Today I have to do my part to fulfill that old saying about unhappy customers telling 9-10 other people.

Sometimes I feel bad about using this blog as a platform to complain, but today’s events are just too unbelieveable to not blog about.  And hey, it’s my site...

In our living room, our main piece of furniture is a futon.  We’ve had it for a number of years, and just recently decided it was time to refresh it with a new mattress and cover.  In addition I found that there were small plastic bumpers that go between the stationary part of the frame and the seat base, to prevent wood on wood contact and to help the seat base “catch” into place. 

Ours were worn and cracked, so I Googled about and found a source for them.  I wasn’t entirely happy with the cost - between the selling price and shipping I have $18 invested in $0.05 of plastic, but being a specialty item that I didn’t expect to find locally I went ahead and placed the order.

All went fine, the order was confirmed and in due time the parts arrived.  I removed the original bumpers and screwed in the new ones with the same screws.

Two weeks later we found them on the floor in pieces.

I emailed the company telling them I was unhappy with both the cost and apparent quality of the bumpers and asked for a refund.

Here is the response:

Dear Michael Boyink,

We are sad to hear that your bumpers broke. This can happen if they are used under certain conditions. If you would kindly answer the following questions, we might be able to help you figure out why they might have broken.

1) How were you using this product?
2) What type of screws did you use?
3) What are the measurement of the screws?
4) How much did you tighten each screw? In otherwords, how deep was each screw?
5) Were these bumpers replacing other bumpers?
6) or were you installing them in a fresh place?
7) Did you have rub guards installed if this product was being used on a futon?
8) If so what were these rub guards made of?
9) If you did not have rub guards, and this product was being used for a futon, what surface were the bumpers coming in contact with and how were they coming in contact with that surface?
10) If these bumpers were being used on a futon, in which direction was the wedge facing? Was the thinner part of the wedge facing the front or rear of the futon?
11) If you were using these parts on a futon what brand futon do you have and how long have you had it?
12) If these parts were used for a futon, how often do you use your futon and in what way did you intend for these parts to play in the function of this futon?

All of these questions can help us lead to the conclusion of why they might have been broken. We are glad to discuss this with you more, but ask that you first take the time to answer these questions. In general, we have had a positive response for our parts. When parts break, however, we find that there is usually a reason that they have broken that has more to do with how they were used or attached than because there is anything wrong with the product itself.

Please provide digital pictures of the parts, the screws, and the place they were attached so that we can further examine how the might have been broken. We may need to request more pictures to make a final determination.

Your attention to this matter is greatly appreciated and please understand we do require this information before moving forward on your claim.

Sincerely,

Customer Care

Now you tell me - what do you think it cost the company in terms of labor for someone to put that email together?  More than $18? 

Hard not to be cynical when the company’s about us page includes the following:

our motivation for doing business the right way the first time stems from our belief that our customers are our most important assets. That when they are happy we will prosper. Every year we do more business as a reflection of this philosophy. A happy customer base brings qualitative growth, a healthy business and a fun work environment where ideas and solutions can thrive.

They just missed a chance to buy a happy customer for $18. 

Think they’ll get that again?