Why I Rejoice at Refunds?

I have been in a position where I have felt disapointed with purchases, I have been a bride struggling to get guidance and know what will work and what won't and I made it my mission when I set up my business to find the answers and share them with brides and to make the accessories they so desire.

So why do I rejoice at Refunds? 

Refunds and returns are so rare in my business, because I make everything myself I try to be open and honest and I know that when you are a bride sometimes things just aren't right, you want the best and you want to be confident that if it is not right you can get a refund, restyle, repair or replacement.

I decided to have a thorough guarantee, that basically says if you don't love what I do for you, I will do whatever I can to put it right, be it a refund, a restyle or a replacement.  You want perfection and so do I.  I also want an honest open relationship with my customers, where you can feel confident to tell me if it is not right for you.

I am really good at taking complaints, whilst I feel the upset, but I quickly put the pain aside, listen, learn and try again and again to improve. 

I studied drama at A'level, where I had to take direction and understood to get perfection you sometimes have to take the criticism and deal with it constructively.  I then went on to work in customer services for an international insurance company, where complaints came in thick and fast.

Finding out what customers really think improves my work, focusses my mind and improves the service for all my brides.
 
Today I had a small complaint the customer said "I have just received the necklace. First thoughts are that I thought it would be longer at the back and have more swarovski crystals to justify the £xx price. I do think that the necklace is very pretty and will look nice on, however can't help but feel slightly disappointed. I am grateful that you managed to get it to me in time, and I thank you for that."

So when I read this I felt so sad, I felt how disappointed my customer was. I was particularly sadden as I knew I could have made this cheaper for her had her order arrived earlier, but because her order arrived at  6.30pm Thursday evening and she required the order Saturday I had a very small timescale I was also fully booked Friday with appointments and photoshoots, (plus I am a full time mother!). This left me only Thursday evening to work, having to put her order above pending orders, working overtime and then posting Friday morning with royal mail special delivery saturday guarantee, which meant I had no choice but to charge more for overtime and postage.

The item the customer wanted was not in stock and nor were it's components, so I had to make a bespoke piece using components I had in stock based on the design of the piece, as time was so limited there was no time to adjust or redesign the piece. 

 

I normally ask for 4 weeks to process orders and longer for bespoke, this is often due to the fact that I rarely make the same pieces twice, I don't keep huge stocks of certain components and I order materials as orders come in, this means that sometimes I have to wait up to 14 days before I can even begin work.  

 I have a genuine desire to make brides their perfect accessories and meet their needs. I get so tired of seeing overpriced imports of cheaply made mass produced jewellery with no heart in it.  I also worry that brides who buy that piece may turn around to find it in a store half the price that they paid and I don't want my customers to go through that disappointment, I care far too much.  

My accessories are all make by hand here in the UK, I try to source my materials from within the UK and Europe, keeping the air miles down and the money in our economy rather than sending it abroad.  This means that I don't always get the cheapest price for my materials, but I do know where they come from. I have a real desire to give my customers the best. I want to give them exactly what they are looking for, I put in more than just a few beads, I add myself in what I do and try to give that personal touch.

So in this case I thanked the customer for her honesty explained why I sadly had to price this piece higher than I would have like to and offered a full refund if she wants to return it.  Of course it means that I will not got paid for my work on this piece, but I care more that my brides feel happy with their purchase, and so far 100% of my customers say they would recommend me and I really hope that this customer too would feel happy to recommend me, despite her disappointment. 

So what work goes into creating the perfect piece of bridal jewellery?

The complexity of the design influences the how long a piece may take, whereas some pieces are minutes, others take days to put together and then there is the extra time for trial and error. I am a perfectionist.  Once I have a piece designed and made, I then take time to photograph it and email over the pictures so we can see and work together to make any obvious adjustments.  This allows me to amend and change prior to postage. Even for a pair of earrings it can take an hour to 3 hours to do this as making jewellery can be a fiddly task, and photographing is difficult due to the reflective nature of the metals, pearls and crystals. 

Then there is the photo editing and the email which also adds to the time taken for every single piece. Once we have liased via email and the customer is happy for me to post, I then personally wrap pack, tie a ribbon and write the guarantees, then walk to the post office to post.

Royal mail prices are rising all the time as I send jewellery the majority of orders are sent special delivery which costs over £5 per package.

On average when I add up the times of all these tasks I spend 4 hours working on every order! Some pieces have taken weeks to complete. When I price my jewellery I have to cover the costs of running the business, costs of sourcing the best materials, and cost for my time. Because I am skilled and highly experience at what I do my hourly rate has to be above the minimum wage.

I always strive to do my best and when brides do return or complain (I have only had 3 returns in the last 4 years!) I am so upset that the bride was dissappointed or it wasn't right, but I relish the rare opportunity to use their experiences to improve what I do, I thank them so much for letting me know, I ask them for their opinions as to how I can be better and I do resign to the fact that sometimes it is the brides prerogative to change their mind and that I cannot always please everyone all the time, and I am happy to refund or replace.

So how can you avoid accessory disappointment:

• don't leave ordering your jewellery till last minute, give yourself time, this means you can get any adjustments changes you need, you can also find the perfect piece and the piece you want. 
• Give exact measurement where possible, so we can avoid any preventable adjustments.
• If you have left it to last minute though, why not order a bespoke to go, ready to wear instock one off design, that you can see is perfect and I can post tomorrow.  (these will be available on my new look website due to launch June 2011!) 

Thank you for reading 
Please add your comments below. 

I hope you appreciate my honesty
 
xxx
Jenni