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Thank you everyone. My family is going through a tough financial year so I was trying to be very careful getting things for mothers day presents. I was about to order some of PTIs new dies and was looking for information about them. I was trying to figure out if they embossed and cut or just cut when I found this forum. I don't have much right now and I don't want to use any of what I do have to support a company that treats their customers like this. I will look elsewhere now.
Thank you everyone. My family is going through a tough financial year so I was trying to be very careful getting things for mothers day presents. I was about to order some of PTIs new dies and was looking for information about them. I was trying to figure out if they embossed and cut or just cut when I found this forum. I don't have much right now and I don't want to use any of what I do have to support a company that treats their customers like this. I will look elsewhere now.
I don't know why you would look elsewhere. This is a wonderful company that has very talented designers. I've been a customer for 3 years and have never had a bad experience. There WERE a few discontent buyers especially when they went thru a change in website and shopping cart. If you will go to their forums, you will see that those who were unhappy are singing a different tune now. This company has done everything they can to make these FEW customers happy. They have even mailed FREE stamps, and have gone over and above to fix problems. I will continue to order from them every month and I usually order around $200.00.
I had to post this. Here's another company experiencing some issues due to growth and allowing a balance between work and home life for their employees. See how they are handling it:
The best part is they are communicating honestly with their customers and acknowledging an issue and not hiding it. What a class act. My mom has ordered twice and I'll soon be following her lead. PTI could learn a few things just from reading the above post! If I lived in that area, I'd apply for a job :-)
As someone who has a degree in Public Relations my "expert" opinion is that Gina K knocked the ball out of the park! GREAT public/customer relations, and an example of how other companies need to address the issues they face. Putting out all of that information is going to actually cause her a few more problems though, because I can safely say that even more of us will be ordering from her ; )
Way to go Gina! You get an "A" in PR ; )
__________________ AfterHoursStamper.blogspot.com �It is easier to believe a lie that one has heard a thousand times than to believe a fact that no one has heard before�
I don't know why you would look elsewhere. This is a wonderful company that has very talented designers. I've been a customer for 3 years and have never had a bad experience. There WERE a few discontent buyers especially when they went thru a change in website and shopping cart. If you will go to their forums, you will see that those who were unhappy are singing a different tune now. This company has done everything they can to make these FEW customers happy. They have even mailed FREE stamps, and have gone over and above to fix problems. I will continue to order from them every month and I usually order around $200.00.
I had been wondering how things had been going since this thread was quiet for awhile and I haven't seen much else posted about PTI lately. Maybe no news is good news. I hope so BUT ...
I think it is unfair to say only a FEW customers were unhappy. There have been countless threads on SCS and other websites telling of more than a few horror stories and total lack of customer service or care for their paying customers. I've never ordered and research companies to death before I place an order. I would still be very hesitant to order from them until I see more than a FEW stellar reports of how they helped all the people who had problems and have turned their customer service department completely around. If it had only been a FEW people, they wouldn't have felt the need to delete what was said to be hundreds of complaint emails from unhappy customers and would have helped them right from the very beginning of their issues.
I'm glad you haven't had an issue but there are far more than a FEW who have.
__________________ Leslie Harnish
Sambro, Nova Scotia
Canada
Thank you everyone. My family is going through a tough financial year so I was trying to be very careful getting things for mothers day presents. I was about to order some of PTIs new dies and was looking for information about them. I was trying to figure out if they embossed and cut or just cut when I found this forum. I don't have much right now and I don't want to use any of what I do have to support a company that treats their customers like this. I will look elsewhere now.
I can't speak to their customer service as I haven't ordered in quite some time. But, their dies only cut.
I don't know why you would look elsewhere. This is a wonderful company that has very talented designers. I've been a customer for 3 years and have never had a bad experience. There WERE a few discontent buyers especially when they went thru a change in website and shopping cart. If you will go to their forums, you will see that those who were unhappy are singing a different tune now. This company has done everything they can to make these FEW customers happy. They have even mailed FREE stamps, and have gone over and above to fix problems. I will continue to order from them every month and I usually order around $200.00.
I think your post is minimalizing hundreds, maybe thousands, of people who have had and may still have open issues. Last we heard there is a poor lady in S. Africa who hasn't received here FEBRUARY order yet because it went to Australia instead.
Honestly, there has been resolution of some issues, but they have also locked any thread that looks like it will cause a storm of bad vibes (which is on their forum so they have every right to do). They have created a separate place to report CS issues, which keeps the majority of folks from seeing or hearing about them as it is a separate login. As I said, it is their right but seems to be shady rather than transparent.
They have addressed some minimal things on the website, but carts are still dumping and others issues too.
I have to ask what free stamps you are talking about? Is it from the Simply You issue - that was not a free stamp we received. It was them sending out the stamp that was supposed to be included in the advertised stamp set. They messed up and sent the wrong stamp in the first place, they then asked all of us to send a SASE so they could mail us the stamp we had already paid for, then they said they would just mail it to us, no envelope required. I will admit it was handled faster than I expected PTI to handle it, because my expectations had been set so low, but I never got a free stamp.
If you are talking aobut the thank you set - well that was a nice $5 freebie - that they mailed to about half of the people who were supposed to have received them. They then tried to fix it and order more which created a gap in who received them. That was sort of a PR debacle as well since it left good customers feeling slighted that they weren't worth thanking. 2 friends of mine have stopped ordering because they didn't receive the stamp set when others in our group did and they all ordered on the same day.
If you want to think that everything is perfect in PTI-town go for it, but don't be surprised that others still have reservations on how they spend their money. PTI has not done everything they can to make it right. They have made improvements in some small ways (which I give them credit for and hope it continues to get better!), but most everything is same-old, same-old.
I don't know why you would look elsewhere. This is a wonderful company that has very talented designers. I've been a customer for 3 years and have never had a bad experience. There WERE a few discontent buyers especially when they went thru a change in website and shopping cart. If you will go to their forums, you will see that those who were unhappy are singing a different tune now. This company has done everything they can to make these FEW customers happy. They have even mailed FREE stamps, and have gone over and above to fix problems. I will continue to order from them every month and I usually order around $200.00.
There are STILL quite MORE than a few discontented buyers and there are STILL problems with the website and shopping cart. There are MANY who are NOT singing a different tune. The company has NOT done everything it can to make these MANY customers happy. They mailed stamps that were LEFT OUT of stamp sets and even that was a mess for a lot longer than it had to be. And the thank you stamp? Too little, too late, and not to everyone. There are other companies that have consistently sent a thank you gift in EVERY order for EVERY person for years. Kitchen Sink Stamps sent a thank you stamp with every order I ever received from them (I'm not sure if they still do but that was the first example I thought of), and other companies do the same.
I think you have SEVERELY MINIMIZED the problems at PTI.
Why would she or anyone look elsewhere?? Because there are LOTS of great companies that value their customers, offer fabulous products with QUALITY customer service, and if there are problems they handle them expeditiously and with grace.
I think your post is minimalizing hundreds, maybe thousands, of people who have had and may still have open issues. Last we heard there is a poor lady in S. Africa who hasn't received here FEBRUARY order yet because it went to Australia instead.
Honestly, there has been resolution of some issues, but they have also locked any thread that looks like it will cause a storm of bad vibes (which is on their forum so they have every right to do). They have created a separate place to report CS issues, which keeps the majority of folks from seeing or hearing about them as it is a separate login. As I said, it is their right but seems to be shady rather than transparent.
They have addressed some minimal things on the website, but carts are still dumping and others issues too.
I have to ask what free stamps you are talking about? Is it from the Simply You issue - that was not a free stamp we received. It was them sending out the stamp that was supposed to be included in the advertised stamp set. They messed up and sent the wrong stamp in the first place, they then asked all of us to send a SASE so they could mail us the stamp we had already paid for, then they said they would just mail it to us, no envelope required. I will admit it was handled faster than I expected PTI to handle it, because my expectations had been set so low, but I never got a free stamp.
If you are talking aobut the thank you set - well that was a nice $5 freebie - that they mailed to about half of the people who were supposed to have received them. They then tried to fix it and order more which created a gap in who received them. That was sort of a PR debacle as well since it left good customers feeling slighted that they weren't worth thanking. 2 friends of mine have stopped ordering because they didn't receive the stamp set when others in our group did and they all ordered on the same day.
If you want to think that everything is perfect in PTI-town go for it, but don't be surprised that others still have reservations on how they spend their money. PTI has not done everything they can to make it right. They have made improvements in some small ways (which I give them credit for and hope it continues to get better!), but most everything is same-old, same-old.
I agree completely. I have never (in 5 years of shopping PTI) seen effort "over and above" to resolve any issue. The onus has been put on the customers to go out of their way, coupled with responses that either minimalize or nearly deny the validity of the concerns.
I don't know why you would look elsewhere. This is a wonderful company that has very talented designers. I've been a customer for 3 years and have never had a bad experience. There WERE a few discontent buyers especially when they went thru a change in website and shopping cart. If you will go to their forums, you will see that those who were unhappy are singing a different tune now. This company has done everything they can to make these FEW customers happy. They have even mailed FREE stamps, and have gone over and above to fix problems. I will continue to order from them every month and I usually order around $200.00.
Not to attack you, but I am another one "looking elsewhere" despite never having a problem with PTI personally. When I heard the stories and saw how they responded, I was horrified that any company would think any of that was a good idea. And it didn't seem to be isolated to a few mishaps, but rather a systemic problem that affected many customers. It showed a complete disdain, almost to the point of contempt, for their customers.
They may have recently taken some steps to correct things, but I have decided to send my money elsewhere until I see that they have done a complete 180 in terms of their customer relations. No products are good enough for me to support a company with the kind of attitude this one displayed. There are plenty of stamp companies out there that treat their customers properly. You may be happy to send them money despite knowing about their behavior, but I feel that they will only truly understand the mistakes they have made when it starts to affect their bottom line.
__________________ aka Sue. Or Sue-odd.
No blog for me. My gallery chronicles my card-making successes and mishaps.
I don't know why you would look elsewhere. This is a wonderful company that has very talented designers. I've been a customer for 3 years and have never had a bad experience. There WERE a few discontent buyers especially when they went thru a change in website and shopping cart. If you will go to their forums, you will see that those who were unhappy are singing a different tune now. This company has done everything they can to make these FEW customers happy. They have even mailed FREE stamps, and have gone over and above to fix problems. I will continue to order from them every month and I usually order around $200.00.
I don't post here often, but I felt I needed to reply to this since it struck me that someone else was trying to speak for me. I bought from PTI for a long time (was either their 3rd or 4th month) and often spent several hundred dollars a month. I experienced poor service on a few occassions and noticed nastiness by PTI on the forums and in customer emails, etc. I had my cart dump a number of times on the new website. Finally, when they deleted their customer service emails I decided that was enough. I placed an order with them to use my points and that's been it.
I can assure you that I am not singing a different tune and, IMO, neither is PTI. There is still rudeness to customers in forum posts, they moved the customer service forum to one that is hidden and requires another login, all to hide problems. Answers on that forum are still often unclear. I still see complaints many times that the shopping website still dumps carts, is difficult to navigate, etc. So, I am not sure exactly what has changed.
Add my name to the list of those who never had an issue personally but decided not to order based on how I saw them treat others.
THERE SHE GOES is my new FAVORITE stamp store with MFT as a close second. I also recently put in a large order with CRAFT's MEOW. Each of those companies shipped my order FAST! (I got TSG in 3 days!) (I get a FREE MFT set with every minimum order I place.) I do like a lot of PTI's designs and what their DT can do with a stamp set, but I refuse to send my money to a company who treats its customers the way they do.
I never got my anniversary set. I was asked months ago for my address to send it to. I looked at PTI stuff this month and was tempted but ended up ordering from Verve and Our Daily Bread instead. I think I might be done ordering from PTI.
blessings.
Thank you everyone. My family is going through a tough financial year so I was trying to be very careful getting things for mothers day presents. I was about to order some of PTIs new dies and was looking for information about them. I was trying to figure out if they embossed and cut or just cut when I found this forum. I don't have much right now and I don't want to use any of what I do have to support a company that treats their customers like this. I will look elsewhere now.
Same here - great thread ... I can wait 6 months til they get their act together. I only ordered from them once, maybe a year & a half ago or longer; no problems then, but I'm glad I know what's going on now.
My 4 years of stamping I have bought from PTI 2 times, never had a problem. But after reading these threads for the past year, I will never order from them until there is better feed back.I can not believe they would be rude to people who are spending their hard earned morning on their products.
I am a Gina K fan, great products, a wonderful costumer service, also Our Daily Bread, never a problem, with them, they call you personally., yeck, ODB sends me a box of gorgeous chocolates every Christmas, how awesome is that!
__________________ Daughter of a King My Blog
Rebekka
I placed an order, cashing out all of my points, etc., on Sunday. A label was posted on my order in my account on Sunday night. Of course, it did not move until Tuesday night, when it showed shipped through Cinncinati. Once it started moving, I had it yesterday, shipped by the USPS. This was fast shipping, but the "fake" shipping labels are still occuring.
Deb
It is not that the labels are "fake". What is happening (I ship via PayPal and USPS a lot) is that the labels have been printed and are on the package, but haven't been picked up by the USPS yet. I can print a label via PayPal, but not ship it for a week. The info (electronic shipping information received) will show showing you that the label has been printed and received by the USPS, it does not mean it has physically been shipped. Just clarifying.
No matter how many problems one has had or not had in the past or how many free stamps PTI has sent out, the fact remains that when they got overwhelmed with customer service issues OF THEIR OWN MAKING, they decided to delete their customer service emails and "start fresh" by having people resend their emails after a set period of time. I don't want to spend my money with a company that would make such a stupid, hostile decision regarding customers who have genuine problems because of things PTI themselves screwed up. I LOVE PTI products, but I sadly cannot purchase from them anymore knowing that they might screw things up epically again and then decide to delete emails when people try to contact them to get their issues taken care of.
My MIL recently asked me where she could get some felt like I had, and at first I told her about PTI and how much I love their colors and how much the felt cost, etc. But the next day when she asked me for the website to write down, I said no, let's look on Etsy because I would feel awful if she had a CS issue she couldn't get resolved. We found better deals on felt that was available in more colors than PTI, and we got to support a smaller business that has great feedback from customers. Years ago, I would have recommended PTI without reservation to any crafter for any need they had that PTI could sell them, but I won't recommend them to anyone anymore. I would feel too guilty if they had a CS issue. The fact that PTI themselves don't feel embarrassed or guilty about their horrible lack of service tells you everything you need to know.
I honestly can't believe that anyone with even a passing familiarity with what's been going on over at PTI would defend them. You might choose to take the risk by spending your own crafting dollars there, and I can't blame you for that. It's your decision and I can understand loving their products enough to take the risk even if I won't take it myself. But defending their actions to others makes no sense to me.
I get notices all the time from companies that say a label has been printed but it is not shipped yet, and then within 24 hours the package is on its way.
I don't understand DAYS of delay from the time the label is printed. Especially since if I print labels myself at home, I have to say the date that it's going to be mailed out from my zip code and if I don't mail it that day the post office will not accept it.
So... that makes me wonder if they only want to go to the p.o. or call for pickup if they have a certain quantity? or for some other reason? Because why wait if the shipping label has been printed? And when they print that label, they must know that they will not ship it for another three or four or more days. Why can't they just tell you that up front? If every other company can give accurate shipping status information, why can't they?
And the international customers have asked for a very long time about a better alternative for them. It was one reason they stated they were changing the website - to offer more options. Just the other day, it was mentioned on the forum that they started talking about this a "few weeks ago." That's just how important it is to them. And also that they don't have "enough information" to make a decision. What?? Why would this take weeks or months to figure out?
one would ( could ) think that PTI should take a gander here.
It isn't as if they don't know how their customers are feeling. I don't know how many customers they lost due to the CS email deleting etc, but I have to think they noticed
a drop in sales.
__________________ Karen - proud owner of 3 cats and a 80 lb, German Shepard Owner of an unorganized scrappy place I CAN ONLY SHIP IN THE USA
one would ( could ) think that PTI should take a gander here.
It isn't as if they don't know how their customers are feeling. I don't know how many customers they lost due to the CS email deleting etc, but I have to think they noticed
a drop in sales.
You would think, huh? I do wonder what their sales have been like considering GinaK's quadrupled (I think last month)....LOVE Ginak!!!
Add my name to the list of those who never had an issue personally but decided not to order based on how I saw them treat others.
THERE SHE GOES is my new FAVORITE stamp store with MFT as a close second. I also recently put in a large order with CRAFT's MEOW. Each of those companies shipped my order FAST! (I got TSG in 3 days!) (I get a FREE MFT set with every minimum order I place.) I do like a lot of PTI's designs and what their DT can do with a stamp set, but I refuse to send my money to a company who treats its customers the way they do.
THERE SHE GOES ROCKS!!!!!! Not only do I adore their stamps, but I personally had the greatest customer service experience. The actions taken were more than I had ever expected and did right by me. I placed another $100+ order with them within a couple weeks. That's how you keep customers and keep them coming back for more!!!
Here's what I don't get about PTI. I haven't ordered from them in a while and most likely will NOT order from them until they take customer service seriously and make things "right" with their customers. I'm one that has not had any issues with PTI, however, after reading not only this thread, but threads on other forums....I am not shopping there anytime soon, which makes me sad because they do have some wonderful images and dies. I'm just not willing to take the chance, so my decision is to leave them on a good note, knowing that I didn't have to go through some of the nightmares that other customers are dealing with. My condolences to those who have/had bad experiences with PTI....I respect those who have come forth and appreciate how they have shared their stories.
I think many of us have bought things on Ebay. One of the first things I do when considering to bid on an item is to see what the seller's feedback is like. I will forgo bidding on an item (no matter how badly I want the item) if the seller has enough negative feedbacks and that those negative feedbacks are recent. If you see several bidders leaving negative feedbacks, not just one or two, would you be willing to take the risk that you're not going to be in the same boat? Not I. If PTI had a feedback system, how many negative feedbacks do you think they would have gotten? I rely and appreciate the feedbacks from other shoppers to make my shopping experience a good one.
One of the MOST important things about running a business is customer service!!! Your customers shouldn't be taken for granted.....loyalty only lasts as long as you are loyal to them (the customers).
What I don't get is....with all of these customer issues (past and present), why does PTI keep digging themselves deeper and deeper into a hole?!?!?!?!?! They continue come out with their monthly releases, which only creates more opportunities for customer service issues, which they can't seem to keep up with. They also have their Stamp-a-Faire event....again, more burden on themselves which creates opportunities where issues might come up. I would have more respect for them if they reacted like GinaK where she openly communicated with her customers and future customers on her blog and even delayed a release to take care of business and her customers. Just a class act all the way around!!!!
I don't wish PTI any ill-will and truly hope that they can come out of this stronger and better. Their greed could end up being the end of what would have been a great company. As a financial advisor, I see a lot of similiarity here to the tech disaster we saw in the late 90's early 00's and the recent credit mess. Greed created those bubbles in the stock market and in the end, we saw those bubbles burst!!!!
I get notices all the time from companies that say a label has been printed but it is not shipped yet, and then within 24 hours the package is on its way.
I don't understand DAYS of delay from the time the label is printed. Especially since if I print labels myself at home, I have to say the date that it's going to be mailed out from my zip code and if I don't mail it that day the post office will not accept it.
So... that makes me wonder if they only want to go to the p.o. or call for pickup if they have a certain quantity? or for some other reason? Because why wait if the shipping label has been printed? And when they print that label, they must know that they will not ship it for another three or four or more days. Why can't they just tell you that up front? If every other company can give accurate shipping status information, why can't they?
And the international customers have asked for a very long time about a better alternative for them. It was one reason they stated they were changing the website - to offer more options. Just the other day, it was mentioned on the forum that they started talking about this a "few weeks ago." That's just how important it is to them. And also that they don't have "enough information" to make a decision. What?? Why would this take weeks or months to figure out?
It boggles the mind, and I agree, indefensible.
**The delay is that PTI is not getting into the USPS hands quickly. They are waiting several days after printing the labels to get the packages to the post office.
You would think, huh? I do wonder what their sales have been like considering GinaK's quadrupled (I think last month)....LOVE Ginak!!!
I just completed a $100+ order with GinaK. My mouth literally fell open with the email from Nichole about CS issues and that they were deleting the emails.
I also agree with another poster (and have said so myself) that if they don't a handle on the CS issues and take responsibilities when they make mistakes - the company will die. Poor CS - no customers!
**The delay is that PTI is not getting into the USPS hands quickly. They are waiting several days after printing the labels to get the packages to the post office.
Yes, I realize that. That was pretty much the whole point of my post.
Sorry if I didn't make my point on the subject more clear :p.
it isn't black and white. i haven't ordered from PTI in over 6 months and decided to roll the dice as there were several sets that I was coveting. To be honest, I was a bit nervous but decided that I could take care of myself in the CS/whining department...
ordered Tuesday May 1, received an immediate email with confirmation
Friday May 4 -- happy to receive my package.
I realize that this doesn't make other shipping issues go away and that I am not ordering on release time, but wanted to chime in that I had a positive experience.
the company is a mystery to me!
__________________ Dear Paperlicious is my blog...with a series on how I'm learning to improve my cardmaking by studying others.
It's a little bit more black and white for me. I will consider ordering again once I feel that they really understand good customer service and go out of their way to make things right for unhappy customers. I still get the sense that it's never their fault and the changes of the past few months are mostly cosmetic. By speaking with my wallet as many others are doing, I hope that they are able to finally get that they will have to really make some changes if they want to stay in business long term.
Barbara
It's a little bit more black and white for me. I will consider ordering again once I feel that they really understand good customer service and go out of their way to make things right for unhappy customers. I still get the sense that it's never their fault and the changes of the past few months are mostly cosmetic. By speaking with my wallet as many others are doing, I hope that they are able to finally get that they will have to really make some changes if they want to stay in business long term.
Barbara
I can understand that. Every stamper has to make his or her own decision as to where to put those precious dollars!
I put off buying since (I think) last July for that same reason. I hope the changes I've seen are not cosmetic, but -- as always -- I could be wrong.
It isn't a question of looking for the good, IMHO. There were serious customer service issues. It appears to me that they have made some strides in that area.
I guess time will tell.
__________________ Dear Paperlicious is my blog...with a series on how I'm learning to improve my cardmaking by studying others.
I was one of those customers that had a few issues. For starters, I was a prize winner that never received her prize. And then, when the new website switched over, I could not use my gift certificates. I was a little frustrated.
Finally, in lieu of a prize, Nichole did send prize winners a gift certificate to compensate, which was fine by me. They've now converted to this system, and it seems to work better for everyone involved.
The website is slowly being brought up to speed. I was able to use my gift certificates, made a purchase, and it arrived in a timely manner. (I think it was under five days).
I am using the medical term "watchful waiting" with PTI. I think it was smart to bring in the design team for a little forum intervention. Truth is, you hardly ever heard from the design team before except for new release time. Back then, many of them rarely updated their blogs, which doesn't do much for building interest.
I hope that a little humility will be a good experience for PTI, and they will learn to appreciate their customers. This would probably be a good time for them to explore the customer service methods used by many others companies mentioned here on SCS. I am by no means PTI loyal, as I purchase from many companies now, but I haven't sworn them off yet.
I think it was smart to bring in the design team for a little forum intervention. Truth is, you hardly ever heard from the design team before except for new release time. Back then, many of them rarely updated their blogs, which doesn't do much for building interest.
.
I respectfully disagree with you on this. I perceive their whole purpose to be nothing more than to distract the forum from the real issues and the malcontentedness.
And maybe I'd even be able to respect that if their posts weren't so inane and transparent.
I respectfully disagree with you on this. I perceive their whole purpose to be nothing more than to distract the forum from the real issues and the malcontentedness.
And maybe I'd even be able to respect that if their posts weren't so inane and transparent.
I can see your point as well. They are trying to provide the "sunshine" to counteract the overall gloominess, and in many ways, it is distraction. My point is that they are actually doing a little more design team work by promoting their company in a more regular fashion, something that seemed to be reserved for a once a month appearance in the past.
The truth is that on the week when Jenn disappeared and then officially stepped down, they seemed to step up to the plate and get a little more accomplished with a little less snark. I, for one, was helped by them at a time when pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears.
I think the rah rah cheerleader posts have calmed down a bit in recent days, and they're posting more "conversation starters", which is fine. It's their job to build excitement for the company, and they should do that rather than remain silent for three weeks and then pop up only during release week.
Just speaking for the role of a design team member, not the role of a customer service department, which I think are two separate entities all together.
is quickly locked and told to go to the customer service zen center. Once the post is locked it quickly drops off of the bottom of the forum page and is only visible if searched for. Every new "sunshine" post by the design team gets those posts hidden even faster.
I have seen a couple, before they drop off, where people are stating they are waiting days or weeks for answers even with the new customer service forum.
I was hoping foolishly, once again, that things really were changing but I am afraid they really aren't.
I would have to agree that the statement that when you look for the bad you will find it. But ascribing this attitude to those that express their very real experiences with PTI is not right in this instance.
I have read the forums here, and others, and have seen MANY customers who have/had problems with the attitude that they wanted for PTI to make positive changes in the way that they deal with their customers because they LIKED PTI and their products. They were HOPEFUL that PTI would change for the BETTER. That is the opposite of "looking" for the bad.
Customers that have had been the recipients of poor customer service have the right to be wary of how PTI will treat them in the future IF they decide to order from them again. Many customers have given them many chances to treat the customers with respect and as they are supposed to. This is also not an example of "looking" for the bad. Again, they hope for the best.
Crafting supplies are not a "need" or something that you have to purhase to live, they are discretionary purchases at the will of the purchaser. PTI doesn't seem to understand this as they treat their customers in a way that seems to say that they (PTI) are doing them a favor by letting them purchase their products. It has been documented on their own fourm (and with their own words) with the responses that they treat those that have problems with rudeness, suspicion, arrogance, annoyance, denial, dismissal, the customer is the problem, no admittance that they caused the problem, blame customer for problems/bad policies that they (PTI) themselves had made, making the customer prove that they have the right to have a problem resolved.
A company that has nothing to hide will not hide it's customers comments that have problems. A reputable company will not be afraid of these comments because it gives them a perfect opportunity to be open and transparent showing that they care about their customers above the "bottom line" and that they are willing to resolve a problem to the customers satisfaction where all can see.
A company that truely has the good will of the overwhelming majority of it's customers will not have the continued problems that have to be hidden away and buried to keep their "image" clean. It will be clean as seen by all because they take care of the customer to do so. A reputable company that takes care of it's customers with respect, quickly, to their satisfaction, with no additional burden upon the customer will not have have to worry about their "image" because they will have one that shows the truth of their claims about "the customer is why we are here, they are our greatest asset".
PTI does not seem to hold to this attitude. As I said above after reading all of the posts from the customers and PTI it seems that PTI is either in denial or doesn't sincerely care about the customers, only the money that they send in. They make changes only when they have to and only enough to make it seem as they are "changing for the better". These changes do not come quickly and are routinely in favor of PTI's benefit not the customers.
There was a PTI forum post from the husband of one of the owners who was lashing out to those who were asking and pressuring for answers and resolutions that they were not getting. Threads of complaints, were being deleted or locked to keep those that were unhappy from doing and "damage" or from expressing their problems, annoyances/grievances. Why would the husband see the need to lash out at the customers who had a problem that PTI created? Why delete thousands (numbers by their own admission) of CS emails because they couldn't deal with them? This is not professional in any way, and not the response of a company that sincerely cares about it's customers - the company's lifeblood.
A reputable company wouldn't do this. One or more of the owners have admitted on the forum that they have a full time job elsewhere, and another said to basically "give them a break" because of it. It seems that PIT is a part time business and an afterthought to the demands of other full time jobs, life and family (I am NOT saying that anyone put a business ABOVE family!!! Just stating the obvious time constraints this would bring).
The customers see PTI as a full time company with the owners and employees spending full time hours doing business. One that was would be able to handle the many problems in a more timely manner. But, when it is only "as you have time to get to it", the time lengthens for each problem to be resolved.
There are new customers that will never see the forum and will never see the "negative approval rating" who will purchase from PTI. Some of these will have no problems, some will and as it has been proven, get the same results as those who have problems in the past (as continued posts about problems with same treatement).
Others will see the forum posts and be able to make an informed decision on whether to take a chance and purchase or not. Other will would never conceive of saying or believing that PTI could ever be like these that "look for the bad" are saying. That is their choice and they have the right to say it. So do those that have problems. I would like to see PTI actually change and prove that they do care about their customers more than they do for themselves. I like the products, but not enough to do business with them with the current attitude.
The vast majority of those customers that have had/have problems WANT TO BE CUSTOMERS and sincerely want PTI to actually CARE. It doesn't seem as PTI does, it boggles the mind. PTI seems to have it backwards, the business has to prove to the customer it's worth, not the other way around.
With the economy getting worse there is going to be less and less money for discrestionary spending and only those companies that give a good product, reasonably priced with great customer service will survive.
I worked in customer service for years. I worked in a small shop, and small country store and then for Macy's before becoming a SAHM. IF I had ever treated ONE customer the way PTI treats their customers I would have been fired.... and rightfully so!!
I would NEVER return to a business that treated me that way "in real life." And honestly, I think I am done ordering from PTI. Every order of cardstock I have gotten from them has had the corners banged up but I have never contacted them because of other's complaints about CS. They have some very good products, but it is not worth it to order from them any more. I would much rather support Taylored Expressions or any other company that appreciates their customers.
__________________ Lisa -
Married my sweetheart 1-26-02 Mommy to Hunter 9-3-04 & Hailey 7-26-06
I really liked PTI in the beginning. I stopped ordering (except for paper/ribbons occassionally) in I guess 2010 (maybe earlier).
They never were great in the CS dept. The last time I ordered paper, it was bent on the corners. They could have cared less. So now I don't even order paper. I had hoped they would humble up a bit and see that without their customers, they wouldn't go far.
It's truly sad for me to come across this thread.
I hope and pray they can make some positive changes.
I wish I could give them my business as I have seen some cute, cute images and dies. It doesn't sound like (to me) that they've "learned" anything. When they're system went down last month during the release party, the next morning they sent out an email explaining that the vendor that handles the payment software/system was to blame. I deleted that email, but found a similar response below.
Here's Nicole's response to someone who commented on the PTI forum about not being able to make a purchase:
"While I certainly understand your frustration, we actually have never experienced this specific type of issue in the past. Tonights problem has something to do with the company that processes all order payments. Please understand that we are just as frustrated as all of you, we are losing lots of potential revenue this evening after all of the hard work put into the last week. I know that with all of the excitement of the countdown, ending the week with this is a letdown for everyone involved. Please know that we are sincerely sorry for what has occurred tonight and we also understand that we have not lived up to your expectations in regards to your shopping experience."
For me, I couldn't help but focus on the loss of "potential revenue". Maybe it's because they had that upfront which states that's what is most important to them....loss of revenue....NOT what happens to the customers...the apologies come at the very end. If they were truly humble and appreciative of their customers I would have thought that they would have focused on "APOLOGIZING" (whether it was their system or not) and "THANKING" customers for their patience....instead, what was SO obvious was that they care more about how much money they bring in or didn't bring in!!!!!!!!!!!! REALLY?!?!?!??!! Why would you even mention that?!?!?!?!
I'm trying really hard to refrain from adding fuel to the fire, but it really does sicken me when it's so obvious that they put their needs/wants ahead of customers. So, while I may not be getting the cuties from PTI, there are too many other wonderful companies out there and I'm happy to give my business to stores that care about their customers!
I'm a firm believer that the struggles PTI is having in getting its act together is one of the reasons Gina K is growing in leaps and bounds. People are looking for great product AND great customer service and they're finding it at Gina K.
It was noted earlier on FB:
"We reached two huge milestones today! The StampTV facebook fan page has over 12,000 fans and the StampTV website has over 23,000 members! Welcome to all of you. We are so glad to have you as part of our StampTV community! ♥"
In comparison the PTI Facebook page has a mere 3,761 likes. I'm not subscribed to anything on the PTI site to know any of their other numbers.
Every time I see nice cards or other paper craft items pinned on Pinterest that I'd consider pinning that relate back to PTI products, I won't pin them. I can't support a company that doesn't provided good customer service by sharing items made using their products.
__________________ Leslie Harnish
Sambro, Nova Scotia
Canada
I'm a firm believer that the struggles PTI is having in getting its act together is one of the reasons Gina K is growing in leaps and bounds. People are looking for great product AND great customer service and they're finding it at Gina K.
It was noted earlier on FB:
"We reached two huge milestones today! The StampTV facebook fan page has over 12,000 fans and the StampTV website has over 23,000 members! Welcome to all of you. We are so glad to have you as part of our StampTV community! ♥"
In comparison the PTI Facebook page has a mere 3,761 likes. I'm not subscribed to anything on the PTI site to know any of their other numbers.
No doubt this is true. Gina uses her head. When she found herself backed up with a huge "unexpected" number of orders she postponed the next release for a couple of week to catch up. Taking more orders at that point would have compounded the problem and annoyed those waiting for their orders . She also kept people informed with emails of the status of the backup . Everyone understands that sometimes things go wrong, it is how you deal with the problems that makes all the difference .
I remember a while back when one of the small text stamps in a set had a misspelled word . The minute Gina found out about the problem she pressed a new corrected stamp and sent it " with an apology" to everyone who had ordered that set . It cost her money to correct it, but she made that up 100 fold in good will and happy customers .
__________________ "I have not failed . I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" --Thomas A. Edison
