Credit Where Credit Is Due...

All,

It is very easy and sometimes warranted to throw mud at a manufacturer, supplier or hobby shop when things go wrong. From time to time you also wonder the attitudes of some of these establishments when you dare to seek advice on the status of an order.  In my case, being solely reliant on mail order,  if an order is horribly overdue when no other advice has been given I make a call just in case the postal system has dropped the ball and the longer I leave it can have an adverse effect on any meaningful search for the errant package which in turn can mean someone will be out of pocket.  On some occasions these calls are met with a pre-conceived attitude that I am merely whinging about the non delivery of an order and am just being rudely impatient.

Well...there is always the converse situation and the service goes "above and beyond" and to balance things up I will post the experience here.

I must firstly advise that I have no vested interest in this establishment, the owners or staff...

I went to the Hobbyland  ( Hornsby NSW ) website late last week and while perusing the site a particular rollingstock kit took my eye and I decided to take advantage of the online purchasing system to place the order.  On Sunday I had a call from the store to explain that the kits I had ordered were sold ( over the counter ) the morning after I had placed the order and at that moment they were out of stock.  Genuine apologies for the oversight were offered and I was given the option to either await a backorder or a refund was also offered.  I elected to put these kits on backorder and enquired regarding the expected delivery date.  This morning I had another call from Hobbyland advising that the kits were now in stock and were leaving today and a follow up call is to be expected just to ensure all is well and the order has arrived etc etc.

Yes, they made the error but had no hesitation in being proactive by advising me of this fact by ringing me on a SUNDAY!!!...They could have remained faceless by utilising an email... The promises they offered have been honoured and the order is on the way...and I have been kept in the loop throughout.

This style of retail customer service is largely and sadly a thing of the past and my experience with this retailer over the last few days has yielded many lessons and indeed some have not been lost on me as a business owner...

Well Done Hobbyland!!!