Back in November of 2012, I contacted Community Coffee about being a part of my Holiday Gift Guide. They were under no obligation to participate but I was thrilled when they agreed. My package came in and I wrote (what I thought was) a lovely review. They also offered to giveaway the same package I received to a giveaway winner...which was also wonderful. My readers thoroughly enjoyed this review and actively participated in the giveaway. At the close of the giveaway, I emailed my winner and after she responded, I emailed my rep at Community Coffee. This was back on January 2nd. My email to the rep at Community Coffee (Meredith) came back to me as undeliverable. Right away, I called Community Coffee to see who could handle my request as they had told me that Meredith was no longer with the company. After speaking to someone there, I was told to email a different PR rep, named Blair. This person did email me back and I was relieved, thinking everything would be settled soon.
To save you the back and forth, I sent her my winner's shipping info and thought everything was taken care of at that point. On February 14th, my winner emailed to let me know she was still awaiting her prize. So, I emailed Blair again. That email was returned as undeliverable So, at this point I didn't know who to contact about this. I called Community Coffee once again (this PR rep was no longer with the company either) and was transferred to so many different departments, it made my head spin. NO ONE could help me and when I asked to speak to ANYONE in the media department, well, they were all gone for the WEEK. I left a message for the person who is the manager of the media department and was told (after I called back to make sure he would get the message) that I could contact someone named Paige on Monday. (And, it took the PR manager 2 weeks to call me back). When I asked for her email, I was told that it could not be given out so I would need to call back.
After finally getting a phone call from the PR Manager, he told me he was very sorry and thanked me for my persistence. I was glad to finally be getting this issue resolved (hopefully) and he gave me another person to email and told me that he would follow up with her the next day. This was on a Wednesday. SO, I emailed this other person.
After not receiving a reply acknowledging that my email had been received and was being handled, I re-sent the email again, one week later. Still, I heard nothing. This led to yet another phone call and of course, no one was available to take my call. I will note at this point that the receptionist was VERY good at taking my phone call and was very apologetic that I had not been taken care of. She was a real sweetheart and I am thankful for her patience.
Finally, I have been able to get in contact (with another blogger's help) with a PR company who seems to be handling Community Coffee's PR requests. I have been speaking back and forth with this company and to this day, I am still not sure if my winner will receive her prize.
Never before have I had such poor customer service and I should not have had to go through the hoops that I have gone through. Never again will I be working with Community Coffee and never again will I recommend Community Coffee to anyone. It is my hope that they will realize the trouble and frustration that I have gone through, as a blogger, and somehow re-work their media relations department. I truly wonder what a customer has to go through if they have an issue.
I just wanted to share with you all my experience and hope that no one else has to deal with this kind of mess. I will state once again that I have attempted to rectify this situation with Community Coffee (emails, phone calls and tweets), which is why I am now publishing this on my blog. Also, I do not enjoy writing negative reviews like this, I just feel that it is my responsibility to YOU, my readers to know that I do my very best to always convey my reviews honestly and that if you do not receive a prize that I will work my hardest to get your prize fulfilled. Now, on to better and more positive things. :)
I'm sorry to read about this. My mother used to have her Community coffee shipped to her regularly, and I had thought of doing the same now that I am settled into a new house. I guess I will look for something else rather than risk such customer service. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI always feel bad for blogs when this happens. I won a safe from another blog and was informed of this in June 2012, I have yet to receive it. The blog owner was apologetic but I fully understand this placed her in a bad situation after having given a good review. I don't understand why these companies even bother if they don't plan to fulfill their side of the agreement. Sorry this happened to you (and me!).
ReplyDeleteI had a similar experience, though I was the winner of the coffee and not the blogger. I notified the owner of the blog that I had not received my coffee and over 2 months had passed. She had a very difficult time contacting anyone to help her and it took her some time, but I finally received coffee. This was around the same time period that you had your problem with them. I really appreciate the work she must have put into getting me the item I won. You bloggers are tops!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post. I often look to review bloggers to gain "the scoop" on companies. As a consumer, my money is not plentiful enough to spend willy nilly and I want to support good companies. I'm glad there are blogs, such as yours, where we can learn about not only good business practices, but those with poor practices as well.
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