Dollyhair slowdown?

[Dollyhair]

Hi, everyone

OK, let me explain!! My assistant, Lauren, is an actress. She took off work the majority of August because she  needed to film a movie. The agreement that she and I had was that I would process and ship as many orders as I possibly could during her absence, and that she would catch up with everything that had not been shipped when she was finished filming the movie. Now really, what should I have done - not allowed her to film the movie? Hired someone else for a month? Hired an additional employee? Answered email instead of processing and shipping orders? I told everyone that orders during August might be delayed 1-2 weeks. It didn't come as a surprise to anyone. Unfortunately, I only have two hands. I don't believe that anyone would have preferred that I answer email instead of processing/shipping orders. I don't want to hire an additional employee because that would necessitate raising prices on the site to pay for that employee's salary. No one wants that to happen.

Same here. An order was placed and it took about 3 weeks to show up.

Of course, when it did show up, she had replaced my MLP Nylon hair Black Magick, with Saran hair. Didn't even bother to ask me if I wanted that, or if I would prefer a refund. She didn't even respond to the email I sent her marked URGENT, telling her about the mistake.

There has been a LOT of bad customer service from Dollyhair lately, and I'm done ordering from her. I shouldn't have to send her email after email after email to get a problem resolved that shouldn't have existed in the first place.

Now I have a hank of Saran that I'll probably wind up using as an "extra" in a swap box or something. I hate saran so much.

The issue with black magick... ok, our policy is to send the next closest-matching color if someone orders a color that's out of stock. Can you imagine the delay in order processing/shipping that we would encounter if I emailed customers and said, "I'm so sorry, such-and-such color is sold out - what would you like to receive instead?" ? I am sorry that we ran out of black magick. Anyone who received raven black (saran) in place of black magick (nylon) is welcome to email me and I'll add them to a list of people who will receive the black magick that they originally ordered PLUS two free MLP hanks of our new nylon colors once the new shipment comes in mid-October. I am able to dedicate time to my email again now that Lauren is back on her normal work schedule. I am REALLY sorry that some people are not happy with my service. August was a tough month for us. I dedicated ALL of my spare time to processing/shipping orders. To be literally honest with you, there were some days when I would skip a shower. That's how much I worked. I did not have the extra time for email. And even if I was willing to hire a new employee and raise prices on Dollyhair as a result, I would not have had the time to hire and train a new employee to operate our machine. As far as email, same thing. I use so many different order-processing systems... and FORGET about answering hair-related questions - that's a HUGE learning curve that cannot be learned in a short period of time. So, I was stuck. I'm sorry that I was stuck, but I tried to make everyone aware of the situation when I posted the notice on the site.

I still love DH products but I feel like the customer service is lacking.

This exactly. Ive got to the point where I have been hoping that someone else can figure out who her supplier is, and start up a rival company with better service. Heaven knows I've googled it halfheartedly, but never found any info.

Wow, you guys are really unhappy. Especially you, Maniah! I'm so sorry. Clearly, I need to be on top of my email from now on. Maniah, let me make a point - if you guys start spending your money on a rival company, then Dollyhair's revenue will go down. What's that going to cause? I won't be able to pay my employee. I'll have to process the orders myself. THEN how will I answer email? And how will I have the money to buy new doll hair and stock new colors? NO competitor will be carrying the same hair that we sell. I have an exclusivity agreement with the manufacturer. It's just not going to happen. So, if you guys are going to spend your money on tangled polypropylene, then there's nothing that I can do about that. But really, think about all of it - the better Dollyhair's income is, the better service we can provide and the more colors we can stock.

I still love DH products but I feel like the customer service is lacking.

This exactly. Ive got to the point where I have been hoping that someone else can figure out who her supplier is, and start up a rival company with better service. Heaven knows I've googled it halfheartedly, but never found any info.

I heard that too. I can't wait!

Me either! I think multiple sources is great so if someone's out of one color, the other has it.

What you mean that Retro doll US will have MLP Nylon? She doesn't already have? 

RDUS hair is from a different manufacturer but they're supposed to be getting in the same hair that Hasbro uses for MLP.

It's not going to happen. Exclusivity agreement.

Time I jump in I had an order of mohair go missing last year and had sent several emails wanting to know what to do about it. Tina, or so I thought, gave me less than satisfactory responses and then finally let me know the mohair supplier had reshipped, about five months later. I was so disgusted with the whole thing that I stopped buying from her, and took every opportunity to promote RestoreDoll instead.

I got a PM months later, she had seen my posts (on the old Arena) regarding my displeasure with DollyHair and asked what it was that had happened. After emailing her about how disappointed I had been in communication she told me that the person I was in contact with wasn't even her. It was a sister or sister in law, or someone like that. She also said something about shipments being late..? I can't remember all the details now and lost the emails when I had to wipe my hard drive.

My point though is that it's not so sudden, and I know I'm not the only person who's dealt with subpar customer service before now. Tina did make amends with me by offering a bunch of free hair, and I have placed an order here and there since then. But I've remained leery especially when communication is involved because I had no indication whatsoever that I wasn't emailing Tina. In fact, the emails were even signed Tina! And apparently whoever I was really talking to never told her about it.

I remember you, BlackCurtains. But I think that you misunderstood me. You were always communicating with me. I think the confusion lies in the fact that I told you that the mohair is not shipped by Dollyhair. We ship Everything else sold on the site - all of the other types of hair, and all of the stuff that's not hair. We JUST don't ship the mohair. It's drop-shipped by the lady who owns the sheep. She has a farm. If a mohair order that she ships does not arrive, then I take full responsibility for that.

Once again, this looks like an issue due to the fact that I have not been on top of my email. That is going to change. I apologize to everyone.

I'll probably send another email when I get home from work but i honestly don't expect a reply.
If its a matter of emails gettin lost in the Internet, there is still no excuse for it. Everyone experiences that from time time, but not to this degree. If it is honestly happening this often, then perhaps it is far past time to look into a new email provider.

If its multiple people handling the same email address and just not forwarding emails properly or communicating well .... I've got no sympathy. Hire someone else. There are plenty I people looking for employment in California.

Maniah again... god, you're really unhappy with me, aren't you? But really, there are plenty of people looking for employment in California? Are there plenty of Dollyhair customers who are willing to pay more for the doll hair so that the new employee can be paid? I don't think so. There are two sides to every story. You guys are all talking about patronizing a competitor who sells polypropylene and, on the UK site, STILL maintains that it's nylon (which is a lie), and the hair is not from Hasbro's supplier. If you want to invest your money in a site that does not have the option of ever purchasing from Hasbro's supplier, then I don't know what to say. Don't believe what you're being told. And the thermal saran hair from Retrodolls? It's not real saran hair. Do a burn test and see for yourselves. Real saran (even real thermal saran) will burn and turn to black ash when you hold a flame to it. But Retrodolls'  thermal saran instead MELTS. It melts just like polypropylene. I'm not saying that it is polypropylene, because I haven't done any porosity tests and I don't have a definitive answer, but it definitely does not burn like saran should.

I'm going to get on top of my email and give great customer service once again, and I hope that everyone will be happy with that.

[NoDivision]

I think that you should focus on your own customer service before attacking other people. Trying to attack another supplier because they are threatening your profit margins and trying to guilt and bully customers into buying from you instead is not good business practice. You have been a respected service provider to our community for years, and you are are losing a lot of respect by viciously attacking someone else rather than addressing your own issues. This thread is not about other suppliers. This thread is about Dollyhair.

Responding to customers should not be an OPTIONAL service. When people have questions, they should be answered. Not just the occasional one here and there. I was aware there was a slowdown and was expecting my shipment to take a little longer, but it arrived on time. I would have been completely fine waiting a little longer - I was EXPECTING to wait longer. So basically the fact that my hair arrived on time means that other customers with legitimate concerns weren't being answered. I would GLADLY wait an extra week knowing that it meant everyone else was receiving good customer service. I also would not turn my nose up at paying more for hair if it meant better and more efficient service. Heck, at this point I am willing to order from the UK based site instead, spending almost twice as much for the same hair, if it means better service. I think you shouldn't discount your customers - we are not that fickle. We will PAY for a quality service. But people will only stick around for so long to tolerate a substandard one.

[Dollyhair]

I think that you should focus on your own customer service before attacking other people. Trying to attack another supplier because they are threatening your profit margins and trying to guilt and bully customers into buying from you instead is not good business practice. You have been a respected service provider to our community for years, and you are are losing a lot of respect by viciously attacking someone else rather than addressing your own issues. This thread is not about other suppliers. This thread is about Dollyhair.

Responding to customers should not be an OPTIONAL service. When people have questions, they should be answered. Not just the occasional one here and there. I was aware there was a slowdown and was expecting my shipment to take a little longer, but it arrived on time. I would have been completely fine waiting a little longer - I was EXPECTING to wait longer. So basically the fact that my hair arrived on time means that other customers with legitimate concerns weren't being answered. I would GLADLY wait an extra week knowing that it meant everyone else was receiving good customer service.

Good points, but I must point out the fact that, in this thread, people are talking about RetroDolls and saying that they're going to be stocking Hasbro's hair. Should I have started a new thread to discuss that topic? No, it was appropriate to discuss it here because it had already been discussed. I am not attacking ; I am being truthful. I am not trying to guilt and bully; I am stating the facts. I am asking people to look at what's going on on the other side. It's probably not something that is often taken into consideration. And I did address my own issues. I am very well-respected, and I did not "viciously attack" anyone. It strikes me as odd that no one onthis thread has expressed any anger about the fact that they're being told a bunch of (excuse my language) B.S. Are you guys really ok with being lied to? I can't imagine.

Regarding your comment:

" I would have been completely fine waiting a little longer - I was EXPECTING to wait longer. So basically the fact that my hair arrived on time means that other customers with legitimate concerns weren't being answered. I would GLADLY wait an extra week knowing that it meant everyone else was receiving good customer service. "

Unfortunately, there are some people who are only concerned with quick shipping, and they don't share your sentiment. There just is no way for me to make both sides happy when we're short-staffed.

[Alatariel-Silimaure]

I agree with NoDivision... that post made me lose a lot of respect that I had.

I understand the slowness, I understand that you were working alone.

What I do not find acceptable is replacing my colors with other colors if you're out of stock of one color. We order the color because that's what we want, if we can't get it, fine, just don't include it in there and when you're fufilling a package, maybe you should put a note in there saying "Sorry we were out of stock of ____ color" and refund them for that color. It isn't our fault if the website doesn't say it's out of stock when we order. SOME sort of communication is necessary for anyone to feel that they were receiving customer service.

Many of us are doing commissions that require a CERTAIN color, if we can't get that color, we'd rather have our money back on it so we can acquire it on the arena from another forum member that might have it, not have to pay for a color we do not want, try to sell it somewhere on the arena and buy the color we originally wanted in the first place. It ends up costing us a heck of a lot more time and money and makes for unsatisfied customers.

If you don't want to take the time to refund customers for colors that are out of stock because it takes a lot of extra doing, print up some coupon codes or something, give us a code to put in on the website (maybe even just in the notes section) or something that will authorize us to receive a hank of hair of our choosing so that you don't lose money, and we don't get a hank of hair we do not want.

Another option would be to include a note that says "Sorry we're out of stock of the color you ordered, send me an email on how you'd like us to handle the situation"

as I said, SOME communication, not just receiving something we did not order leaving us to go "WTH?" and then have to email you anyway to ask what the heck is going on.

some simple little changes like that I think would make a lot more people happy in the long run and perhaps keep people from getting angry with you over it.]

this is just my 2 cents from working in customer service for many years and learning how to keep customers satisfied... I've dealt with situations of pretty much anything imaginable. I'd tell you where I work, but I don't want to bring that into this conversation, but I know a wide variety and I know communication is KEY

[Dollyhair]

I agree with NoDivision... that post made me lose a lot of respect that I had.

I understand the slowness, I understand that you were working alone.

What I do not find acceptable is replacing my colors with other colors if you're out of stock of one color. We order the color because that's what we want, if we can't get it, fine, just don't include it in there and when you're fufilling a package, maybe you should put a note in there saying "Sorry we were out of stock of ____ color" and refund them for that color. It isn't our fault if the website doesn't say it's out of stock when we order. SOME sort of communication is necessary for anyone to feel that they were receiving customer service.

Many of us are doing commissions that require a CERTAIN color, if we can't get that color, we'd rather have our money back on it so we can acquire it on the arena from another forum member that might have it, not have to pay for a color we do not want, try to sell it somewhere on the arena and buy the color we originally wanted in the first place. It ends up costing us a heck of a lot more time and money and makes for unsatisfied customers.

If you don't want to take the time to refund customers for colors that are out of stock because it takes a lot of extra doing, print up some coupon codes or something, give us a code to put in on the website (maybe even just in the notes section) or something that will authorize us to receive a hank of hair of our choosing so that you don't lose money, and we don't get a hank of hair we do not want.

Another option would be to include a note that says "Sorry we're out of stock of the color you ordered, send me an email on how you'd like us to handle the situation"

as I said, SOME communication, not just receiving something we did not order leaving us to go "WTH?" and then have to email you anyway to ask what the heck is going on.

some simple little changes like that I think would make a lot more people happy in the long run and perhaps keep people from getting angry with you over it.]

this is just my 2 cents from working in customer service for many years and learning how to keep customers satisfied... I've dealt with situations of pretty much anything imaginable. I'd tell you where I work, but I don't want to bring that into this conversation, but I know a wide variety and I know communication is KEY

OK, I really like the points that you've made. In some cases, people order colors that are marked "sold out" because they're not paying attention. In other cases, a certain color becomes "sold out" after the customer orders it. I'm going to change our polcy - from now on, if someone orders a color that, at the time that they ordered, was not marked "sold out" on the site, they'll just receive a note with their order, and I'll ask them to contact me.

[NoDivision]

IF we are being lied to, that is between the customers and the suppliers, and  is not your business or your responsibility. You have expressed your opinion on the matter several times, and very vocally. The US Retrodolls owner is well aware of your findings and is doing her best to accurately label her products. She is also seeking out other hair suppliers for different products, and only she can speak to what those products are. People may speculate, but none of us are on the inside of that discussion. You do not know who she is working with so you shouldn't be commenting on it. The UK supplier, as far as I know, is not on the forum. So publicly calling them out in a thread that has nothing to do with them is out of line. If you have issues, contact that site. This is not the place for it.

The fact is that other sites have much better business practice and service, and if your customers choose to go elsewhere, that is on YOU for having such bad service that they would rather use an alternate product than put up with it. That is what you should be concerned about, making your customers happy so that they want to continue to give you their business. Not what other suppliers are doing.

[rybett]

One little request?  Could there be somewhere on the site in big letters saying that at times substitutions need to be made?  Like maybe during the checkout process, a box to check yes/no if that is OK, and what forms of hair are OK.  Hubby is the IT guy, so I don't know how hard that would be.  I had one blonde substituted, as it was close and still nylon, it worked fine.  A saran would have been a mess with what I was doing. 

[jupiternwndrlnd]

Ok, I am going to put a WARNING in here.

this is not a thread about Retrodolls and their product. this is a thread about dollyhair and their customer service.
Please stay on topic.

[Alatariel-Silimaure]

I agree with NoDivision... that post made me lose a lot of respect that I had.

I understand the slowness, I understand that you were working alone.

What I do not find acceptable is replacing my colors with other colors if you're out of stock of one color. We order the color because that's what we want, if we can't get it, fine, just don't include it in there and when you're fufilling a package, maybe you should put a note in there saying "Sorry we were out of stock of ____ color" and refund them for that color. It isn't our fault if the website doesn't say it's out of stock when we order. SOME sort of communication is necessary for anyone to feel that they were receiving customer service.

Many of us are doing commissions that require a CERTAIN color, if we can't get that color, we'd rather have our money back on it so we can acquire it on the arena from another forum member that might have it, not have to pay for a color we do not want, try to sell it somewhere on the arena and buy the color we originally wanted in the first place. It ends up costing us a heck of a lot more time and money and makes for unsatisfied customers.

If you don't want to take the time to refund customers for colors that are out of stock because it takes a lot of extra doing, print up some coupon codes or something, give us a code to put in on the website (maybe even just in the notes section) or something that will authorize us to receive a hank of hair of our choosing so that you don't lose money, and we don't get a hank of hair we do not want.

Another option would be to include a note that says "Sorry we're out of stock of the color you ordered, send me an email on how you'd like us to handle the situation"

as I said, SOME communication, not just receiving something we did not order leaving us to go "WTH?" and then have to email you anyway to ask what the heck is going on.

some simple little changes like that I think would make a lot more people happy in the long run and perhaps keep people from getting angry with you over it.]

this is just my 2 cents from working in customer service for many years and learning how to keep customers satisfied... I've dealt with situations of pretty much anything imaginable. I'd tell you where I work, but I don't want to bring that into this conversation, but I know a wide variety and I know communication is KEY

OK, I really like the points that you've made. In some cases, people order colors that are marked "sold out" because they're not paying attention. In other cases, a certain color becomes "sold out" after the customer orders it. I'm going to change our polcy - from now on, if someone orders a color that, at the time that they ordered, was not marked "sold out" on the site, they'll just receive a note with their order, and I'll ask them to contact me.

is there a way to remove the ability to order sold out colors without causing a huge rewrite of the website? If you can temporarily remove the add to cart feature from the items that are sold out that would probably solve a lot of your problem right there. Especially if they're sold out for long periods of time like a lot of the colors have been from my understanding.

I think regardless of why the color that was not instock was ordered you shouldn't replace it with another color, most of the time we don't want another color, that's why we have the dolly hair trade thread and I've seen a lot recently of "I was accidentally sent this color and I need this color" posts, so just not sending another color would probably save everyone some time :3 Just put a note in there saying "This color is sold out, please contact me." I think that communication will satisfy a lot more people, and at least not leaving us wondering :3

[BlackCurtains]

Time I jump in I had an order of mohair go missing last year and had sent several emails wanting to know what to do about it. Tina, or so I thought, gave me less than satisfactory responses and then finally let me know the mohair supplier had reshipped, about five months later. I was so disgusted with the whole thing that I stopped buying from her, and took every opportunity to promote RestoreDoll instead.

I got a PM months later, she had seen my posts (on the old Arena) regarding my displeasure with DollyHair and asked what it was that had happened. After emailing her about how disappointed I had been in communication she told me that the person I was in contact with wasn't even her. It was a sister or sister in law, or someone like that. She also said something about shipments being late..? I can't remember all the details now and lost the emails when I had to wipe my hard drive.

My point though is that it's not so sudden, and I know I'm not the only person who's dealt with subpar customer service before now. Tina did make amends with me by offering a bunch of free hair, and I have placed an order here and there since then. But I've remained leery especially when communication is involved because I had no indication whatsoever that I wasn't emailing Tina. In fact, the emails were even signed Tina! And apparently whoever I was really talking to never told her about it.

I remember you, BlackCurtains. But I think that you misunderstood me. You were always communicating with me. I think the confusion lies in the fact that I told you that the mohair is not shipped by Dollyhair. We ship Everything else sold on the site - all of the other types of hair, and all of the stuff that's not hair. We JUST don't ship the mohair. It's drop-shipped by the lady who owns the sheep. She has a farm. If a mohair order that she ships does not arrive, then I take full responsibility for that.

No, I wasn't communicating with you. You told me later that you had been very sick, and someone else was handling the emails. I know you don't stock and ship mohair, and it really wasn't that it had been lost that was my problem anyway. It was that I kept having to prod for information about what was going on; wether it was a refund or replacement, etc. I'm really lamenting I no longer have the emails, but I remember specifically you telling me you had been sick with a weird flu and I was not, in fact, in contact with you but someone else. Which is fine (and understandable!) but she wasn't very astute and later when I was talking with you, finding out I hadn't been earlier was... well, just odd. -shrug-

You made up for it and as I said I have ordered from you since then, but I think it was still worth mentioning in this thread, since issues with communication are the focus.

[Dollyhair]

***Post Edited for Ignoring Mod Warning***

 

That is what you should be concerned about, making your customers happy so that they want to continue to give you their business. Not what other suppliers are doing.

Right. So I'm going to get back to work now.

Post Merge: September 10, 2012, 01:10:47 PM

No, I wasn't communicating with you. You told me later that you had been very sick, and someone else was handling the emails. I know you don't stock and ship mohair, and it really wasn't that it had been lost that was my problem anyway. It was that I kept having to prod for information about what was going on; wether it was a refund or replacement, etc. I'm really lamenting I no longer have the emails, but I remember specifically you telling me you had been sick with a weird flu and I was not, in fact, in contact with you but someone else. Which is fine (and understandable!) but she wasn't very astute and later when I was talking with you, finding out I hadn't been earlier was... well, just odd. -shrug-

You made up for it and as I said I have ordered from you since then, but I think it was still worth mentioning in this thread, since issues with communication are the focus.

As far as I know, NO ONE has been handling email, except me. I guess it's possible that Lauren could have come to my aid wheen I was really sick, and, without my knowledge, replied to email, but I am not aware of that. Really, I would have had to have given her the email password, and I don't thinkthat I ever did, so I have no explanation for you. I don't think that it could have been anyone but me.

[NoDivision]

I have had multiple conversations with people who have said they plan to take their business elsewhere because they felt they were treated better at other places. People on this thread have said they plan to take their business elsewhere because they are upset with your service. I am not speaking for myself personally; I am referring to the comments made in this thread. I fail to see how it is "wrong" for me to state what other people have already very plainly said. If you are able to rectify the problems so that this is just a blip and you don't lose business over it, great. I really hope that's the case as I love your product. But people HAVE said that they are upset enough with your service to turn to other suppliers instead.

**slight mod edit**

[Dollyhair]

One little request?  Could there be somewhere on the site in big letters saying that at times substitutions need to be made?  Like maybe during the checkout process, a box to check yes/no if that is OK, and what forms of hair are OK.  Hubby is the IT guy, so I don't know how hard that would be.  I had one blonde substituted, as it was close and still nylon, it worked fine.  A saran would have been a mess with what I was doing. 

GREAT IDEA!! I'll add that to the shopping cart! Thank you!!!

[Alatariel-Silimaure]

One little request?  Could there be somewhere on the site in big letters saying that at times substitutions need to be made?  Like maybe during the checkout process, a box to check yes/no if that is OK, and what forms of hair are OK.  Hubby is the IT guy, so I don't know how hard that would be.  I had one blonde substituted, as it was close and still nylon, it worked fine.  A saran would have been a mess with what I was doing. 

GREAT IDEA!! I'll add that to the shopping cart! Thank you!!!

as I stated above too, is it possible to remove the add to cart feature from the hair that is out of stock since it tends to be out of stock for a good length of time that actually might be very useful for you to eliminate a lot of those orders placed for hair that is already out of stock :3

I'm glad we've been able to give some useful suggestions :3

[Dollyhair]

is there a way to remove the ability to order sold out colors without causing a huge rewrite of the website? If you can temporarily remove the add to cart feature from the items that are sold out that would probably solve a lot of your problem right there. Especially if they're sold out for long periods of time like a lot of the colors have been from my understanding.

I think regardless of why the color that was not instock was ordered you shouldn't replace it with another color, most of the time we don't want another color, that's why we have the dolly hair trade thread and I've seen a lot recently of "I was accidentally sent this color and I need this color" posts, so just not sending another color would probably save everyone some time :3 Just put a note in there saying "This color is sold out, please contact me." I think that communication will satisfy a lot more people, and at least not leaving us wondering :3

It involves a HUGE rewrite. So if I'm thinking that the color even *may* come back at some point in the future, I leave it in the drop-down menu. Rybett's idea is great, so in the shopping cart, I'm going to add that as a question during the checkout process - "in the event that a color that you've ordered is sold out, would you prefer a refund, or would you prefer to receive the next closest-matching color." That should make everyone happy, right?

I really appreciate everyone who has offered good remedies. I want to make you guys happy. I love my job. I adore you guys. Despite the fact that I do feel attacked by NoDivision, deep down, I have a lot of respect for her, as well. I want her to be happy with me. I want all of you to be. I've said many times that the people in the doll/pony community are some of the most honest, most integritous people that I've ever known collectively. You're genuinely good people, and, for that reason, you deserve the best that I can offer to you. I am SO SORRY that August was so rough. I didn't see any way to remedy it  - couldn't hire someone additional for just a month, and the time that it would take to train her, and to pay her for the training, would just have been prohibitive. If anyone has a suggestion about how I can handle this type of situation better if it happens again in the future, please tell me.