Not OT, just wondering

Okay.
The Central Coast Quilt Shop Association (in Calif) consists of 14 shop
owners who have banded together and host a joint shop run once a year
(first weekend in June). The distance stretches about 7 hours drive
time south to north.

I usually don't do these runs because I don't have the time or
inclination to do a lot of driving on my days off. As we were coming
home on Fri we stopped at my friend's shop 100 miles from here (one of
the 14 shops). She let me know the shop near me had some very negative
reviews from people showing up in her shop. So, this morning I went the
20 miles out to see what was going on.

This shop is a place I am familiar with. They had no special
flyer/treatment for those who were coming in. They had watered down
lemonade for a refreshment. Each shop was supposed to offer a free
quilt pattern, and theirs was a single-sided sheet with unclear
instructions. The out-of-towners in there were not happy campers. I
spoke to the owner about how I felt and she said "oh, well". Definitely
not concerned.

So, I came home and sent an email to all the shops, including that one,
to let them know the disappointing time people had there. And to let
them know one of their members doesn't care about the quality of the
presence they show, but boy! howdy she is the first one to complain
about something.

If you have gotten this far, please bear with me. Was I right to let
the other shops know? I have no intention of ever going back to the
local shop, after the treatment today. I make it a practice to let
everyone know if I have a good experience, like I let people know when
the experience is less-than-stellar.

And for those who want to email me off group, I'll be happy to give
names of those shops who responded to my email.

Ginger in CA

That is interesting Ginger. I had a big flyer/brochure from the
that quilt run for last year. I had hung on to it and was thinking
in the future it could be a fun thing to do since it isn't too far
away. I would really be unhappy if I was met with the reception you
found after going all the way to get there. I think it was reasonable
to let the other shops know. Will it do any good? I don't know.
Hopefully it will be a wake up for the shopkeeper. There was a thread
going here last week about shops closing. I think this can often
be one of the reasons. Some people shouldn't run a retail shop.
You seem pretty reasonable and sensible to me.
Guess you got out of Yosemite before the slide. Just heard a snippet
of the story but sounds like some folks will have a long ride out
the park on the 395 side. Glad you are home safe.
Taria

Ginger in CA wrote:
Okay.
The Central Coast Quilt Shop Association (in Calif) consists of 14 shop
owners who have banded together and host a joint shop run once a year
(first weekend in June). The distance stretches about 7 hours drive
time south to north.

I usually don't do these runs because I don't have the time or
inclination to do a lot of driving on my days off. As we were coming
home on Fri we stopped at my friend's shop 100 miles from here (one of
the 14 shops). She let me know the shop near me had some very negative
reviews from people showing up in her shop. So, this morning I went the
20 miles out to see what was going on.

This shop is a place I am familiar with. They had no special
flyer/treatment for those who were coming in. They had watered down
lemonade for a refreshment. Each shop was supposed to offer a free
quilt pattern, and theirs was a single-sided sheet with unclear
instructions. The out-of-towners in there were not happy campers. I
spoke to the owner about how I felt and she said "oh, well". Definitely
not concerned.

So, I came home and sent an email to all the shops, including that one,
to let them know the disappointing time people had there. And to let
them know one of their members doesn't care about the quality of the
presence they show, but boy! howdy she is the first one to complain
about something.

If you have gotten this far, please bear with me. Was I right to let
the other shops know? I have no intention of ever going back to the
local shop, after the treatment today. I make it a practice to let
everyone know if I have a good experience, like I let people know when
the experience is less-than-stellar.

And for those who want to email me off group, I'll be happy to give
names of those shops who responded to my email.

Ginger in CA

Hi Ginger
I am amongst those who give praise when praise is due, and get equally
annoyed over poor customer service. In this day and age, with SO much
available over the internet, and businesses all vying for their piece of
the "disposable income" pie, I truly don't understand the "Oh well"
attitude. I know that everyone has their bad days, but ....... when you
expressed concern over your experience, it should have been addressed in
a much more gracious manner. A simple apology and a coupon for your next
visit.... anything!
Just curious about what the other shops that responded had to say? Was
it a "personal" reply, or was it a "Thank you for your email"
template/canned email?

Patti in Seattle

Absolutely you were right! If someone doesn't speak up these other poor
shop owners are never going to find out. Mind you, if you visit some of the
others and have a grand old time - speak up again! Don't just criticise the
bad but praise the good also.

--
Sharon from Melbourne Australia (Queen of Down Under)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/craft.html (takes a while to load)
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shazrules/my_photos (same as website but
quicker)

"Ginger in CA" wrote in message
oups.com...
Okay.
The Central Coast Quilt Shop Association (in Calif) consists of 14 shop
owners who have banded together and host a joint shop run once a year
(first weekend in June). The distance stretches about 7 hours drive
time south to north.

I usually don't do these runs because I don't have the time or
inclination to do a lot of driving on my days off. As we were coming
home on Fri we stopped at my friend's shop 100 miles from here (one of
the 14 shops). She let me know the shop near me had some very negative
reviews from people showing up in her shop. So, this morning I went the
20 miles out to see what was going on.

This shop is a place I am familiar with. They had no special
flyer/treatment for those who were coming in. They had watered down
lemonade for a refreshment. Each shop was supposed to offer a free
quilt pattern, and theirs was a single-sided sheet with unclear
instructions. The out-of-towners in there were not happy campers. I
spoke to the owner about how I felt and she said "oh, well". Definitely
not concerned.

So, I came home and sent an email to all the shops, including that one,
to let them know the disappointing time people had there. And to let
them know one of their members doesn't care about the quality of the
presence they show, but boy! howdy she is the first one to complain
about something.

If you have gotten this far, please bear with me. Was I right to let
the other shops know? I have no intention of ever going back to the
local shop, after the treatment today. I make it a practice to let
everyone know if I have a good experience, like I let people know when
the experience is less-than-stellar.

And for those who want to email me off group, I'll be happy to give
names of those shops who responded to my email.

Ginger in CA

IMO it's very reasonable. They want a joint run to bring business to all the
shops. If that shop is the 1st one a customer visits, the experience might
be so discouraging that she won't bother trying any other shops in the
group. By joining such a group, it seems to me a shop owner agrees to a
certain standard in return for the benefits of joint advertising
Roberta in D

"Ginger in CA" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
oups.com...
Okay.
The Central Coast Quilt Shop Association (in Calif) consists of 14 shop
owners who have banded together and host a joint shop run once a year
(first weekend in June). The distance stretches about 7 hours drive
time south to north.

I usually don't do these runs because I don't have the time or
inclination to do a lot of driving on my days off. As we were coming
home on Fri we stopped at my friend's shop 100 miles from here (one of
the 14 shops). She let me know the shop near me had some very negative
reviews from people showing up in her shop. So, this morning I went the
20 miles out to see what was going on.

This shop is a place I am familiar with. They had no special
flyer/treatment for those who were coming in. They had watered down
lemonade for a refreshment. Each shop was supposed to offer a free
quilt pattern, and theirs was a single-sided sheet with unclear
instructions. The out-of-towners in there were not happy campers. I
spoke to the owner about how I felt and she said "oh, well". Definitely
not concerned.

So, I came home and sent an email to all the shops, including that one,
to let them know the disappointing time people had there. And to let
them know one of their members doesn't care about the quality of the
presence they show, but boy! howdy she is the first one to complain
about something.

If you have gotten this far, please bear with me. Was I right to let
the other shops know? I have no intention of ever going back to the
local shop, after the treatment today. I make it a practice to let
everyone know if I have a good experience, like I let people know when
the experience is less-than-stellar.

And for those who want to email me off group, I'll be happy to give
names of those shops who responded to my email.

Ginger in CA

I think you did the correct thing. Since this was a special activity by the
Central Coast Quilt Shop Association, I think it is appropriate to let them
know one of the shops doesn't hold up to a friendly standard. This puts a
bad mark against them all.

I go to a laocal quilt shop (Sunshine Fabrics) that is not invited to
participate in the local shop run because (get this) they are so much larger
then the others and end up taking customers away! LOL

I think it is important as a customer, to voice your opinion about service.
Retail people should be listening if they want to stay in business.

--
Boca Jan
Southern Florida - land of the hurricanes
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/poo_de_doo/my_photos
yum small prints and batiks
yuks large bright prints, lime green and orange


"Ginger in CA" wrote in message
oups.com...
Okay.
The Central Coast Quilt Shop Association (in Calif) consists of 14 shop
owners who have banded together and host a joint shop run once a year
(first weekend in June). The distance stretches about 7 hours drive
time south to north.

I usually don't do these runs because I don't have the time or
inclination to do a lot of driving on my days off. As we were coming
home on Fri we stopped at my friend's shop 100 miles from here (one of
the 14 shops). She let me know the shop near me had some very negative
reviews from people showing up in her shop. So, this morning I went the
20 miles out to see what was going on.

This shop is a place I am familiar with. They had no special
flyer/treatment for those who were coming in. They had watered down
lemonade for a refreshment. Each shop was supposed to offer a free
quilt pattern, and theirs was a single-sided sheet with unclear
instructions. The out-of-towners in there were not happy campers. I
spoke to the owner about how I felt and she said "oh, well". Definitely
not concerned.

So, I came home and sent an email to all the shops, including that one,
to let them know the disappointing time people had there. And to let
them know one of their members doesn't care about the quality of the
presence they show, but boy! howdy she is the first one to complain
about something.

If you have gotten this far, please bear with me. Was I right to let
the other shops know? I have no intention of ever going back to the
local shop, after the treatment today. I make it a practice to let
everyone know if I have a good experience, like I let people know when
the experience is less-than-stellar.

And for those who want to email me off group, I'll be happy to give
names of those shops who responded to my email.

Ginger in CA

Sorry to hear that other areas won't let all the local shops in
either. The shops in my area started a shop hop several years ago..
When my friend opened her shop last fall the shop hop stores said it
was too late for her to join their October shop hop as their publicity
was all prepared. OK, we can understand that. But they would not let
her join the annual spring shop hop either. They said there were eight
stores in the shop hop and they didn't want it to get any bigger.
Can't imagine that the shoppers would complain especially since the
extra shop would not cause them to drive very far out of their way.

Happy to report that the new shop is doing just fine without the help
of the shop hop. Funny but quilters find out about new shops. My
husband says we can smell them.

Susan

On Mon, 5 Jun 2006 08:01:19 -0400, "Boca Jan" poo_de_doo at
removeyahoo.com wrote:

I think you did the correct thing. Since this was a special activity by the
Central Coast Quilt Shop Association, I think it is appropriate to let them
know one of the shops doesn't hold up to a friendly standard. This puts a
bad mark against them all.

I go to a laocal quilt shop (Sunshine Fabrics) that is not invited to
participate in the local shop run because (get this) they are so much larger
then the others and end up taking customers away! LOL

I think it is important as a customer, to voice your opinion about service.
Retail people should be listening if they want to stay in business.

Well, I remember doing that run when I was down there. I know that our
mutual friend and shop owner puts a TON of work into preparing her store &
staff for the run. I think she must go about 72 hours on no sleep! It's a
shame that not all of the shops go to the trouble to make this a special
occasion. It is (was) my opportunity to check out other somewhat local shops
for future trips & purchases. I remember that there are two (the farthest
north ones) where one is a peach - tiny, intimate, friendly, packed with
goodies - and the other bigger store is full of self absorbed snobs who
would rather talk among themselves than assist a customer with a question.
It's amazing how some people treat the customers who keep them in business.

Lorraine in La Center

Howdy!

I'm w/ ya', Ginger.
Seems only fair that if I'm going to report someone's negative stuff
to others, I ought to include the offender face-to-face.
(No going "behind her back".)

Too bad she missed her chance on this team,
and missed plenty of sales that could keep her shop in business
and in profit. Word of mouth travels fastest.

So, what did you get, Ginger? Huh? At your friend's good shop?
Tell, girl, in detail. ;-D

Ragmop/Sandy


On 6/4/06 10:05 PM, in article
, "Ginger in CA"
wrote:

Okay.
The Central Coast Quilt Shop Association (in Calif) consists of 14 shop
owners who have banded together and host a joint shop run once a year
(first weekend in June). The distance stretches about 7 hours drive
time south to north.

I usually don't do these runs because I don't have the time or
inclination to do a lot of driving on my days off. As we were coming
home on Fri we stopped at my friend's shop 100 miles from here (one of
the 14 shops). She let me know the shop near me had some very negative
reviews from people showing up in her shop. So, this morning I went the
20 miles out to see what was going on.

This shop is a place I am familiar with. They had no special
flyer/treatment for those who were coming in. They had watered down
lemonade for a refreshment. Each shop was supposed to offer a free
quilt pattern, and theirs was a single-sided sheet with unclear
instructions. The out-of-towners in there were not happy campers. I
spoke to the owner about how I felt and she said "oh, well". Definitely
not concerned.

So, I came home and sent an email to all the shops, including that one,
to let them know the disappointing time people had there. And to let
them know one of their members doesn't care about the quality of the
presence they show, but boy! howdy she is the first one to complain
about something.

If you have gotten this far, please bear with me. Was I right to let
the other shops know? I have no intention of ever going back to the
local shop, after the treatment today. I make it a practice to let
everyone know if I have a good experience, like I let people know when
the experience is less-than-stellar.

And for those who want to email me off group, I'll be happy to give
names of those shops who responded to my email.

Ginger in CA

Ginger:
Considering the price of fuel, most
people do not want to waste it going to
rude shops. Nor do they like to waste time.

If the qualification for the 'Big Prize'
is to visit ALL the shops, one should
expect excellent products, sales, and
courteous treatment at ALL the shops.

So, it is okay with me that you notified
all the shops.
PAT in VA/USA