Sometimes, the smallest things can send you around the bend.
After I retired, my BFF gifted me with a subscription to This Month's Craft. The first shipment was a kit to carve a wooden bird, which I loved. The second was a build-it-yourself miniature coffee shop. This kit was full of tiny pieces that my arthritic hands had trouble assembling; I mailed the kit to my BFF for her to complete. The third was a kit to make hot sauce. Since The Husband is the hot sauce king, I left it for him to do (he still hasn't done it). The fourth was a wire-wrapping jewelry kit, which included two "stones," several packages of wire in various gauges, and two or three pliers to cut and shape the wire. The end result was supposed to be two stones, made into pendants, which could then be strung onto a chain or string (not included in the kit).
The instructions for the first stone said to measure the perimeter of the stone, triple that measurement, then cut 8 strands of .24-gauge wire to that length. The perimenter of the stone measured 3"; thus, 72" (3 x 3 x 8) of .24-gauge wire was needed. However, the package of .24-gauge wire contained only 60" of wire, information that was clearly labeled on the wire package.
Although I probably have a whole spool of .24-gauge wire in my craft stash, I emailed the company, explained the problem, and asked them to send more wire. My thought was that the company needed to know that either their instructions were wrong, or their packagers had put in the wrong pre-packaged wire. In the email, I sent them pictures of the instruction booklet, the stone (alongside a ruler showing how big it was), and the wire package, clearly marked ".24-ga., 60."
Instead of sending me the wire, the company asked for more details about the order. I sent them my BFF's name, assuming they could find all the information they needed. Their response was, "We’ve received your inquiry and are currently checking in with our team to review the instructions and the materials included in your kit. We’ll follow up with you as soon as we have more details." I forwarded their response to my BFF so that she would know what was up if/when they contacted her.
Their next email to me was, "Thank you for providing the details about the wire-wrapping project. I’m so sorry to hear that the amount of 24ga wire included may not have been sufficient for the instructions provided. To help us locate the order and send out the additional wire you need, could you please provide the email address associated with the subscription, as well as the order number? Once we have that information, we’ll be happy to send the missing wire your way." I sent them my friend's email address and forwarded that email to my BFF, who had already sent them the information they requested, based on their first email request.
I waited to hear from them. A week or so later, I received an email from the company that said, "How are you? We haven't heard from you in a while. Just a gentle follow-up, please. 💛" I forwarded that email to my BFF, who said she'd sent them the information they requested. I told them my friend had already responded to their request.
Yesterday, I received the following email: "That’s great to hear she responded! Just to make sure everything goes smoothly, it would be best if [your BFF] could communicate with us directly. That way, we’ll have all her order info on file and can send any replacements or updates straight to her."
This email was followed up by another email, asking me to rate their customer service.
I responded: "On a scale of 1 to 5 stars, I would rate you a NEGATIVE five. My friend sent me this wire-wrapping kit. It did not contain enough .24-ga wire to complete the first step. My stone is 1" x 1/2", so I need 72" of wire to wrap it as instructed. I sent you pictures of the instruction book, the stone (laying alongside a ruler), and the wire package, clearly marked ".24-ga, 60". You have my mailing address, my friend's name, and my friend's e-mail address. Why can't you just mail me the wire? Do you think I'm trying to cheat you? For a few inches of wire???"
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