story of a customer service fail

Mar 20, 2024

Maybe it’s because my job revolves around how to better serve customers and I notice it more, but it sure seems like a majority of businesses only care about the sale.

My recent online purchase from Yankee Candle…

Please note that Yankee is the largest candle manufacturer in the United States. Because of their poor service, I’ll be sticking with Swan Creek Candle Company.

swan creek candle burning on kitchen counter

I placed my online Yankee Candle order 3-weeks ago. Because it still hadn’t made it to my doorstep, today I looked up the FedEx tracking number supplied to find it took that long for Yankee just to create a packing slip. I reached out for help via their chat module.

Mehraj (an Islamic/Muslim name originating in India meaning moon kingdom) apologized for the inconvenience and shipping exception.

Me: It’s not an inconvenience or a shipping exception. Yankee charged me for products that weren’t delivered. Please cancel the order and refund my card with the same expediency as you debited it.

But that’s not the end of the story…

I get an email that says… “It may take up to 3 billing cycles for your financial institution to process the refund back into your account. Please contact your financial institution if you have questions about processing time.” 🙄

THREE BILLING CYCLES? Not counting the time I spent choosing my items and ordering them — or the time in chat with Mehraj in India — I quite possibly will be without my money for up to 4 months without getting one thing in return.

Candles won’t be nearly as important when windows can be open and spring is in the air.

view out my kitchen window in rural Crothersville

Now you know: Danny DeVito’s short stature is the result of Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia (Fairbank’s disease), a rare genetic disorder that affects bone growth.