Lillian Vernon dropped the ball on personalization and customer service.
Written: Mar 17 '09
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I was looking for some personalize items for Christmas gifts this year and decided to give Lillian Vernon a try for the reasonable prices and huge selection of personalized items.
I picked out a snowman kit that came in a wooden box and then had several items inside to 'dress' a snowman after you've made it. I had them put the last name of a friend of mine. I will change the name but use "The Jacksons" for example.
About 3 days after I ordered I tried to use their tracking tool to make sure that it would be here in time for Christmas. Everytime I tried to search for my tracking information it would tell me that there is no information available and to contact customer service. I emailed 3 times before I received a response. I actually received a response a day AFTER I received the package. The email they sent me stated that the item had been processed. Well, thank you very much!
I received the item and the box had "The Jackson" on it. When I contacted them by email they responded with "You were over the letter limit by one so we removed the "S" at the end of the name and shipped it out so you'd receive it by Christmas". I was very surprised at this. With how much experience they have in personalization, why didn't they remove the word "The" and just have "Jacksons". I could still actually give it as a gift if it was that way. I responded to them with that question about dropping "The" and also asked why it allowed me to enter "The Jacksons" when I purchased it if that was indeed too many letters. I showed them my email receipt that included the "S" after their name. She just responded with a "If you don't want it, send it back for a refund". This was about 3 days before Christmas so I had to improvise. I went out and found stickers that matched the text and placed "Family" underneath "The Jackson" so that it now said The Jackson Family instead of The Jackson! Much better.
Secondly I ordered a doll that came in a personalized box that opened up into a bed for the doll and a dressing room that had many outfits, a sleeping bag and pillow. In the picture it showed a clothes bar that you could hang all of the clothes on. The one I ordered didn't have it. So I emailed with that question as well. The lady stated that that is why it was on sale, because it didnt have the hanging clothes bar. Which is fine, but that should have been stated in the item description. Also, on the doll box the personalization was done with regular cheap white stickers and the name slanted down the box, horribly. I took a bunch of 'girly' type stickers and placed them around the name to take the emphasis off of the horrible sticker placement. I expected the personalization to be of better quality.
If this wouldn't have been for Christmas gifts, just days before Christmas, I would have returned everything in my order. The price was right on these items and the shipping was free because of my purchase amount. But, I don't care how little they are charging for their items, they are still charging too much if they aren't doing the personalization correctly.
I get this catalog in the mail all the time and see lots of items that aren't available in stores that are very clever but I just can't give them any more of my money after that incident.
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Snowman kit, doll
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jro26
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Love my two cute boys that I stay home with.
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