On November 7th 2010, I went into Haggis McBaggis to purchase shoes for my young children. My eldest son was able to get a pair of winter shoes that were in stock. My younger son was sized and the retail clerk communicated that the shoe was not in stock and would have to be ordered. I clearly communicated that the shoes had to arrive prior to Thanksgiving Day so he could be dressed for the event. The clerk communicated that the shipment would arrive within 7 days of purchase and she would notify us when it arrived.
Approximately a week later (November 14th) on the way back from work I decided to stop in and obtain my sons shoes. The clerk had not called yet so I assumed it was just an oversight on the customer service end as I was expecting a call from her with an update on the shoe status. I was told the shoes had not arrived yet but to check back in a few days. Approximately a week later (November 21st) my husband decided to stop in with my son to obtain status on the shoes. At that time the same clerk communicated that there was a mistake that had occurred with the wrong shoe size ordered and that the shoes would have to be ordered. She was unable to give a “status time frame” because she was unable to contact the owner. The shoes never arrived for our Thanksgiving event, three weeks from point of order.
On November 27th I decided to call the establishment to express my disappointment and frustration with this situation and the fact that my son still did not have his shoes. In fact I communicated that I was on my way to purchase shoes for my son at Nordstrom. I spoke with a lovely young woman that was extremely apologetic to the circumstances and acknowledged my concerns.
Approximately fifteen minutes later as I was heading towards Nordstrom I received a phone call from the original sales clerk that took our original order. This conversation was handled in a very different manner and as I concluded our conversation – I was furious with the lack of response and customer service approach. She stated that she ""took the order size down correctly"" but it was the owner that misread the size and ordered the wrong size. Furthermore she stated that she had told my husband she was unable to give a status because ""the owners were in Hawaii and she had no way of reaching them for order status"". When I told her that I didn't give a damn that the owners were in Hawaii - my son still did not have his shoes (Thanksgiving came and went) and I was no longer going to use their establishment - she said “Well we are not perfect – we make mistakes - and we understand if you don’t want to utilize us anymore that is your choice”. While they may have a great selection - customer service is critical to sustaining any long term customer. This experience was so disappointing that I felt it was prudent for anyone considering patronizing this establishment to receive honest and fair feedback from a customer that has been supporting this establishment for more than five years.
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