“Looks Good Enough to Eat” by Sea Turtle
Cute story about Bliss Soaps from Microsoft Community Manager, Betsy Aoki. You may recall that Bliss was the victim of a bad business deal, costing this small business over $20k in losses. Betsy was among a number of loyal patrons who responded to the shop’s call to raise immediate cash (by offering deep discounts to its customers). Here’s her ode to Bliss’s customer service:
Well, over a month ago if you were on the Bliss customer list, you learned about some trouble that was happening with the company, and to rally back and stay in business they were offering essentially half off to their loyal community members. I wasn’t planning on buying bath bombs but I figured Christmas was coming, I can certainly pack these into packages or suitcases to relatives.I bought about $100 worth online.
A bit later, an email was sent out from Bliss saying – wow, we are so grateful, but never expected this response – we are officially backlogged from all of your Internet orders, hope to get them done in the next few weeks.
As folks may have noticed from tweeted blog photos, I was then out of the country for the last 3 weeks and so didn’t notice the stuff I had ordered hadn’t made it yet (and in that sense also, no harm, no foul).
When I did realize this week the package never made it while I was gone, I sent off an email and said, hey, I’ll drop by the store this weekend and if you haven’t mailed it off, then I can save you the postage.. I stopped by Friday and despite posted hours, it looked like they hadn’t opened yet, and chatted with another woman who was waiting and a UPS guy who assured us: those guys have been doing a lot of mailing, they are still around.
I’m lucky; I’m employed – I can eat the $100 if they had actually closed shop for good. But I had a pang: I liked these guys. I hoped to hell they weren’t a recession casualty.
Today because of Christmas stuff, I didn’t make it over to their store. Instead, tonight, the co-founder of the store, Chuck, HAND-DELIVERED my bath bombs to me at my house.
Chuck took off his shoes as he stepped through the front door, gave his profound apologies.They are still catching up on orders. He and the guy who is the front man in the store Phil, tend to be in the shop behind the retail part of the store, working on stuff. As a company, they are still working through the issues that made them have the sale in the first place. Chuck looked really tired.
Then he choked up in talking about how the community response was saving their business. “You can laugh at me after I leave,” he said, kinda making fun of the fact no one expects the owner of a company at their house on Saturday evening – “but it’s people like you that mean everything to us.”
I told him Bliss is good stuff, and the community knows it, and I’m glad things are looking up. He shook my hand, put on his shoes, and left.
If you like bath bombs and go to Bliss, just keep knocking so they hear you in the back.
But if you aren’t able to go to Bliss, but you do social media, or work with customers, or think you understand marketing – well, just think of Chuck on a Saturday night, fighting for his little company to keep going, and saying he’s sorry in person to a customer he’d never met.
Note that some Yelpers report being less than charmed with Bliss’s inconvenient business hours and lack of care in packaging. But most — like the story we share here — are overwhelmingly positive. Feel free to let CHS know what you think on Bliss’s review page.
You ruined a very good story by insisting on mentioning YELP – give a hoot, most of the Yelp posters expect their version of perfection, silly small town rube comments in general … CHS is now consumer reports?
I will buy all my soap there, at Bliss, in the future.
And, Bliss is a great company name.
I wasn’t sure, since I couldn’t get in touch with them via phone or email. I didn’t have enough time to stop by their store on my way out of town (no, I don’t even live in Seattle but I absolutely love to stop by their shop when I can). Their soaps are wonderful!
What a great story, but I want to underscore how hard Chuck is working to save the business. I don’t think everyone would hand-deliver to their customers; they just flail helplessly until they go under.
I’ve had a couple of experiences with a little family-run shop in the U District. They’re a great place to go for good deals and one-stop shopping, but they don’t always restock quickly. (Understandable since sometimes they have to order from overseas, and would only be able to buy in bulk in those cases.) But when I asked about a product I wanted to buy, I got a series of excuses for why I’d have to wait six weeks for it, and I’d have to tell him that I was certainly going to buy it before he ordered any at all. The fact that the purchaser (the guy I was talking to) would rather tell me how hard the job is rather than take my order, and my money, made me very frustrated.
The difference is not in how successful the business is, but in how hard people work to keep their customers. I wanted to give the guy my money and he made it harder for me. I’m not going to beg them to stock merchandise for me to buy.
The footnote to this story is that I put the item on my Christmas list and received it from my mom a few days ago. She bought it from a nationwide chain, who I’d only been keeping as backup in case the family-run shop didn’t come through.
I’ll still go back to the family-run shop as often as I can, but the next time I get a runaround for why they won’t reorder a product, I’m telling them that they’re one step closer to losing my business.
I first learned about Bliss when the bad business deal was reported on CHS. Since then, I’ve gone twice and only the fact that I don’t go through soap that quickly has stopped me from going more.
Happily, both times I’ve been to the store, it’s been full of people (although it’s a small space so I think it seems more crowded than it sometimes is). Phil was still super-helpful and friendly, and recognized me the second time, despite it being 2 months later. I never can figure out how much things actually cost, as Phil seems to wrap everything and then pluck a random number out of the air that is always far lower than I think it should be.
Re Yelp–I use yelp for reviews, though I haven’t posted any myself. There are a lot of very nice reviews of Bliss on there, and as you can’t please everyone everytime, I tend to take the overall flavor of the reviews, rather than focus on a particularly negative (or positive) comment.
Wow, could you be more patronizing? Many of those “strangers on Yelp” are our neighbors on Capitol Hill. Not to diminish the difficulty that Bliss has had over the last several months, but frankly, if I were shopping for gifts at a business, I’d want to know before I purchase that it’s going to take weeks to get my order. Thanks, seadevi, for providing some balance.
My biggest concerns is keep in business the “neighbor” up at the end of Broadway. And, I hove no idea where YELPers live … and do not stalk people, so will not try to find out.
Since most of the negatives mentioned another store, I suspect they are bogus posts trying to kill the hardy competition as well. Maybe a dishonest review or two?
I think, my opinion, many consumers have spent too much time in chains store mall places, and thus, they think the small shop on la rue is the same. It isn’t, never will be. Don’t expect it.
I have not been to a mall in five years, then just for a pizza joint. Better pizza at 6 places on the Hill.
I will support Bliss to the max … as will most of the posters here. “Our Business Neighbours” – what a concept to keep your community strong with jobs, merchandise and all close by.
I’ve had the same experience…great personal p.r., say they’re open on such and such a day, but their not….and, great personal p.r.
For me 2 outta’ 3 ain’t bad..
I hope they stay in biz.