Good Service

Last week I found and fixed two problems in my house. I can even brag about two different companies and their super satisfactory customer service. One was a tea problem and the other a knitting problem.

I had ordered tea from my only tea supplier, Harney and Sons. They are the people I have to thank for turning my husband into a tea drinker. I had talked him into a road trip to visit their store and tasting room. After tasting a couple of teas I was in the shop choosing and calculating what I could buy without irritating the husband too much. After careful consideration I went looking for him expecting him to be impatiently waiting for me. What I found instead was him waiting for a cup of tea to brew. What a pleasant shock. When he said how much he liked the tea (Lapsang Souchong) I made sure that I bought a tin. We have rarely been with out 'Lappy' since then.

Harney and Sons had a promotion around St Patrick's day and since our Lappy was running low I made sure to order. We had been finishing a tin when I discovered the wrong bag of tea was shipped. Now I am all for trying new tea but we can not deal with a house without Lappy. Since the mistake bag of tea was Malachi McCormick's Blend, I see how the tea would be stored alphabetically and the wrong bag was pulled.

I emailed the company and am happy to say that the problem was fixed. I now have a bag of Lappy. They also allowed me to keep the Malachi tea, I may report to you that it is indeed "a decent cup of tea." It is a nice no frills just good black tea. Thanks for letting me try it Harney and Sons.

My second crisis concerned my Knitpick's harmony needle tips in size US#5. I decided to knit another Baktus from my ample stash. Whoa, I meant adequate stash. I had been knitting for a bit and noticed that my yarn was snagging on one of the needles. It had a small crack, not enough to be a break but enough to get the yarn. I tried holding the needle so the snagging area and the yarn did not connect quite as much but you know that can only be a temporary fix, which is not really a fix at all. Next I pulled out my trusty nail file and used both grits on it. Now I have a extra pointy needle that still snags the yarn.

I had heard both good and bad things about Knitpicks service. I know from working the other side of the counter there is a right way and a wrong way to request help. The wrong way would be to demand, make threats or generally be a jerk. The right way is to be polite and tell them what is wrong and if you've tried to fix anything.

Since I've only used this size needle to knit my other Baktus I suspected the issue was a defect not normal wear and tear. I hate to say that a piece of wood was defective but that little crack/notch was driving me crazy.

After I emailed the company I received a same day response and now have a functional size 5 needle. I will be keeping the non-defective tip as a back up. I am still trying to figure out how I can make the other tip useful without yarn. I am mulling the idea of using it as a very pretty letter opener.

So I had two great customer service experiences this week. Two for two maybe I should go to bed while I am ahead of the game.