I hardly ever use the blog to complain about things, though heaven knows I could.

This incident starts 10-11 years ago — so long ago I forgot the exact timing.

I had a bunch of a particular type of yarn from a particular company, but it wasn’t yarn I wanted to dye or sell.   In fact, it was leftovers from the sweater I knit for my boss almost 20 years ago:

Lovely yarn, right?

So, anyway, after I moved here I had gobs and gobs of it remaining, so I ran it up quickly on one of the knitting machines (I think I ran it up on the Bond double-wide USM), just to use it up and make a blanket.   Basic stockinette, with stripes as wide as each ball would allow.

And I gave it to my elder son, and forgot about it.

Many years pass, my son and his wife move a few times along the way, things go into storage (as things do during moves).  A couple weeks ago his wife sends me a message to say they were clearing out one of their storage units and discovered much of their stuff had been destroyed by rats, including the blanket.   Apparently it was his favorite winter blanket for snuggling in front of the TV, and he was devastated at the damage done.

So she and I conversed and decided I would make another one of the same type and colors.  I found the company’s website and placed an order to get just a couple skeins so that I could make a guage swatch and figure out how much I would need to order to make a replacement blankets.  That was on the 3d, and it took 2-3 attempts just to make the order process on their Website.  I inquired on the 8th and was told the order had been “completed”.

Well, on Friday, 7 days after I placed the order, I sent another email:

Hi there.    I am still confused.    

I placed the order for your yarns on Friday, Aug 3.  

I inquired on Tuesday (Aug 7) because the order was marked as “on hold” on your website, and the pre-authorization on my debit card was still marked as “pending” when I checked my account online.   On Wednesday (Aug 8), I got an email saying the order was “complete”, but I still don’t have any shipping information and the pre-authorization on my debit card is now marked “expired” and no money was taken from my account.

Please do not zip out another automatic form response;  I would like a human person to investigate this order and tell me what *exactly* is happening — specifically, why was the order on hold in the first place, and when will my order ship?   

This seems like quite an odd way to build customer confidence with someone who is trying to throw money at you.   

Thank you,
Ray Whiting    

I thought that was straightforward and civil, if perhaps a bit blunt.

Now, today (Sunday) I finally get a response:

To Whom It May Concern:

We have read your email and absolutely had to put it away for a couple of days because of the rudeness and cruelty of your words.  First, your order was received, and ALL orders are put on hold within the online system-I did not write this program-that is what it does automatically.  Secondly, we are not an Amazon which works 24/7, orders are filled in order that they are received.  I forgot to have a conversation with Mother Nature on Monday to circumvent our area of some unusually heavy storms which knocked out our power to our ENTIRE region for Monday, on and off for Tuesday and Wednesday.  Because of this, all communications have been sporadic as the systems, not only mine are resetting themselves.  Your credit card has successfully been charged for $28.92 and settled on August 10^th and your product was mailed, however, as I stated above, our entire region had power and internet issues and I do not control the United States Postal Service.  As for the comment about throwing money at my business, that is about the cruelest thing we have had written about our business and we have been established since 1821!

Respectfully,,  Xxxxxx and Xxxxxx, Owners

I don’t know if my yarn was shipped or not (no standard shipping confirmation or tracking number was received), but my credit card has NOT been charged, as far as I can see.   The temporary hold expired on Wednesday and the money that was on hold was restored to my account.

How the hell was the fact I am “trying to throw money at you” in any way cruel??  Harsh, perhaps, but not cruel.  They might be dealing with crap in their region, but that’s no reason to take it out on customers who just want to make a neat, clean transaction.  Doesn’t matter how long they’ve been around, doesn’t matter if they’re not as big as Amazon.  That’s not my problem.

I suspect I may need to find some other yarn to make a new blanket for my son.  My own regular supplier doesn’t have this particular type of yarn (I’m not sure anyone does any more because of how it is processed), so I can’t just order off my wholesale account there.

And no, I am not going to identify the company.  I’m just pointing out that this is not how ANY company should treat a customer who wants to do business with them.  If *I* ever get so snarky with you, please smack me about the head and shoulders with a  one pound skein of RHSS.

“Respectfully” …?   Sorry, I’m not feeling it.

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eta:   P.S.   Thanks to a little Web-surfing, I have now ordered 24 skeins of a similar type of yarn that will suffice for this project, manufactured by a different company and sold through WEBS.   So that’s a nice way to end the hassle, I suppose.  🙂

P.S.S. – (Monday, August 13) soooo, I looked at my online credit card account just now. The debit card transaction was cleared on Aug 12 at 4:41:27 PM …. the company’s email to me was sent at 10:06 AM (six hours before the transaction went through), in which she said the charge was settled on the 10th. I call bullshit – electronic transactions don’t take two days to appear. I can go to any store, make a debit transaction on this card, and before I get home, it is posted and cleared and I can see it online.

I do not appreciate this lack of integrity.