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#21
October 13th 03, 04:45 AM
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To Whom it May Concern:
I am the "putz" Rona referred to in the post below. I feel compelled to respond to her post, as her negative experience with our business is an extremely rare occurrence. The overwhelming majority of our customers are satisfied with our products and customer service. While I regret and sincerely apologize for my role in her experience, the circumstances surrounding it should be more fully addressed. Rona's initial contact with us was via telephone on a Friday. As stated in the email from the owner that she included in her post, our shipping department did its best to ship her order on the same day she placed it, but unfortunately, it got lost in the shuffle. It was shipped the following Monday, unfortunately too late for her to receive it before she had to return to Canada after visiting friends in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I administer the website for GO-CAT Feather Toys from a different location than the main office. Therefore, I only have access to orders placed via the website, and have no knowledge or record of orders placed via other methods, such as telephone, fax or snail-mail. When I received Rona's email, I did my best to respond to it, based on what knowledge I had, which was nil. After a thorough search of the database generated by our website, I could not find any records matching any information she provided in her email. Since Rona's order was placed via telephone, her complaints should have been communicated via telephone as well. Instead of complaining via email to someone who had no knowledge or record of her order, she should have called our main office, where her order was on record. As for Rona's concerns about paying tariffs on her order, they are unfounded. Thanks to NAFTA, the value of her order would have been low enough to be exempt from tariffs and/or duties. Sincerely, William Dwyer, Webmaster GO-CAT Feather Toys http://www.go-cat.com "Rona Yuthasastrakosol" wrote in message ... "PawsForThought" wrote in message ... I also found another similar toy that I ordered on line. They were a lot cheaper than Da Bird. I can try to find the website if you're interested. Does it swivel and make sounds like Da Bird? I think that's why my cat likes it. Then again, she'll also plays with sisal rope (with my supervision, of course) and that has no swivels or sounds whatsoever :-). I'd love to see the website, thanks! I did receive another e-mail from Go-cats, this time from the owner, herself. She was the one who took my order and she put it together as promised but it got lost before delivery. After her e-mail, I fully forgive her and her company (as for her son--well, he's a bit of a putz) and I think she really does appreciate her customers. She did sound very nice when I placed my order, and that is, in part, why I was so surprised and angry with the first e-mail I received (which was from her son). I will probably not take her up on her offer since I don't really want to pay duty, but I do appreciate it. I just wanted to let people know, and I've pasted a copy of her e-mail to me so others could read it (I snipped her name, though, for privacy reasons). ----begin paste---- Dear Rona, My sincerest apologies for our failure to deliver your order as promised. When I heard you did not receive your order, I raised the roof and asked everyone to look for your order. It was found fallen between two boxes and overlooked. I had it sent to the shipping department on Monday, plenty of time for UPS to deliver by Tues or Weds. If you will forgive us, I'll ship your order to Canada with no shipping charges. I will need your address to do so. My son's answer that "small orders" are not a priority with us since we are primarily "Wholesale" is entirely off base. It's customer's like you and your cats that have made us as successful as we are. Our first five years growth is attributed solely to word of mouth and I cringe at the prospect of even one unhappy customer out there!!! Sincerely, name snipped, Owner GO CAT FEATHER TOYS ----end paste---- rona 
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#23
October 13th 03, 05:25 AM
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in article , Will Dwyer at
wrote on 10/12/03 10:45 PM: To Whom it May Concern: I am the "putz" Rona referred to in the post below. I feel compelled to respond to her post, as her negative experience with our business is an extremely rare occurrence. The overwhelming majority of our customers are satisfied with our products and customer service. While I regret and sincerely apologize for my role in her experience, the circumstances surrounding it should be more fully addressed. Rona's initial contact with us was via telephone on a Friday. As stated in the email from the owner that she included in her post, our shipping department did its best to ship her order on the same day she placed it, but unfortunately, it got lost in the shuffle. It was shipped the following Monday, unfortunately too late for her to receive it before she had to return to Canada after visiting friends in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I administer the website for GO-CAT Feather Toys from a different location than the main office. Therefore, I only have access to orders placed via the website, and have no knowledge or record of orders placed via other methods, such as telephone, fax or snail-mail. When I received Rona's email, I did my best to respond to it, based on what knowledge I had, which was nil. After a thorough search of the database generated by our website, I could not find any records matching any information she provided in her email. Since Rona's order was placed via telephone, her complaints should have been communicated via telephone as well. Instead of complaining via email to someone who had no knowledge or record of her order, she should have called our main office, where her order was on record. As for Rona's concerns about paying tariffs on her order, they are unfounded. Thanks to NAFTA, the value of her order would have been low enough to be exempt from tariffs and/or duties. Sincerely, William Dwyer, Webmaster GO-CAT Feather Toys http://www.go-cat.com Well, there goes the good customer service your mom restored. Karen
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#24
October 13th 03, 05:31 AM
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#25
October 13th 03, 05:31 AM
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#26
October 13th 03, 06:03 AM
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"Will Dwyer" wrote in message
om... To Whom it May Concern: I am the "putz" Rona referred to in the post below. I feel compelled to respond to her post, as her negative experience with our business is an extremely rare occurrence. The overwhelming majority of our customers are satisfied with our products and customer service. While I regret and sincerely apologize for my role in her experience, the circumstances surrounding it should be more fully addressed. Just to make it known, I have no problems with Go-Cats products. As I told your mother when I first called, Da Bird is the only toy my cat will play with (aside from some sisal string) and it has lasted almost 4 years with the original feather attachment. It was only very recently that I began to have problems with loose feathers, but I would say that 4 years of play with an active cat is indicative of a very high quality product. Rona's initial contact with us was via telephone on a Friday. As stated in the email from the owner that she included in her post, our shipping department did its best to ship her order on the same day she placed it, but unfortunately, it got lost in the shuffle. It was shipped the following Monday, unfortunately too late for her to receive it before she had to return to Canada after visiting friends in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The order was not shipped the following Monday, which would have been October 6th. The order was not shipped at all. What you included in your e-mail to me was as follows: ----begin paste---- We're sorry we weren't able to ship your order as fast as you would have liked. We are a small, family owned business with limited staffing. In addition to retail sales on our website, we have hundreds of wholesale customers which comprize the bulk of our business. Out of necessity, we must prioritize our shipping schedule, and retail orders get a lower priority than wholesale orders. Your order was scheduled to be shipped tomorrow. We don't bill our customers until after shipment, so your credit card has not been billed yet. I will remove your order from the queue immediately. ----end paste---- You made no mention of not knowing about the order nor of having no records of it. What you did say was that "retail orders get a lower priority than wholesale orders" and "Your order was scheduled to be shipped tomorrow" (which would have been Friday the 10th, one week after I placed the order). I administer the website for GO-CAT Feather Toys from a different location than the main office. Therefore, I only have access to orders placed via the website, and have no knowledge or record of orders placed via other methods, such as telephone, fax or snail-mail. When I received Rona's email, I did my best to respond to it, based on what knowledge I had, which was nil. But then you should have made queries to determine the background of my complaint before replying. This is, in my opinion, what customer service is all about. This is something I am very familiar with since I had been involved in my family's business for 25+ years until we closed it, and also spent several years in retail sales as a university student. After a thorough search of the database generated by our website, I could not find any records matching any information she provided in her email. In the first e-mail I sent on Wednesday, Oct. 8, I stated "Last Friday (Oct. 3) I placed an order with you for 2 Da Bird cat toys, one cat tail, and one pack of 3 replacement feathers. I only placed the order after being *assured* that it would arrive by Wednesday, October 8th, as I am in Michigan (Ann Arbor) visiting friends and will be leaving early Thursday morning (I had the order shipped to a friend's house)." While I did not explicitly state that I had placed the order by telephone, the fact that I was *assured* I would receive the order implies that I spoke to someone. Why did you not call the main office to find out if my order had been placed by phone? This e-mail, incidentally, was never responded to although I included my friend's telephone number so someone could call me. Since Rona's order was placed via telephone, her complaints should have been communicated via telephone as well. Instead of complaining via email to someone who had no knowledge or record of her order, she should have called our main office, where her order was on record. It was impossible for me to know who had knowledge of my order. There is no information whatsoever on the website stating that queries regarding telephone orders should be made via telephone, and website orders via the website. In addition, both e-mails I sent were made prior to my arriving home. I did not feel comfortable making a long distance call from my friend's house (which is why I included her telephone number in my first e-mail), and calling from a pay phone would have resulted in expensive long distance charges. Why should I have endured an expense due to an error not my own? As for Rona's concerns about paying tariffs on her order, they are unfounded. Thanks to NAFTA, the value of her order would have been low enough to be exempt from tariffs and/or duties. That is completely untrue. If you had done your research, you would have found that: ---begin paste---- If someone mails you an item worth $20 CAN or less, you don't have to pay duty or tax on the item (see D8-2-2 for details). If the item is worth more than $20 CAN, you must pay the applicable duty, the GST or HST, and any PST on the item's full value (see D8-2-2 for details). from http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/customs/b...ty_free-e.html ----end paste---- My order would have amounted to roughly US$25 which would have been above the $20 Can limit. Therefore, I would not only have had to pay duty and taxes, but also a $5 brokerage fee. Having ordered via mail order in the past, I am very familiar with such things. Gifts valued at CAN$60 or less are also exempt from duty, but this was a retail purchase so it would not fall under this category. Quite honestly, although I was angry about not getting my order as promised, if I had just been told that the order had been misplaced, I would not have been as upset. My anger came primarily from the fact that you insinuated that my order was not important by stating that "retail orders get a lower priority than wholesale orders". If I had been told the truth from the outset, or even if you had just said "We're not sure what happened but I will find out and get back to you" I would not have responded as I had, nor would I have even mentioned the problem here. Good customer service is not what you gave me. Your mother, on the other hand, seems to be the very epitomy of good customer service and she truly seems to care about her customers and her product. Perhaps you should take a step back and try to learn from her before dealing with other customer complaints. rona
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#27
October 13th 03, 06:03 AM
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"Will Dwyer" wrote in message
om... To Whom it May Concern: I am the "putz" Rona referred to in the post below. I feel compelled to respond to her post, as her negative experience with our business is an extremely rare occurrence. The overwhelming majority of our customers are satisfied with our products and customer service. While I regret and sincerely apologize for my role in her experience, the circumstances surrounding it should be more fully addressed. Just to make it known, I have no problems with Go-Cats products. As I told your mother when I first called, Da Bird is the only toy my cat will play with (aside from some sisal string) and it has lasted almost 4 years with the original feather attachment. It was only very recently that I began to have problems with loose feathers, but I would say that 4 years of play with an active cat is indicative of a very high quality product. Rona's initial contact with us was via telephone on a Friday. As stated in the email from the owner that she included in her post, our shipping department did its best to ship her order on the same day she placed it, but unfortunately, it got lost in the shuffle. It was shipped the following Monday, unfortunately too late for her to receive it before she had to return to Canada after visiting friends in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The order was not shipped the following Monday, which would have been October 6th. The order was not shipped at all. What you included in your e-mail to me was as follows: ----begin paste---- We're sorry we weren't able to ship your order as fast as you would have liked. We are a small, family owned business with limited staffing. In addition to retail sales on our website, we have hundreds of wholesale customers which comprize the bulk of our business. Out of necessity, we must prioritize our shipping schedule, and retail orders get a lower priority than wholesale orders. Your order was scheduled to be shipped tomorrow. We don't bill our customers until after shipment, so your credit card has not been billed yet. I will remove your order from the queue immediately. ----end paste---- You made no mention of not knowing about the order nor of having no records of it. What you did say was that "retail orders get a lower priority than wholesale orders" and "Your order was scheduled to be shipped tomorrow" (which would have been Friday the 10th, one week after I placed the order). I administer the website for GO-CAT Feather Toys from a different location than the main office. Therefore, I only have access to orders placed via the website, and have no knowledge or record of orders placed via other methods, such as telephone, fax or snail-mail. When I received Rona's email, I did my best to respond to it, based on what knowledge I had, which was nil. But then you should have made queries to determine the background of my complaint before replying. This is, in my opinion, what customer service is all about. This is something I am very familiar with since I had been involved in my family's business for 25+ years until we closed it, and also spent several years in retail sales as a university student. After a thorough search of the database generated by our website, I could not find any records matching any information she provided in her email. In the first e-mail I sent on Wednesday, Oct. 8, I stated "Last Friday (Oct. 3) I placed an order with you for 2 Da Bird cat toys, one cat tail, and one pack of 3 replacement feathers. I only placed the order after being *assured* that it would arrive by Wednesday, October 8th, as I am in Michigan (Ann Arbor) visiting friends and will be leaving early Thursday morning (I had the order shipped to a friend's house)." While I did not explicitly state that I had placed the order by telephone, the fact that I was *assured* I would receive the order implies that I spoke to someone. Why did you not call the main office to find out if my order had been placed by phone? This e-mail, incidentally, was never responded to although I included my friend's telephone number so someone could call me. Since Rona's order was placed via telephone, her complaints should have been communicated via telephone as well. Instead of complaining via email to someone who had no knowledge or record of her order, she should have called our main office, where her order was on record. It was impossible for me to know who had knowledge of my order. There is no information whatsoever on the website stating that queries regarding telephone orders should be made via telephone, and website orders via the website. In addition, both e-mails I sent were made prior to my arriving home. I did not feel comfortable making a long distance call from my friend's house (which is why I included her telephone number in my first e-mail), and calling from a pay phone would have resulted in expensive long distance charges. Why should I have endured an expense due to an error not my own? As for Rona's concerns about paying tariffs on her order, they are unfounded. Thanks to NAFTA, the value of her order would have been low enough to be exempt from tariffs and/or duties. That is completely untrue. If you had done your research, you would have found that: ---begin paste---- If someone mails you an item worth $20 CAN or less, you don't have to pay duty or tax on the item (see D8-2-2 for details). If the item is worth more than $20 CAN, you must pay the applicable duty, the GST or HST, and any PST on the item's full value (see D8-2-2 for details). from http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/customs/b...ty_free-e.html ----end paste---- My order would have amounted to roughly US$25 which would have been above the $20 Can limit. Therefore, I would not only have had to pay duty and taxes, but also a $5 brokerage fee. Having ordered via mail order in the past, I am very familiar with such things. Gifts valued at CAN$60 or less are also exempt from duty, but this was a retail purchase so it would not fall under this category. Quite honestly, although I was angry about not getting my order as promised, if I had just been told that the order had been misplaced, I would not have been as upset. My anger came primarily from the fact that you insinuated that my order was not important by stating that "retail orders get a lower priority than wholesale orders". If I had been told the truth from the outset, or even if you had just said "We're not sure what happened but I will find out and get back to you" I would not have responded as I had, nor would I have even mentioned the problem here. Good customer service is not what you gave me. Your mother, on the other hand, seems to be the very epitomy of good customer service and she truly seems to care about her customers and her product. Perhaps you should take a step back and try to learn from her before dealing with other customer complaints. rona
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#28
October 13th 03, 02:35 PM
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"Karen" wrote in message
... Well, there goes the good customer service your mom restored. Karen Whew! I thought I was just being hyper-sensitive by taking offense! The e-mail she sent was so kind, though, that I cannot let anything or anyone take away her kindness and concern--even her son! I just tell myself that she's the one who owns the company! rona -- ***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***
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#29
October 13th 03, 02:35 PM
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"Karen" wrote in message
... Well, there goes the good customer service your mom restored. Karen Whew! I thought I was just being hyper-sensitive by taking offense! The e-mail she sent was so kind, though, that I cannot let anything or anyone take away her kindness and concern--even her son! I just tell myself that she's the one who owns the company! rona -- ***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***
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#30
October 13th 03, 02:51 PM
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"PawsForThought" wrote in message ... http://www.dresslersdog.com/teasers01.html Thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it for future reference! She might like mylar attachment, but I noticed that she doesn't care much for mylar balls so I'm not sure if she cares for shiny things. The leather one would probably be better for her. Go-Cats also has extra attachments for Da Bird but I've never seen them anywhere but the company's website. The thing I like about my Da Bird is that the feathers have lasted a long time. The little coloured feather only lasted a month or so, but the big feathers on mine lasted about 4 years before coming loose. Even loose, though, they haven't fallen out. They just twist around so the feathers don't swivel and make flapping sounds unless you untwist them. It's hard to find quality like that in a feather toy! That was a very nice email, Rona. She said she wouldn't charge you for shipping. What kind of duty do you have to pay? Lauren Last I checked, it was about 15% of the total order (it may be only 10% now), plus 7%GST plus a $5 brokerage fee. Some provinces also charge Provincial Sales Tax on mail orders, but I don't think mine does (a good thing, since it would add another 7%). It would have brought my total order to about C$50 for what would be a C$35 order. Mail ordering from the US to Canada sucks, to say the least, which is why I try to do it when I know I'm going to be in the US. My mother will be going to NH to visit my sister for Christmas, so I might be able to place another order then and have her bring it back. Thanks for all your help! rona -- ***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***
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