Wednesday 20 August 2008

Buckley’s Chance


Waa! After this post, I'm not going to say anything more about this matter. I'm not going to get a piece of fabric that I like from Polstitches to do this piece.
My fabric really does look pine-lime green in real life.
It's probably the correct piece of fabric, but I still don't like it & certainly would never have chosen it for this project if I was matching my fabric according to what's in the book.

Click on the pic in the book. The piece of fabric that I have has a lot more depth of colour (most of it green) than that of the book's example of colour of the fabric and the swatch online.


Ultimately though, Polstitches has lost my business for good with the email she sent me below. I asked about an exchange directly through the company. It seems that Jo's worried about the designer and retailer, and couldn't give a stuff about the purchaser of the fabric. Obviously, business is so good that one lost customer doesn't hurt.

Below in blue is the reply to an email I sent about my fabric. It's kinda funny how Jo says that they have never had any complaints about the fabric but are prepared to act on complaints made, and yet offers no help to me.

Hello! I complained nicely! I bought exactly the same fabric as was suggested for the design and ended up with a lime green piece. My primary examples of the fabric colour came from the book & the colour swatch on ABC stitch's site, not the magazine, but I used the mag pic to show what I was going to stitch. In my email, I even acknowledged that dyed fabric has variations. Her action/solution was 'take our swatch off your site' ... I gather that it's an 'or else' kind of request, don't you? No other help was offered, yet a simple offer of exchange of fabric would have been appreciated.


After many hundred of pieces of Neptune we have sold we have never recieved any commplaints to date from any other designer or retailer.

Fabric disclaimer as stated on site

Please note that all fabrics take dyes differently due to their fabric content so there could be a slight variation in dye lot according to fabric ordered.eg Linen tends to take the dye slightly darker and 32,25 and 22ct's takes the dye lighter while opalescent and Jobelan can be less variegated with a gentle effect. All scans on site are of a 9 x 13 jobelan and therefore this needs to be taken into account when envisioning larger cuts. Please note hand dyed fabrics are not guaranteed colourfast.

Aida does like to take dye a bit more dramatically the design was aimed at evenweave...

I am sorry you are diappointed with your fabric choice as I have stated before we have never had a problem we always value comments and try and act on them. The graphics included in the magazine that uses polstitches fabric is very small yet in the book the large scale design is an actual representation of the fabric.

I respectfully ask you to remove the postitches graphics from your blog they are expressly for retailers and are not allowed for private use as it is a violation of copywrite, I understand you most proberly did not know this. If we can be a help just shout.


Warm
Wishes
Jo

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I bought some fabric from her last week too. Her response to you is pretty darned bad and I would be fuming if I received a reply like that. I think maybe she just lost another customer.

Chiloe said...

:-o and she send warm wishes ... I don't like this kind of customer service either ...

Maybe you should stick with Silkweaver: she is more professional. Blue and lime are not exactly close ... I feel really bad for you.

How did she know you had the fabric on your blog?

Jennifer said...

My goodness - what a RUDE response!!!! (Not to mention poorly written! I wonder if she read it over before she sent it out). Would it have killed her to apologize for the discrepancy and exchanged the fabric for you? Clearly this woman "most proberly does not" know the power of the internet and the stitching community. One positive review can quickly generate loads of interest (and purchases) of her product, and one negative review can just as quickly keep people away.

I'd be sorely tempted to email her back and tell her:

1) Bully for your other customers. If they like this fabric so much, they can HAVE it. Give me my money back, please.

2) Don't add insult to injury by stating, "If we can be a help just shout" when it is clearly nothing more than hot air.

Whatever it costs to send it back, I think it would be worth it, and ask for your money back. Why should you support such nonsense? I'd also complain to the ONS you purchased it from that the color differs significantly than what was displayed.

Veronica said...

... I'm totally speechless by that response. This is the type of customer service I dislike.

Her email does not address your problem at all, focusing on other retailer/designer's satisfaction instead of YOUR dissatisfaction :S "If we can be a help just shout" That statement just plain adds insult to injury.

The image on their site does not fit your description at all. Perhaps you can take a picture to show us what the fabric you receive is like? That picture she can't ask you to remove and after all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

I feel really bad for you. There are many other hand-dyed fabric companies which offers way better customer service. Silkweaver, Sassy Fabby, Picture this Plus etc. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to receive your business.

Andie said...

You have got to be kidding me?!!! That is absoltulty disgusting customer service and I will definetly NOT be purchasing from her.... EVER! (And I had been eyeing a piece up) Please put up a picture of the fabric we received... we can hunt down the picture on her site and compare the two.... other than that.... say what?!! remove it from your site?! copywrite?! What about when I put a piece on my blog with a positive comment a few months ago? She didn't tell me I had to remove it!! I am SO unimpressed and so sorry this has happened to you!!! *hugs*

Tammy said...

WOW!!! This is not a smart way to conduct business, especially if she understands the market she is catering to what with blogs and discussion boards.

I'm going to be totally snobby here, too. She is a business woman and I would think she could use spell check, especially when dealing with an upset client. It makes her look even worse, in my opinion anyway.

Kristin said...

I would be furious with that response. She's lost me as a customer as well.

Shelley said...

Ugh. That is not a great recommendation for her customer service. Fabric is so expensive, you would think she would be mindful of the fact. I think some people think if they're popular now, they will always be popular, and don't think they need to do anything to maintain it.

You may have already read this, but I was looking at her site, and there are provisions to return goods. Read under "Delivery & Postal costs" ...
http://www.polstitchesdesigns.co.uk/company.html

Best of luck finding a prettier fabric from a nicer company!

Sharon said...

How horrible Bliss! That was a very poor response-at the very least she could have offered to exchange it. I hope you can find a piece that wiil be good for your project.

Anonymous said...

That is awful!!! I hope you find something that will work out for your project. BTW...thanks for stopping by my blog. I like all your projects...I have a lot going too.

Barb said...

What a rude response and if you are guilty of copyright then a whole lot of other bloggers are too. I wouldn't be dealing with her any more either there are a lot more cordial places to deal with.

Sue said...

I am flabbergasted by her response. One customer is just as important as the next customer. A good business person would have said: "I'm sorry, would you like to exchange it for another piece?" I've never bought from her company and I'm a fanatic about hand-dyed linen, but she won't get my business in the future. And why in the world would she end her email with: "If we can be a help just shout." Does this mean you need to SHOUT for her to do something for you instead of ask in a nice manner? I hope you don't lose much sleep over this. Try selling the piece you got on eBay and see if you can re-coop some of your money.

Dani - tkdchick said...

I'm sorry to hear you had such a rotten response! I always speak with my wallet!

stitcherw said...

What a rotton response, I can't believe what poor customer service she has. I looked at the site and your piece is nothing like what is shown. I know colors vary, but that is a bit beyond that. At a minimum I would have thought she'd offer to exchange it. I've never purchased from them, but wouldn't now. Fabric is to expensive to risk that type of customer service if you have an issue. Hopefully you find a lovely piece for your mermaid soon, she'll be a gorgeous piece.
Sue