Nanasnecessities Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 My reg supplier was out of jars so I hopped around and found some at alabaster, I ordered them and said i would pick up. Now here is the real kicker, The morning I was going I went to tsr, went to contact us, copied the addy, pasted into mapquest and away I go, GET THIS, It took me hours to find the damn place, the directions on map quest were off and I had to finally find a cop to get me to the right place, I get there and it is locked up, nothing in it, phone number on the door does not work, finally called the alabama number and a nice lady answers, it seems they MOVED a year ago, so she gives me another number, (wrong one btw) I called and called, while sitting in scareyville, finally called home and had to get my hubby out of a meeting to find the right number, the guy gives me directions and says 15 minutes away, so i take off, his directions were not at all good and it took my a LONG time to get there. HE TELLS me that I am wrong, I should have "refreshed" and he can't find the old addy on the website. I told him the lady from alabama said she would have Joe fix it right away. Now why in the hell would I go to Ind, when I could have went to Lousiville? I don't think I have ever been so upset in my life, get this he said you don't have to by from us... Right after spending an ENTIRE day finding him I am not going to take the jars. I have never purchased from them before and will not sell candles in jars if I have to buy from them again! He did not even bother to apologize, just kept saying things that I could have done to get the wrong addy, he said I must have googgled it! I am not stupid, I know exactly where I got the 'old addy"! at least the lady on the phone said she was sorry, their customer service totally and absolutley SUCKS! Shame on them for trying to make me take the blame because they didn't update their addy, but most of all for trying to tell me it was MY FAULT! I am going to copy and paste this over on tsr, if people are buying from them they should know how they treat their new customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverOrchid Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Aww sorry that happened to you! I would definitley NOT be buying from them again if I were you, their customer service sounds like it leaves alot to be desired!:undecided Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ring of Fire Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Thanks for posting that. Very bad customer service. Nice to know the one's to stay away from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 I looked up the Alabaster contact page and compared it with the one that was cached by Google on December 2nd. Both contain the same addresses with slick little maps alongside. Click on those and it takes you to more detailed Google maps, where you can also get driving instructions. It could be you weren't looking at the current web page, or is there another contact page under the scent review? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candlebuddy Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Don't worry, there's lots of great suppliers who appreciate their customers ... his loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenHillsCandle Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Sorry to hear about your experience. I have only dealt with them once. everything was fine. Hope you find a new jar supplier soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgia Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 There is more to this than meets the eye. I have picked up from Alabaster when they were in Indiana and when I picked up in Louisville, I got the address and map from their website. They moved quite a while ago and it was posted on their site and the new addy was there with the map. The products page says that Alabama and Kentucky residents must have a sales tax license.And I have dealt with Herb for a long time and he has never been anything other than polite and helpful on the phone and in person. He even volunteered to deliver an order to me personally.For all of you that jumped on the bandwagon, you may want to form your own opinions about a company or at least do a little research. Don't write them off on the basis of one review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debscent Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 I'm sorry you had such a bad time. I have not used Alabaster personally, their candle making forum was enough for me not to buy from there. Nothing is worse than being lost, then frustrated and not getting any sympathy.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Yeah this not the FIRST time Alabastar has been called out for crap service. Weather or not the map was right, he could have been a little less of an A-Hole. To directly insult a customer like that (especially after they drove ALL day looking for them), is beyond crap. I do not care who they are or who was right. I would NEVER insult a customer. Especially after all of that. I would be happy they did not just give up and go home. It is called sympathy and consideration. It really bother me that this was a new customer and he was quick to throw the condescending attitude. Good grief so maybe she cannot read a map, maybe theirs was a piece of crap. It is the attitude that it boils down to. This is a prime example of what kind of business owner NOT to be. They will not be getting my money. Based on that sorry excuse for a board, and how they let the admins act like bullies, it is no surprise that the company acts like this. How embarassing for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanasnecessities Posted December 12, 2006 Author Share Posted December 12, 2006 I went to tsr and clicked contact usI copied the addy and went to mapquest. I did not google clikc make me a map or ask their website for directions.I copied and pasted the information into google.If they have other pages with their addy so what? I was on their website, I do not lie and I would have appreciated an I'm sorry, I did not and do not deserve to be harrassed that that is not what they found when they clicked after I had already called alabama, I am glad you have had a fine experience with them, I did not. I am not trying to stir up trouble this was my first experience with them and they dropped the ball. They (and you)can try all they want to say I did it wrong, but I took it off their website and ended up in timbuck too! I do not use them for anything, I do not have their addy saved, I went through tsr, but it should not matter how I got to their website, their contact us was WRONG! I did a page back, (it only went to may 2006 and their addy was wrong at that time.) if I can find out how to get back to FRIDAY morning, I will post the results here, I mean really, why on earth would I go all those extra miles, but to me the main thing was I was treated wrong! I should not have been told to refresh, that I went through google etc,.... I did not. An apology would have went miles here. If I had showed up (they knew how long I had been looking for them) and they would have said you poor dear, I am so sorry, would you like to use the bathroom, maybe a cup of coffeee while you wait, I would have been in a much better frame of mind. Sorry, they sucked. I did not need to be told I am a screw up and read their website wrong.Glad you have a great experience with them, I will never use them a again, when I screw up (or don't but the customer thinks I did) I do not berate them. that is bad CUSTOMER SERVICE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGCAT Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 There is more to this than meets the eye. I have picked up from Alabaster when they were in Indiana and when I picked up in Louisville, I got the address and map from their website. They moved quite a while ago and it was posted on their site and the new addy was there with the map. The products page says that Alabama and Kentucky residents must have a sales tax license.And I have dealt with Herb for a long time and he has never been anything other than polite and helpful on the phone and in person. He even volunteered to deliver an order to me personally.For all of you that jumped on the bandwagon, you may want to form your own opinions about a company or at least do a little research. Don't write them off on the basis of one review.I have my OWN opinion about this company and now I have my own opinion about you, Shame on you for attacking Nana, she is a trusted and loyal friend and if she says this is what happened, then, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED, end of story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Where's the bad page? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michi Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Top, who cares where the page is? Why do you feel you have to have proof of the initial error?The original complaint was not even about that, as stated more than once by Nana, if they had just been a tiny bit sympathetic of her plight this thread most likely wouldn't even exist right now.The fact is, somehow she got their old address and proceeded to drive all over looking for a place to buy some jars (why would she lie about that for pete's sake???? ) and when she finally found them, she was most definitely frazzled, as I'm sure anyone would be, and then they treated her like crap, and even told her she didn't have to buy from them, probably b/c they knew she was in a bind and needed those jars.Nothing like being held over a fire huh?I agree wholeheartedly with Tess, if you want to keep customers or make new customers you gotta show a little respect and empathy even if you think you know you're in the right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgia Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 You only have Nana's side of the story and, sorry, but it is shaky at best. She may be a trusted member of the board, but Herb is a trusted supplier of mine. I'll not defend Alabama because I, too, have heard bad things. But Louisville and Herb are a different story.Bigcat, if you have the right to defend Nana, I have the right to defend Herb. What's the difference? And your opinion of me matters not a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michi Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 You only have Nana's side of the story and, sorry, but it is shaky at best. She may be a trusted member of the board, but Herb is a trusted supplier of mine. I'll not defend Alabama because I, too, have heard bad things. But Louisville and Herb are a different story.Bigcat, if you have the right to defend Nana, I have the right to defend Herb. What's the difference? And your opinion of me matters not a bit.Who are you to say it's a "shaky story"? Just because you've had good CS from them doesn't mean that she didn't! She has nothing to gain by lying about her experience, come on now. Just like you (or anyone else) has a right to brag about what great service they received from a supplier, she has a right to complain about BAD service from one.Don't sit there and tell me you've never received bad service from a business? Does it mean they are always bad? Probably not, could be just a bad employee or and employee that's having a bad day, who really knows?The point is, Alabaster handled this situation WRONG-this was a brand new customer, obviously within driving distance to them, which if handled correctly most likely could have turned into a long term customer. Instead they choose to keep driving home their opinion that she did this to herself and they take no responsibility for any of their actions/words on their end, that happened after she arrived there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
so-soy Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Yep after reading through this, and following the saga over at tsr with the admin that is associated with that company, and the way he treats board members etc..just keeps me farther away from ever buying from them! Nope, no way, there are so many more decent, RESPECTFUL, trustworthy suppliers out there to bring my business too! This company OBVIOUSLY does NOT care about its customers to treat people the way they do! The first thing they need to do is take control of that admin they have running the board over there! That man I believe has single handedly run off more customers than they can even imagine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverOrchid Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Who are you to say it's a "shaky story"? Just because you've had good CS from them doesn't mean that she didn't! She has nothing to gain by lying about her experience, come on now. Just like you (or anyone else) has a right to brag about what great service they received from a supplier, she has a right to complain about BAD service from one.Don't sit there and tell me you've never received bad service from a business? Does it mean they are always bad? Probably not, could be just a bad employee or and employee that's having a bad day, who really knows?The point is, Alabaster handled this situation WRONG-this was a brand new customer, obviously within driving distance to them, which if handled correctly most likely could have turned into a long term customer. Instead they choose to keep driving home their opinion that she did this to herself and they take no responsibility for any of their actions/words on their end, that happened after she arrived there. Couldnt agree more! Well said! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michi Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Yep after reading through this, and following the saga over at tsr with the admin that is associated with that company, and the way he treats board members etc..just keeps me farther away from ever buying from them! Nope, no way, there are so many more decent, RESPECTFUL, trustworthy suppliers out there to bring my business too! This company OBVIOUSLY does NOT care about its customers to treat people the way they do! The first thing they need to do is take control of that admin they have running the board over there! That man I believe has single handedly run off more customers than they can even imagine!AMEN!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausimex Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Yep after reading through this, and following the saga over at tsr with the admin that is associated with that company, and the way he treats board members etc..just keeps me farther away from ever buying from them! Nope, no way, there are so many more decent, RESPECTFUL, trustworthy suppliers out there to bring my business too! This company OBVIOUSLY does NOT care about its customers to treat people the way they do! The first thing they need to do is take control of that admin they have running the board over there! That man I believe has single handedly run off more customers than they can even imagine!Gotta agree with you on that one! I used to get my jars and a few FO's from Alabaster but stopped as soon as he took over the board. The fact that they let this guy speak down to their customers/potential customers over there reflects poorly on their company. Although the customer is not always right (although I think Nana probably was in this situation) you should never treat your customers poorly...and in this situation a simple "I'm sorry for your troubles finding us" would have done wonders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcroome2005 Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Dang, another supplier to cross off my list to do business with. Geesh. These suppliers are becoming useless but gives me more money to spend with the top notch suppliers who care about KEEPING their customers. Solas, Daystar, Peaks, NG and a few others will just get more $$$$ from me thanks to idiots like Alabaster and another one I wont mention on this board since they are part of it. Note to suppliers: If you want to keep your customers and their $$$ , Grow up and learn to deal with the problem the CORRECT way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara Posted December 12, 2006 Share Posted December 12, 2006 Supplier comments are welcome as long as they stay on track and are kept civil. But before this goes further, the thread will have to be closed. Issues with what is posted and or said on another forum, are asked to be kept in the respective forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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