10 posts tagged “beaded banners by bonnie”

Customer service has been in the forefront of my mind lately, mainly because customers keep putting it there, so I thought I would share some thoughts. I know, you probably are thinking this is going to be a negative post but it’s not, it is very positive.

I am being told over and over again about how great my customer service is and people thank me all the time for “going out of my way” for them. Maybe it is because I am just a small business, one person operation type thing. Maybe it is because for years I worked in doctor’s offices and no matter how I felt, most of the time the patients felt worse and I knew that so I went out of my way to treat them nice. Maybe it is because I treat others like I would like to be treated. Maybe it is because I have had such rotten customer service from various businesses over the years. Maybe it is because I don’t know any better. Maybe it is because I am just trying to do what it is right. Maybe it is because all I am doing is helping someone else.

Or maybe it is all of the above?

Recently a gentleman emailed me and said he doesn’t like to pay online, he likes to send money orders. No problem I told him. I have several customers like that. He was surprised. The more we emailed I found out he was disabled and unable to get out much and he made beaded banners as gifts for people. Long story short, because he placed a fairly good sized pattern order, I cut him a little break on the patterns and postage. Then he placed a good size beaded banner rods and end caps order and I threw in a free spool of thread. He was again surprised. I told him I knew he was going to be a good customer and I knew he had troubles and what I was doing wasn’t much really, but just wanted to help him out a little. He emailed to me:

“Thank you. You have been so patient and I appreciate that you will go out of your way in what you do especially for people who are at a disadvantage of being disabled who can’t get out much.”

I really didn’t do that much but it meant a lot to him.

I recently had another customer who was from Canada. No matter what I tried doing, the shipping was so much compared to shipping within the U.S. She knew I made a couple trips to the Post Office trying to figure out the best way and then also checked about shipping UPS for her. I couldn’t see her having to pay so much for shipping and in the end I saved her a total of $2 on her order of rods and beads. She wrote:

It's been a pleasure...I look forward to doing more business with you. You are the first that has ever gone out of their way to find the cheapest rate for me and for that I am grateful.....Thanks again!”

Again, not much extra work from my end and nothing more than what I would want someone to do for me, but it meant a lot to her.

The best part with both of these people is that I have gained customers who will be ordering quite a bit more (they have both told me this) as well as email buddies (I email with both of them on a regular basis now).

These aren’t the only customers that have commented on my customer service nor are they the only ones that have become friends as well as customers. I have a gal in Massachusetts who found me on a craft site I first sold on and she and I have become good friends. She as well as a few other customers are disabled or senior citizens and their checks come once a month. I understand that and have worked with several of them concerning their orders and payments. Why not? I am going to be there some day and I hope businesses afford me the same courtesy.

I had another lady that found my website because she was unhappy with the service she was receiving from another site. After a couple orders from me for beads and patterns she wrote:

“About a year ago I sent a check to ***** to join the pattern club, I included a copy of the order from the site. I never heard from them and emailed to see if they received my check, I NEVER heard back from them. I emailed them 3 times, they never had the courtesy to write back. I was going to send another check if they would tear up the first one if they ever did receive it. That is very bad business ethics! I really appreciate your friendliness and excellent business know how!!”

Again, this customer and I email often now. All of these customers were anxious for updates regarding my recent surgery and I also inquire about their lives and how things are going. And from a business aspect, the great thing is that they keep ordering from me. These customers are just a few examples of many in the short time I have been in business and I guess that is why Beaded Banners by Bonnie keeps growing.

I just don’t understand why companies don’t want to give good customer service because it is obvious that just doing what is right with your customers comes back to you in many good ways.

I will end this with some of my recent Ebay feedback which shows again that providing good customer service whether it be answering questions, shipping promptly, good quality products, or going out of your way to help a customer is the best way to do business!

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I haven’t blogged in a while so thought I should catch up!  Actually a lot has happened since I blogged yet….nothing exciting really……..but between trying to go back to work and trying to keep up with orders and still not feeling 100%, I didn’t have time to blog.  So here goes………..LOL!

Regarding my recovery from my 9/29 gallbladder removal, I am getting there.  In fact this afternoon I have my follow up with the surgeon.  Poor hubby has to take off work to take me because I have no clue how to get to Shadyside!  I’ve been there twice…..once to visit someone and the other time the morning my of my surgery when it was 5:30 a.m. and I wasn’t thinking about WHERE we were going but WHAT was going to be happening to me!  So yeah, poor hubby has to take off work early to take me.

I am anxious to hear what the doc has to say about my pain.  In the area where my gallbladder used to be still hurts some.  I really think it is because they had to cut so many adhesions away and it takes longer to heal inside than outside, but I want to hear that from the surgeon and not just assume that is the case.  Food-wise I am eating most things.  I still have to stay away from really fatty things or I have problems, but it has only been 3 weeks since my surgery and already “things” have adjusted and I am able to eat almost anything.  For that I am truly grateful!  I still want bacon and a greasy cheeseburger from McDonalds, but that might happen this week because we went to the Penguins game on Saturday night and because of that we won a free Big Mac because of one of the power play goals!  Just gotta make sure a bathroom is close by when I eat it, that’s all.  Okay, enough of that………TMI!  LOL  My energy level is still down, but the surgeon told me I would be tired for 4-5 weeks due to surgery and the general anesthesia.  I’m inpatient though and want to feel better NOW.  I worked 2 or 3 hours a day starting a week after my surgery and then 6 hours a day last week.  This week I am planning on a full 8 after today.  I would rather be part time because of all my orders and requests for pattern designs, but don’t think that will happen because I hear my boss doesn’t want me to do that, even though I don’t have much to do at work.

My business is going well.  I have been selling quite a bit on Ebay………not TONS, but consistent.  I am still selling quite a few beaded banner rods and end caps, but as far as I know there is only one other place beaders can purchase those.  I started posting pony beads online and they have been taking off so I am building up my stock and have many more to post.  I still need to post my own pattern designs on Ebay but I have had people that have been finding me through www.bannersbybonnie.com  and emailing me and ordering through me so that works for now.  I also posted some other non-craft things on Ebay (both new and used) and those have been selling.  I have boxes of stuff to post and more crafts and my mom’s crafts and my mother-in-law’s crafts and well I need time!  I so wish that first week after surgery when I was home 24/7 I had felt like being on the laptop 24/7 like I had planned!  Oh well, like they say, the best laid plans of mice and men………!!!!

So one of my favorite shows is Extreme Home Makeover.  I love it and have NEVER once watched it without getting teary eyed……….and I don’t cry very easily!  They are in town this week.  GO FIGURE!  If I had not just had surgery and had to miss so much work, trust me I would be there volunteering at least one shift!  I am hoping that we can drive by at least once, just to say I was there.  I am VERY tempted to take Friday afternoon off so I can yell “BUSDRIVER, MOVE THAT BUS” and watch the family when they come home!  But at least the news is keeping us updated regularly and that helps…………a little.

The election……….ARGH.  I hate it…………I hate all the commercials……….I hate all the signs everywhere littering the scenery.  And I have no clue who to vote for because, well no one is a very good candidate in my humble opinion.  I heard a good one on the radio the other day and if you are from Pittsburgh you will truly understand this.  They said forget the election………..just be a STEELERS FAN!  HAHAHAHA

Our kids……….let’s see.  My daughter Stacey and her friend Denise have settled in quite well here in the Pittsburgh area after moving here from Tennessee mid-September.  We haven’t been over since they got all settled, mainly because of my surgery.  Last time I was there things were starting to look good and from what Stacey says they are all settled in.  Stacey loves her job as a paralegal at Edgar Snyder’s office.  She says everyone is really nice and she and her boss get along good.  She takes the bus from right outside her apartment to about 4 blocks from her building.  When the weather gets bad she can drive a short distance to a park and ride and then take the T (subway/trolley thing) in and get off at the basement of her building.  We can’t email like we used to, but she generally text messages with me on the bus on the way to and from work so that is good.  Thank goodness for 21^st century technology, huh?  LOL  Denise transferred to a Sears here in the area and is happy there.  She has a little drive to work but not too bad………I think they said 6 miles.  We don’t see them often because they are probably about 45 minutes away and across the river(s) but it’s nice to know they are close by.  Stacey has made a couple trips to Erie for geneology stuff and to help my Mom with cleaning and Denise has been working some long hours and weekends, so that’s one reason……..but again, my surgery has prevented seeing them, too.  We have some places we want to show them and things we want to do together and that will happen soon.  Denise isn’t liking the cold weather too much I don’t think since she spent a good portion of her life in the south, but at least Pittsburgh doesn’t get as much snow as Erie does!  I told her to not go by all the winter horror stories she has heard from Stacey because Pittsburgh is so much more mild in the winters than Erie was and that’s all that Stacey knows is Erie winters!  LOL

My son Craig and his wife Mary took their vacation in California to celebrate their first wedding anniversary.  I can’t believe it was a year ago today they got married!  CONGRATULATIONS CRAIG AND MARY!  I have heard a couple things about their trip but can’t wait to see pictures.  They were going to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego and have visited the Walk of Fame and Beverly Hills as well as many other places.   I am so happy they were able to get away and see California and they are having a good time.

Doug’s son Travis is working at an insulation place and busy with his friends and his new (used but new to him) vehicle.  We don’t see him much, but he is happy so that’s all that matters!

After not doing much for a few weeks it was nice to get out Saturday.  We went to the Pittsburgh Good Eats Food Expo.  It was incredible!  We didn’t stay as long as we would have liked because I didn’t want to get too tired because of our plans that night, but talk about FOOD!  The admission price was $15 per person and we had $3 off coupons so we spent $12 to get in.  Not only did we have more samples of great food to eat while we were there, we took home lots of samples and tons of coupons!  If we had eaten ALL the samples offered while we were there, it would have been enough for two meals!  I was a little nervous eating some of the things because I hadn’t tried those items since my surgery, but I figured might as well and I really didn’t have too much trouble because of it.  Had to run to the bathroom once after we got home but that’s it.

We went home and rested for a few hours and then headed to Mellon Arena to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins BEAT the Toronto Maple Leafs!  It was awesome.  We spent a little more and parked right by the Arena so I wouldn’t have to walk as much.  We won the tickets on Ebay in the last few minutes of an auction Friday afternoon and the seats were tremendous and the best thing is we basically got both for about the price of one ticket!  I will be posting pictures in the next couple days hopefully.  (I am behind on posting pictures as well as behind on blogging!)  I was tired when it was over but I spent all day yesterday at home on the couch working on paperwork and organizing more for my business while watching the Pittsburgh Steelers BEAT the Cincinnati Bengals and other football games all day.

So I think all my paperwork is finally organized enough that I can keep posting away on Ebay and start updating my site. I  have a lot of banner patterns I need to design for customers and I think I may be feeling good enough that I can be creative again so need to start on that this week.  So the plans this week are designing and posting.  I have some beaded banner orders but the customers are out of town for a couple weeks so those can wait a little, except for one smaller one I need to get done.

Okay so this is what happens when I don’t blog for a while………..I have to write a book!  LOL  No one probably reads these anyway so what am I worried about?  HAHAHAHA

Have a good one.  I’m off to see the surgeon soon!

Just an update on the beaded banner pattern situation……

Jenny from Beadshak and I have emailed and she has accepted my apology and appreciated my honesty and integrity.  Thank you, Jenny.  She noted that she had reported the seller to Ebay.

My plan was that when the patterns came I would post feedback for the seller of the patterns as positive (because the product was sent promptly and was as described and she had already left me positive feedback) but in the comments part for EVERY pattern I was going to put “Copyrighted patterns. Should NOT have been sold and I should NOT have purchased them.”.  However I did not get a chance to do that because the patterns came yesterday around lunch and I immediately went on Ebay to post the feedback and she was already no longer a registered user.  Hopefully Ebay got to her because of the Beadshak complaint and she has been banned and she didn’t just disappear on her own and will show up with another ID on Ebay.  But we will all be watching and trust me I will be much more careful with future purchases!

I got myself in a predicament this week.

As most of you know that would be reading this blog, I design and sell beaded banner patterns and supplies and also completed beaded banners.  I am always on the lookout for new patterns and sometimes kits (if the price is right).  Because of that I have a search set up on Ebay for “beaded banners” and I get an email on a daily basis of any new beaded banner items listed on Ebay.

I am always wanting to add to my collection of patterns which at this time is up to 120 that I have designed and over 100 that I have obtained from kits or patterns purchases from other places.  When I find a kit cheap on Ebay I buy it and also there are some kits I have purchased just because I love the pattern and want it bad enough that I will buy a whole kit even though I have thousands of beads at home and all the supplies to make banners without needing a kit.  In addition, I have made purchases from a couple places online when they have offered 10 or 20 pattern assortments and even kit assortments.

Because of purchasing assortments of patterns as well as assortments of kits a few times and also because I have purchased duplicates of kits several times if the price is right and kit is cheaper than what the supplies would be, I have extra patterns that I have not designed that I have sold.  I don’t need more than one of a pattern so I have sold the extra patterns a couple times just to get rid of the duplicate. 

I have noticed that other people have also done this on Ebay occasionally.  So when my Ebay search the other day showed up a bunch of patterns for sale that I didn’t have, I jumped on it and bought them.  So this is where my predicament started.  The next day I wanted to update my list/spreadsheet of the patterns that I have and I went back and looked closer at the pictures and I realized that a few of them had markings on them indicating every row number.  MY HEART SANK…………I FELT THIS AWFUL PIT DEEP DOWN………you know that UH-OH feeling you get when you know you screwed up?  I knew that the only place I have seen patterns like that was at Beadshak, so I proceeded to log on to their site and see if they were their patterns.  They were.  My heart sank more.

Why you ask?  Beadshak is owned by a gal that designs patterns like myself.  I purchased patterns from her in the past when I first started making banners.  Beadshak is actually the reason I started designing my own patterns.  Because of their policy, I was unable to sell banners made from the patterns I purchased from them so I decided to invest in software and start designing my own patterns so that I could sell the completed banners.  Soon I had people who wanted to buy my patterns and thus the start of Beaded Banners by Bonnie.  However, I respect Beadshak and their designs and have never sold banners made from their patterns per their policy.  In fact when Beadshak requested that I take some completed items I had made from their patterns off the previous site that I was selling my products on I obliged. 

I used to check out Beadshak’s site regularly just to see what the competition was doing and also to make sure that I wasn’t designing anything that was too close to what she was designing.  However, I have been so busy lately with processing orders for patterns and supplies and also making banners for orders that I haven’t checked out their site for quite some time.  Because of this I did not recognize that some of the patterns I had purchased were from Beadshak or I never would have purchased them.  I figured they were extra patterns someone had from duplicate kits or assortment pattern purchases.

I contemplated what I should do to make this right between Beaded Banners by Bonnie and Beadshak and I decided to wait for the patterns to arrive to see if I could determine if they were duplicates or extras before I contacted Beadshak to tell them what had happened.  I felt bad that it happened, but if there was a way I could determine that they had purchased the patterns from Beadshak and used them and then decided to get rid of it because they weren’t going to use it again then I wouldn’t feel quite as bad and would just let Beadshak know it happened.  However, when yesterday’s Ebay search for “beaded banners” came my heart sank again………..only lower this time.  All of the patterns were reposted for sale on Ebay which meant that copies were being made and sold.  I knew that for sure I needed to let Beadshak know what happened and what a huge mistake I had made, although it was not intentional.

I emailed Beadshak this morning to let them know what happened and that there was nothing I could do because I had already made the purchase and the patterns were being shipped.  However, I assured them that I would only use the patterns for personal use and I assured them that I will not make any banners to sell from the patterns that I purchased since that is their policy.

I share this with all of you for a couple reasons.  First, I wanted to make a public apology to Beadshak and let them and anyone else that may see or hear that I purchased the patterns on Ebay know that had I known these were not extra patterns from kits that I would NOT have even considered purchasing them.  Secondly, I am writing this to ask all beaders out there to respect the designers such as Beadshak, Beaded Banners by Bonnie, and others and not make copies of the patterns you purchase.  If someone else wants a pattern, refer them to the source and let them purchase the patterns direct from the designers.  It’s not like any of us ask that much for our patterns. Thirdly, I am asking that the seller of these patterns stop making copies of patterns and selling them at their own profit.  It’s not fair.  Think about what it would feel like if YOU designed patterns, sold them, and then saw someone making copies of them and selling them on Ebay.  If you have a pattern left from a kit you no longer want that is one thing, but to make copies and sell them is unfair to the designer.

Do my patterns that I sell get copied and shared?  I would be stupid if I thought they weren’t.  I’m sure that Jane Doe purchases one for herself and then her friend wants a copy and yeah, she probably makes her one.  Is this right?  No.  I don’t have a policy as such specified on my website.  However each pattern goes out with the note “Pattern  designed by and property of Beaded Banners by Bonnie” and also with “Pattern not to be copied or sold” on it.  But to think that Jane doesn’t make a copy for her friend Mary would be ignorant on my part.  Hopefully most people are honest enough to not even share it with a friend, but I’m sure it happens.  But for someone to make copies of patterns designed by others and blatantly sell them to anyone, let alone on Ebay, is so totally wrong.

I’ve said enough.  You get the point.  People have policies.  Follow them please.  And if you want to share an occasional pattern of mine with a friend that can’t afford to purchase their own from me at the reasonable price I charge, that’s your choice.  But don’t make copies of my patterns or Beadshak’s or anyone elses for that matter because we WILL find out.

CATCHING UP ON BEADED BANNERS BY BONNIE’S LIFE

Wow I am SO far behind on blogging it isn’t funny!  Vacation came and went and I haven’t blogged since!

So…………my plan is to try to catch all of my blogging up little by little and then try to keep on it regularly.  Not too sure if people actually read the blogs, but I know some people do because I have actually made a few new friends due to blogs.

So……….Beaded Banners by Bonnie (Bonnie Matthews) is going to try to blog blog blog and catch up to date!  Got all my pictures finally caught up and posted on Facebook and Myspace from vacation to present (that’s a LOT of pictures, btw!) and now it’s blog catch up time.

On May 31st we tried to sell our wares at the first of our five scheduled visits to Ligonier Country Market. However, the weather did NOT cooperate! Bad storms came through the area. Two hours into the 4 hours we finally put the canopy up and put a few things out, however not many people were shopping because it was still raining off and on, so an hour later when it started raining again we packed up after selling NOTHING! Here are a few pictures of my banners and my husband and my in-laws and a few of her crafts. Remember, we only put a few things out so hopefully after our next try on 6/14 I will have better pictures of everything displayed!

Hubby and in-laws holding canopy due to the wind:

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A few customers braving the rain:

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Still waiting for the rain to stop:

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My mother-in-law finally put a few of her things out but was hesitant to put more out due to the high humidity:

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Here are some pictures of the few things I did finally put out of mine:

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Beaded Banners by Bonnie will be at Ligonier Country Market again this year on the following dates:

May 31st

June 14th

August 2nd

September 6th

September 27th

Look us up if you are in the area!  I will have beaded banners and beaded banner kits for sale as well as keychains and hair scrunchies.  My mother-in-law will have penny rugs and her beautiful table mats, candle mats, and many other items.

Ligonier

Hello!  Welcome to my Vox page!  I am Bonnie Matthews and I am the owner and designer for Beaded Banners by Bonnie.  I design and sell completed beaded banners, beaded banner patterns, pony beads, beaded banner rods and end caps. 

My beaded banners, beaded banner patterns, and beaded banner supplies are available on my websites:

Beaded Banners by Bonnie                  

My Ebay Store - Beaded Banners by Bonnie and More

You can also check out my other pages:

MySpace - Add Me!                

Facebook - Add Me!

Feel free to email me at fyremonksgal@msn.com with any questions or about beaded banner patterns or beaded banner supplies or comment here! 

Will be looking forward to hearing from you!