Thursday, August 11, 2011

That Sinking Feeling

Good news: The replacement sink for the damaged one described a couple of posts ago arrived promptly, an Artisan 16-gauge beauty.

Bad news: It was damaged too, and the damage was virtually identical to that on the first sink, a bend between the large and small bowl with a crease visible on top. We've now determined conclusively that even 16-gauge sinks can be bent during shipping when suspended in a cardboard cutout.

Better news: we complained directly via an online form to Artisan Manufacturing and received an almost immediate response asking for more information.

Best news: The employee who responded to us was, rather amazingly, Joseph Amabile, the company's Chief Operating Officer.

We e-mailed Mr. Amabile photos of the damaged sink and he immediately offered to have it replaced. He also said they would send us a set of sink grates to compensate us for our trouble. He is also asking the warehouse manager to add packing material to the box this time, a fine idea.

Tanya at Home Thangs sent us an e-mail to tell us they were sending us a $50 check as compensation for the second damaged sink, just as we were sending her an e-mail asking her to order that third sink.

We subsequently had a nice conversation with her and told her we would not cash the check, since we should belatedly be getting an undamaged sink.

We're keeping our fingers crossed and thinking, as the old saying goes, third time lucky.

Maybe it augurs well for our upcoming trip to Las Vegas. We should be so lucky.

Update August 18: Our luck with the third sink was even better than our luck in Las Vegas - okay, it was a lot better.

The third sink arrived while we were away, and it is in perfect condition.

We sent a thank-you e-mail to Joe Amabile and received a nice return e-mail from him. It's worth quoting:

"I am glad that I could help you in this matter, every customer is important to us no matter how big or small. A company is only as good as how they handle their issues and problems."

Wouldn't it be great if everybody - companies and individuals - acted in that spirit?

2 comments:

  1. Dear Brian and Kathy,
    I am glad that your product arrived and that Artisan can help you. Your Blog has inspired me to do something i have been wanting to do for a while, that is start my own. I hope that through my hopefully daily blogs about business, sales and struggles i can help others and get great feedback from others. I have posted your great reply on my blog jamabile@artisansinks.com you are the second Blog that i have posted.
    Once again
    Thank you
    J. Amabile

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a terrific idea! Welcome to the world of blogging. We're looking forward to checking out your new blog.

    Kathy and Brian

    ReplyDelete

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