering my first question about the out of stock item.
2) There was no closing. No "Sincerely," or anything like that.
3) There was no "Thank you" of any kind.
4) There was no offer for further assistance ("Please feel free to contact us again if you have any further questions.")
5) She never answered -- or even acknowledged -- my question about whether my and my husband's accounts could be combined. It was never even mentioned in her reply. She did answer my first question, very briefly, and that was it.
I'm wondering what to do? I'm kind of irked about the whole thing because according to the website, the woman who responded to my email is the wife of the owner of the company, so I can't really report her to a manager. At the same time, I feel her customer service skills suck. If that kind of email had been sent from the call center I used to work in, the person who sent it would have been written up for lack of customer service.
I don't want to be an SC about this, and I think my expectations are kind of high from my prior work experience. So what's my best course of action?
I make chainmail jewelry. I order my supplies from a relatively small company and have never had any trouble with them. Their prices are good and they stock a wide variety of materials and sizes that I can use. I was getting ready to place an order last night, but I had a question about something that was out of stock on their website, so I decided to email them first before finalizing my order. In the same email, I also asked them if my and my husband's accounts could be combined. They have a customer reward program where for every order you place, you get points, and you can redeem the points for a percent off your next order. Well, my husband and I have separate accounts but we are now ordering our stuff together, so it would make sense for us to combine our accounts and our points if we can.
I got a response this morning that, to me, sounded very curt and informal.
1) There was no greeting. No "Hello Maggie," or even just "Maggie," at the start of the email. It went straight into answering my first question about the out of stock item.
2) There was no closing. No "Sincerely," or anything like that.
3) There was no "Thank you" of any kind.
4) There was no offer for further assistance ("Please feel free to contact us again if you have any further questions.")
5) She never answered -- or even acknowledged -- my question about whether my and my husband's accounts could be combined. It was never even mentioned in her reply. She did answer my first question, very briefly, and that was it.
I'm wondering what to do? I'm kind of irked about the whole thing because according to the website, the woman who responded to my email is the wife of the owner of the company, so I can't really report her to a manager. At the same time, I feel her customer service skills suck. If that kind of email had been sent from the call center I used to work in, the person who sent it would have been written up for lack of customer service.
I don't want to be an SC about this, and I think my expectations are kind of high from my prior work experience. So what's my best course of action?
I write, my friend Red draws. Comments welcome. Leave them on their, or on my profile here. 
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