An open letter to Mr. Patrick Cerreta, President, Logo Sportswear, Inc.
Dear Mr. Carreta,
I am writing to you to inform you of the terrible experience I’ve had with your company. I don’t order a lot of things from you but I have now and again placed orders for personalized, custom apparel. On three occasions, the garments have had manufacturing flaws. I ignored one, raised the issue once, and most recently discovered a problem just as I was heading out to Europe. It’s this last instance that serves as the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
For completion sake, here’s the exact wording on the message with the subject line “Poor Quality Control” I left via your online system.
Hello. I don’t order a lot of items from you but I have ordered a few times. This is now the second time that I’ve had a really poor quality control item sent to me. I just washed a shirt from order # 848746 as I’m getting ready to go to Europe on Wednesday and had every intention of running in it. Unfortunately, as I’ve turned it inside out to wash I noticed it’s not sewn on either armpit. The sewing just stops. So there are holes, gaps really, on both of the shirt’s armpits. I previously had an order where the shirt sleeve wasn’t sewn properly and you took care of that; in this case, I’m not sure there is a remedy as I’ve waited too long to check the item. It’s a huge disappointment and again given the low quantity of items I’ve ordered from you, there seems to be a high percentage of poor quality control.
This was the reply I received:
I was frankly outraged that your company would consider the matter “now solved,” and replied in kind:
First of all, it’s incredibly insulting to have a heading that says, “Your ticket is now solved!” when in fact it is most assuredly NOT solved.
Second of all, as I’m well aware that there’s nothing to be done for my trip there’s little to nothing to be done here to get a new shirt. It’s pointless. I relied on you and should have double checked/triple checked the manufacturing of the shirt when I first got it in July. That’s my fault for placing trust and confidence in you and your organization.
Thirdly, as this is actually the THIRD quality control issue I’ve had with you (I only reported one prior, the other I just decided to suck up and accept), I’ve already lost confidence in your company. So, given that you would consider this ticket “now solved” and then ask for additional work on my part, I think it’s safe to say I am beyond disappointed and feel as if you and I are simply incapable of understanding each other’s points of view or expectations — I would have thought the shirt should be sewn correctly; you think the matter is solved simply by replying.
As customer service goes, this is incredibly poor from my perspective.
Your representative’s email back was a step backward in customer service:
My mind was blown even more than before. I responded with the following message:
Dear Logo Sportswear,
We clearly do not have a mutually agreed vocabulary and thus if we cannot understand the words being used we have little hope of communicating or resolving anything.
If your company is of the opinion that a ticket is “now solved” once it is replied to, I can only assume your company could proudly trumpet “100% customer resolutions.” To claim a ticket is “now solved” when replied to feels disingenuous, especially given that the “solved” ticket involved the issue being addressed and requiring followup. My feeling in reading your reply to a “now solved” ticket headline was that my issue wasn’t one. Further, your request of proof of issues with detailed photographs made me feel as if I were holding something for ransom. In short, your company has made me feel like I’m a bad person for having raised an issue and that is unacceptable to me.
I’m going out now and headed to Europe on Wednesday. I do not have the shirt with me, as frankly, why would I when it’s got two holes in it. And since we’ve already established that our communication seems doomed to misunderstanding given we do not have a common dictionary of meaning, I’m not sure what I could possibly expect as a solution to a ticket even if I did take photos and send them to you. The time for resolution has passed; it’s my fault as I should have thoroughly inspected the garment for manufacturing flaws when I first got it rather than setting it aside after confirming it’s size and printing. I guess it’s all my fault and there’s only blame on my side — perhaps this too could form the basis for how your company could claim 100% customer resolutions; the customer is always wrong. That’s one way to run a business I suppose.
Your “about us” web page says “Choose Logo Sportswear Inc. for top quality results every time, satisfaction guaranteed.” At this point, the only guaranteed satisfaction I can have with Logo Sportswear is to avoid using your company in the future. I am profoundly disappointed in the order and even more disappointed in the way your company has handled this customer interaction.
Sincerely, angrily, and avowedly dis-satisfied,
Kevin Hanna
I do not anticipate hearing anything more from your company and upon reflection I take some small comfort in that fact. Because there will be no reply, the ticket will remain forever “unsolved,” as it should be. Now, each time your organization runs a report on customer satisfaction and resolution, I can take solace that there will NEVER be 100% complete satisfaction listed. I suppose a disingenuous company might go in and “close” the ticket without resolution/reply. Sigh. Perhaps there is no satisfaction to be gained even in this small moment.
Because I suspect your internal communication in your organization is as equally poor as your external communication, I am posting this open letter summary. In many ways, this is tantamount to a “Do Not Accept Checks From…” flyer at a local business. You’ve made my list of companies I will not be doing business with in the future. I know I’m a very small fish in a vast metaphorical ocean of sales. But this fish is going to keep swimming (and running) elsewhere from now on.
Regards,
Kevin Hanna
runkevinrun.com