Kitchen

[NYC Susan]

I received a gift from Cheryl's Cookies today. It was a total surprise. Unfortunately, there was nothing to indicate who the sender was - just a strip that indicated I should peel it off to see my "personal message".

But....no message. No message, no sender's name. So I called. The rep was able to pull up my name & address right away. I have never ordered or received from Cheryl's before, so it should have been easy to find the one & only order ever associated with me. But apparently it was not. 40 minutes later, she still hadn't located the order. I realize she has a tough job, but my patience was wearing thin, so I nicely asked to speak to a supervisor, and she said she would get one on the line.

But that didn't happen. Instead there was prolonged waiting, and then she came back and said the only way to get in touch with a manger/supervisor is for her to go into a chat room & try to get their attention, and no one was responding to her. So more waiting, and then finally a manager responded & found the order. But she didn't know who had sent it, and had to "investigate". And I was not permitted to speak to her directly. So more waiting, during which time the rep told me that people have the option to send gifts anonymously and that's probably what happened. I told her that I thought that was extremely unlikely, and it turned out I was right. The manager told her (and the rep then told me) who had sent it and that a greeting should have been enclosed. When I asked why this hadn't happened, the response was, "We don't know. Have a good night". In other words, we don't care and we can't even be bothered to pretend that we care.

Yes, I fully realize that this is not the biggest problem in the world. I have been dealing with some very major issues (including medical) so I'm well aware that there are bigger things to worry about. But receiving a gift should be pleasurable, and this took a lot of the the fun and joy out of it. The sender is a good friend of mine who writes beautiful & personal notes, and I would have loved to have received the greeting she intended to be included. Not to mention, I would have loved to have known who sent it without having to launch a time-consuming detective mission.

Of course people make mistakes - I get that. And I'm sure Cheryl's Cookies is very busy this time of year. It's not the error that has me shaking my head - It's the complete disinterest, and their attitude that it didn't really matter who had sent it. They clearly wanted me to just accept their "It was probably an anonymous gift" explanation, and get off the phone. I didn't even get a fake, "I'm sorry". Just "We don't know. Have a good night".

I have never tried Cheryl's Cookies, but even if they are the best cookies in the world, there is no way I will ever order from them. I certainly wouldn't want to send a gift to someone and then have them experience what I did today.

Have any of you had experiences with Cheryl's CS?

(Thanks for letting me vent! I feel better now!)

[Ceci]

QVC has a terrible set up for sending a gift card. I can never find it and have sent gifts without one. I usually send the reciepient an email that something is coming to them from QVC from me. I still can't figure out how to send a gift message.

I have gotten Cheyrl's cookies, and never liked them. I think they are tasteless and a real rip-off. But, I hope you enjoy them. After all, its the thought that counts.

[Evie2004]

Let it goooooo enjoy the cookies..or donate them to a local nursing facility..individually wrapped..shouldn't be a problem....

[NYC Susan]

On 12/17/2014 Ceci said:

QVC has a terrible set up for sending a gift card. I can never find it and have sent gifts without one. I usually send the reciepient an email that something is coming to them from QVC from me. I still can't figure out how to send a gift message.

I have gotten Cheyrl's cookies, and never liked them. I think they are tasteless and a real rip-off. But, I hope you enjoy them. After all, its the thought that counts.

I don't think this order came thru QVC. I don't know for sure, but the person who sent them is not a QVC shopper. And the rep mentioned that some people order thru QVC or 1-800-Flowers, but this order didn't look as though it was either of those.

Yes, it IS the thought that counts, and I'm touched that my friend sent them to me. Ironically, it was a gift sent to cheer me up, and just ended up causing frustration. But she is a sweet & wonderful friend, and I am very, very appreciative. Honestly, the greeting she intended to be enclosed would have been the nicest part of this gift!

[NYC Susan]

On 12/17/2014 buckeye mom said: Let it goooooo enjoy the cookies..or donate them to a local nursing facility..individually wrapped..shouldn't be a problem....

Yes, I realize I can donate the cookies if I don't want them, but that wasn't my point. My problem was not with the cookies themselves, but rather with Cheryl's CS.

[J Town Girl]

I can certainly understand your frustration. There's really no excuse for what you went through. It always amazes me how some customer service departments will go above and beyond to take care of their customers and others are like the one that you encountered.

Can you imagine if you wouldn't have pursued trying to find out who sent you the gift and just did nothing? If your friend did not mention that she sent you the cookies and you didn't know because of no message enclosed. It would have seem like you were terribly rude by not thanking her. That could have been very embarrassing for you.

[NYC Susan]

On 12/17/2014 J Town Girl said:

I can certainly understand your frustration. There's really no excuse for what you went through. It always amazes me how some customer service departments will go above and beyond to take care of their customers and others are like the one that you encountered.

Can you imagine if you wouldn't have pursued trying to find out who sent you the gift and just did nothing? If your friend did not mention that she sent you the cookies and you didn't know because of no message enclosed. It would have seem like you were terribly rude by not thanking her. That could have been very embarrassing for you.

Exactly!

And it's not unreasonable to want to know who sent a gift. A company that provides this service shouldn't be overwhelmed if a customer calls & politely asks for the info. I wasn't willing to assume it had been sent anonymously, even though it clearly would have been easier for them if I had.

It also amazes me that I wasn't allowed to speak directly to a supervisor. I've never had that happen before. Their whole CS system seems to be extremely inefficient.

Experiences like this just make me appreciate the companies that have excellent CS. It can be done! I see it all the time. A company that doesn't value their customers will never get my business!

[KYToby]

So, a week before Christmas, on what is likely the busiest time of year, a customer service rep -- someone who likely works for an outsourcer such as TeleTech or Convergys -- was unable to quickly find out this information or explain why a gift message was not printed. Pray tell, how was this rep to know? You are dealing with a huge company -- not a Mom & Pop operation, and unfortunately, you lose some of the niceties.

I do understand it is frustration. I really do. I totally agree you should not have had to go through all of this to find out what is ultimately a simple question. Having worked in call center operations for years, though, I feel for the customer service rep.

As I indicated earlier, the rep likely works for an outsourcer, but even if the rep had worked directly for Cheryl's, they run into the same issue. In many cases, you have a single supervisor answering escalated questions from dozens of people. Or, worse yet, a small group of leads taking escalated questions from hundreds of people. Imagine that for just one moment. In the great scheme of things, there were issues which took a lot more priority. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, you wanted a phone rep to answer why something in shipping did not take place; how would that rep know? Any idea?

Compounding the above issues is the fact that phone reps are pushed to handle calls quickly. In the amount of time you were on the phone, this rep should have handled at least 8 calls but was unable to do so. Extended call times affect the rep's metrics which ultimately affect their pay, their schedules, and their jobs in general. Adding to that, you took up the time in which the rep could have handled many calls, causing already overworked reps to handle additional calls, resulting in calls having to wait longer in queue, more people being upset, more people complaining about hold times, and so on and so forth.

I concur with the others. Enjoy the cookies -- or donate them. Just let the issue go. You are not going to get a satisfactory answer. Just appreciate it for what it is -- a gift wishing you well.

[shoekitty]

I have found more and more companies are using at home agents. I know Horchow, Perricone, soft surroundings,verizon, do. When they have overflow calls they go to an at home agent. Sometimes they can help, but they know nothing about sizing, color, etc of items unless they look it up like we do. They do not have supervisors there, they have to call them. I can always tell, as there is no background noise, except sometimes a tv! They know nothing except what is written on the computer. Perricone are beauty reps knowledgeable in the use of the product. But ask them a question other than product related, and they always "have to get back to you".

[kahootz]

I had this happen once with a delivery from Harry and David. It said something like "Merry Christmas" but didn't say who it was from. I called the company, and it didn't take long for them to identify the sender. It really shouldn't be that hard once you give them your address. Turns out it was a gift from my brother. I'm sure he thought it would include his name, and was so glad Harry and David was able to tell me because otherwise I would have never thanked my brother for it!