I try really hard to please my customers. It goes beyond eBay's feedback system. While good feedback is always nice, my main hope is to get people to come back. So when little troubles arrive, I try to do whatever I can to alleviate them and make sure the buyer has a good experience.

Now I am in a position where I have experienced not one, but TWO instances of customer service so poor that these two wholesale companies may never get my business again.

One is an online wholesale company that supplies me with a couple of exclusive chips, plus a few other odds & ends. Shortly before I changed location, I placed an order with them. Since I had not changed my address with my credit card company, I put my old address as the "Bill To" address, and put my new address in the "Ship To" column. Then I moved, and waited for my box to arrive.

Turns out, they put my old address as the shipping address, so it turned up at my old house. A neighbor picked it up and took it to my husband's old workplace, where it stood in limbo. I e-mailed the company, telling them of the mistake and asking for advice. Despite several e-mails, I never got an answer. (Ironically, I got their weekly newsletters just fine!) Happily, someone from the old store had to take a trip to St. George, and brought it out for us, so I ultimately got my stuff, but the complete lack of communication really bugged me.

The other instance is an eBay Power Seller from whom I buy the occasional rare item I cannot get anywhere else. I ordered a wholesale lot, paid through PayPal, and waited. A couple of weeks later, he closed down his eBay store and was suspended from eBay altogether. He sent out a form e-mail to all his customers telling us not to worry; all orders would be fulfilled right away, and we should see them by the end of the week. Unfortunately, this story does NOT yet have a happy ending. That was over a month ago, and I still do not have this package.

I have sent several e-mails with no response. I filed a PayPal investigation for non-receipt, and PayPal took my side but couldn't refund me due to lack of funds in his account. When I try to call, I get voice mail, and never any reply.

Now, this guy really isn't a bad guy. He's nice, just a little slow and confused. But a month and a half has gone by, and I am getting the sinking feeling that I am not going to see that $50+ again, nor my beads.

These are two cases where customer service was outrageously poor. To care so very little about your customers is sickening. While I understand we all make mistakes (such as sending to a wrong address or forgetting to mail a package), business owners who care about their customers at least try to make it right. These two incidences have completely ticked me off, and strengthened my resolve to treat my own customers with trust, care, and respect.

Suzanne