Customer Service part 958

Yes, I know, I complain about Customer Service a lot on here.

But seriously, I think it is one of the most important parts of running a business...if not THE most important part!

I am having some major problems with my embroidery machine (and the story behind THAT could be several posts on customer service, but I am not ready to go there!).  So, I have been looking at a new one.

Since I have very little liquid cash, and not so great credit, I have limited options on where to buy.  There is a shopping channel that allows you to get the item with a 4 or 5 payment plan and they don't charge interest.  (which means we know that the price is a bit more than a brick and mortar store would charge, so they throw in a few extras to make it worth it)

I saw the exact machine I wanted.  Larger hoop, and a few more bells and whistles.  But I had zero in the bank account.  I put it in my shopping cart and hoped it would be there in the morning so I could order it.

...of course, it was sold out by the next morning.

I researched all day trying to find another model that I could be happy with, but there was some missing information in the item description...like size of hoops.  It listed a large and a small.  I really needed to know what the size on the large was...since some 5x7 were called large, and others called the 6x10 large.  (same manufacturer)

I sent a nice brief (which I know is hard for me to do!) email asking 1- when the machine I wanted was expected to be back in stock, and 2- what the actual hoop size was on the second machine I was considering.

In there defense, they did respond to me within 12 hours....more like 8.

Here it is:

Hello Ms. Morris,

You ask some great questions about our sewing machine products. From personal experience, a sewing machine can be a great investment.

To answer your first question, at this time, I do not have any information available as to when it will be back in stock. I would suggest checking _____ at your convenience for the latest up to date information.

To answer your second question, regrettably, I do not have the information available for the size of the hoop. I would suggest calling Singer customer service at ______;  M-F 8am to 4pm CST regarding model number: SES1000 and I am sure they will be happy to answer that question.

I truly appreciate your understanding in this matter and  hope you allow us another opportunity to serve you in the future.


Sincerely,


Robert






See...they DID respond to me!  They just didn't really answer any of my questions!  Now, I get to start the research all over again!  If only I had some extra spending money laying around.  I would just go to someplace local and buy the machine I wanted and be done with it!








Nini

January review

As this month is starting to wind down I thought I would take a few minutes to think about how my month has gone ...business wise.

I set several goals for myself this month.  I am happy to report that I actually came pretty close to meeting some of them, not so close on others.

I had a goal of 12 marketing projects (small projects that I won't go into here, but they involved making and then mailing them out to prospective customers.  I actually finished and mailed only 3 of them.

I had a goal of finishing 8 personal Disney shirts.  I actually finished only 6 of them.

I had a goal of making 4 ready to ship dresses and I only finished 2 of them.

I had a goal of making 4 onesies to list on my Etsy shop and I finished zero of them.

I had a goal of making a baby quilt, three onesies, and three burp cloths for a gift and I am glad to report they were actually finished before the baby arrived.

I had a goal of completing a birthday gift for my daughter in law, and I ham happy to report that I finished it so quickly that I had to remember where I put it when it was time to gift it!

In addition to those goals, I also managed to get one customer gift of 8 napkins  monogrammed and almost complete another customer order of two onesies and two bibs.

Although my most important goal for the outfits was to try to only use fabric I had on hand!  That one was met with a resounding success!

Since to day is only Monday and I still have a week to go, I am pretty sure I will be able to finish the customer order; finish the two personal Disney shirts; and I am pretty sure I will be able to complete at least 3 more of my marketing projects.

All in all it has not been too bad of a month.  In my original plans, I had not taken into account that the kids would be out of school for about a week of the month.  The kids will be out of school for two weeks next month, (winter intersession) so I will make my plans and goals for the month keeping that in mind.

Sometime in the next week or so I plan on having my daughter in law take some pictures of the outfits I did manage to complete, as well as a couple outfits I have not sold from last Spring.  (provided we get a bit of pretty weather this week!) My plan is to have a Spring grand re-opening of my Etsy site.

I do think it is important to note...I managed to meet my goals only spending an average of two hours a day in the studio.  I was expecting to spend closer to 4 to 6 hours a day in the studio; five days a week.  I am pretty excited about how close I came without spending a lot of time in the studio.  Just imagine how well I could do if I just added 30 minutes or an hour!

Nini

Confession time!

My last three quilts have turned out less than spectacular.  Add to that one customer quilt that was really bad and you see a pattern developing.  I don't think I have had a single quilt after the surgery that has looked nice.  (Forget good or great!)

I now have three outstanding baby quilts for gifts coming up in the next few weeks and I think you see my problem.  I am seriously having doubts about my ability to turn out a reasonable gift!

I have some gorgeous fat quarters washed and ready to go down to the studio to become a beautiful baby boy quilt for my niece's new baby.  The fabric is perfect.  It is going to be a small turning twenty quilt.  I am going to make a few onesies and burpies to go with it.  I can see it in my mind as a perfect set.  I'm seriously wondering if the actual gift will be any where near what I envision.

When the actual quilting starts, I will have to take careful mental notes to see what I am doing wrong (or right) and see what I can physically do to make a change.  I refuse to believe I can never do another decent quilt.  I'm hoping it is just that I am seriously out of practice.  Time will tell.

Nini

A new year...soon

Marketing.

I hate it.

All day I have been doing some research on various forms of marketing.  While I did get a few ideas, nothing really that will help me.  While there is a lady that makes her living telling people how to run an embroidery business...I don't want to pay her.  I'm sure she has some great ideas.  I'm sure she thinks her ideas are worth the price.  I just don't have the money!  If I had more business I could afford her ideas.  If I had more business I wouldn't NEED her ideas.  

As another year approaches, I wonder if I should just fold up the business and not even worry anymore.  Even though my business made a profit for the first time this year.  A whopping $38.00 profit...sort of.  (I did not add the cost of the batting to my final amounts, which would make me be in the red again!

Maybe I'll just do some more research....

Nini

WOW!!

It has really been a long time since I've been on here!

So much has happened, that I don't know where to begin....so I won't!  Instead I will jump back in here like I spoke with you yesterday!

Today, Miss Heather came over with her brood and we made Magic Reindeer Food.  Had a great time and got to play with Mr William!  He was really enjoying looking at all the mixing going on.  Since this is his first Christmas, he isn't quite sure what to make of all the activities, but he is sure enjoying it!

To the best of my knowledge, I have finished with all my Christmas shopping...EXCEPT for Christmas dinner.  We till haven't made up our mind what we want to do.  We have tossed around finger foods, brunch, ham and even a turkey.  I only know I don't want it to be much.  I would rather it be something small and quick.  Of course, Hubby says we should just go to the Chinese restaurant after church...but oddly enough, they will be closed on Christmas Day!  The only day of the year they are closed, but closed they are!  While the main owners are Buddhist, some of their employees are Christian, so they close.

My poor tree looks kinda scrawny...it is big enough, and decorated nicely, but there are no presents under the tree... Hopefully, Santa will be bringing some loot!


I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Nini

The decision to Home School

This morning I am feeling a thousand times better about our decision to home school (not that I was feeling bad about it before!).

Last time we home schooled Mr D, I had to go over one day's worth of lessons for a whole week before I felt he was 'getting' it.  Now, we are able to do one to two days worth of work in each subject each day!  Sometimes I have to MAKE him stop!  He is now wanting for us to read Harry Potter.  I've decided that if he is showing an interest in the book we have to do it!  So, starting today we will be attempting to read Harry Potter.  (well, I will be reading, he will be listening!)

Reading and math are still the subjects that I worry about.  He is still a non-reader, and he can now add using a number line, he loves to count out loud, and he has taken to counting to 100 as a way to occupy himself in the car.  I'm trying hard not to push him, but yet keep him challenged.

We know that these two subjects will probably always be a struggle for him, just because of the way the brain injury affected him.  We are hoping that continued exposure to math and reading will help him start to absorb just a bit more of it.  He has always loved books, and has loved being read to since he was a baby.

Yesterday his doctor told me she thinks there is no question that the decision to home school was the best one for him.  I have seen no major meltdowns since the beginning of summer.  The only ones I have heard about was in information coming from his 'teacher' in public school.  (and those generally came as a result from having sugar)  I see when he is getting frustrated, and we talk about it and give options for how to handle his feelings.  We have verbal cues for when we are in public and he is working through these issues without incidents.

If only the public school could use those simple techniques in the classroom.  I mean, she only had seven students and a para pro!  How hard could it have been?  No, her solution was to lock him in a closet and tell me it was for his protection.

A n y w a y !  We are really enjoying the time together as we home school as well as the flexibility we now have.  Some days, Mr D likes to sleep in late...to at lest 6:30! And some days he likes to get up with Sissy at 5.  Some days he needs a nap in the middle, and some days he pushes through wanting to get finished before the clock has a certain 'time' on it (kinda like a  race against the clock!  LOL).  Some days we have therapy appointments, and some days we stay in our jammies all day.    Some days we have 'class' at the grocery store (sorting, counting, reading labels) and some days we bake cookies.

Those that know me, know I had serious reservations about letting him go back to public school.  I only agreed to a month as a trial.  But, he was enjoying it so much I gave in.  Then, when things started to go bad, I let it go on way too long because he wanted to stay there.  I am so extremely happy with my decision to go back to home school.


....now, if I can just find a good name for out little school...

Back to Home School

What a wild weekend it has been...but then again, the whole week was kinda crazy!

Miss B and the Princess were out of school and home with me.  It just didn' seem fair to make Mr D have school when the girls weren't so we took a fall break as well.  During the summer, I borrowed the baby monitor so I could work downstairs while the kids were upstairs playing.  It worked pretty good...and when they got quiet it was because they were plotting.

This past week...not so much!  If I walked all the way downstairs, they started fighting.  If I sat on the couch they played quietly.  Even if they didn't know I was downstairs, the fighting began once I got the machine turned on.  Not a very productive week for the sewing cause!

I had made big plans for the weekend.  Miss B was going to be at her sister's house (her reward for straight A's)  Mr D and I were planning a weekend of Wii and sewing.  Him the Wii and me the sewing.

Unfortunately, I got one of those strange headaches.  Not a migraine (which I am used to ) but some sort of extremely hard sharp pain going through my temple.  I'm pretty sure it had something to do with my neck, since I popped it a bit right before it started hurting.

This basically meant Saturday afternoon and Sunday were a bust for me.  I did manage to get some napkins and a towel monogrammed for our Thanksgiving guests...and managed to get the binding on the other problem quilt.  But that was on Saturday morning before the headache set in.
 
Last night, I started feeling a bit better so I sat down at the computer to play a silly game.  The next thing I know is it is after 11pm and I have to get up in less than 5 HOURS!  Being out of school for a week really messed up my schedule.

Now it is Monday and we are hard at work in school.  Yes, I know it is only 7 am, but we already have 2 hours in .  We really only have reading and a bit of math to finish and we are done for the day.

Right now is when I can truthfully say I am so happy Mr D is a morning person like me.  We can get school started and finished before most people are even out of bed.  Then if we find more interesting stuff to do along the day we can add a few things here and there.



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On mommy's agenda today is to start drafting a letter to the school board and superintendent about the events that led up to home schooling this time around.  I keep hearing all kinds of rumors that  this principal needs to go...

Nini