Frolic select said

Awesome customer service

Just wanted to give American Tea Room some kudos. I ordered from them the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and got my package Saterday(granted I live close but still that was impressive), the tea was delicious but one of the samples I ordered was missing.

I called their number and they had a package with my missing sample in the mail the same day. I got my missing sample and a few extra goodies on Monday. They were incredibly nice about the mix up, I have terrible phone anxiety and it was really hard for me to call but I was so glad I did.

18 Replies
Azzrian said

My daughter has terrible phone anxiety as well. I wonder what causes it? Either way good for you for getting on the phone and going through that.

Alphakitty said

I have really bad phone anxiety too. It’s horrible, because I know full well it’s stupid to be scared of making a phone call. I have general social anxiety, though it doesn’t extend to everything. But for some reason, phonecalls are one of the hardest thing to do!

I have it too and it feels so strange!

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teajoteas said

I can empathize with American Tea Room. Definitely kudos to them, as they did what all companies should do when something goes wrong, address the problem sooner than later and make the customer feel like they care. We had the same problem during Black Friday with several customers not receiving all of their teas. Fortunately, I caught it before anyone received their packages and notified everyone here and via email to give them a heads up.

cuppaT said

…and it was very much appreciated.

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My boyfriend refuses to call anyone or answer when a company calls him! He’d rather drive to a store to see if they have something than call and ask!

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Angrboda said

I’m so glad to see I’m not the only one who HATES using a telephone! If I can communicate with companies by email I will do so. If I want to book a table at a restaurant or a cafe or something, I would much rather go out of my way to go there in person if I can. (Organising a wedding when you have phone anxiety is awful! We’re never giving any sort of party ever again if I can help it!) Heck, I don’t even like speaking on the phone with my own family!

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Claire said

I also hate talking on the phone and have anxiety about making phone calls. I’ve been on my aunt’s cell phone family plan for years because it’s unlimited texting and limited shared minutes. So I’ve never caused her to go over on minutes and I just send her $10 a month, I guess that’s an upside!

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teajoteas said

It’s funny we’re talking about this topic, because I witnessed an example today of a local company completely missing a golden opportunity to go above and beyond with customer service….

A mother bought a handmade popsicle for her toddler from a local vendor at a Farmer’s Market. Of course the minute she gave it to her son, he dropped it. What do you suppose the vendor did? He charged her for another popsicle. I was shocked and couldn’t believe that he was so short sighted. I felt so bad for the mother. This guy totally missed the boat and missed out on a chance to go above and beyond. She would have remembered him for it. Instead, he was too caught up in losing out on 1 more sale that he lost sight of the big picture.

Anybody else experience something like this, where a company lost an opportunity to provide you with amazing customer service?

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I’m sorry, but I have absolutely nothing good to say about American Tea Room. They’ve proven to me to be the opposite of a positive customer service experience and I’ve witnessed it on more than one occasion.

I’m glad that you’ve had a positive experience with them, unfortunately, I know a few people who have not been so lucky.

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Donna A said

I have had more than one company go the extra mile for me, and I am loyal to those companies and also tell my friends about them. Of course, I am not referring only to tea companies. Teajo, in response to your question, a company lost an opportunity with me recently. I had a $25 off of a $50 coupon that was sent by a women’s clothing store to get me back since I hadn’t shopped there in awhile. I found a $49.99 hat and lamented to a clerk on the floor that it was a penny short. She said they would never quibble over a penny and would take the coupon. I went to the register to make the purchase, and the manager at the register said she couldn’t accept the coupon unless I spent $50 because corporate had changed the policy 2 weeks ago. The original clerk told the manager that she had not been aware of the change and had told me the coupon would be accepted. The manager said, sorry, but can’t do it. I emailed corporate and told them they had lost me as a customer. I didn’t expect much. In the end, an assistant manager from the same store called me and said she was sorry, if she had been there, she would have honored the coupon. Anyway, there are other places to shop.

Babble said

WOW that is pretty stupid. But to be fair, sometimes those companies are so heavily regulated that they can’t do anything. It definitely sounds like a corporate issue.

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Donna A said

Rachel,
I agree that it is a corporate issue. I actually told the employees that I don’t blame them, I blame corporate for this. Good customer service comes from the top down.

Babble said

Yeah. That’s the kind of thing you wouldn’t have to worry about with a small business. Heck, they probably would have let you use it if the item was $5 below the threshold. They’re a lot more easy-going than that.

teajoteas said

Generally, small businesses wouldn’t pull something like this, but in my case, it was a guy running a food cart. That’s what really yanked my chain. HE was the decision maker.

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Kiaharii said

DAVIDsTEA was really great recently and sent me a free tin in a separate order that didn’t make in my box. Adagio has also been really great with questions and problems.

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