In the past two months, my wife and I have placed two orders with Pottery Barn. Although they made errors with both purchases, they did such a good job handling the mistakes that we've become enthusiastic customers, and we've already referred the store to friends shopping for furniture.
In the first case, we were promised a delivery date for a sofa and loveseat. When these items were supposed to arrive, we called their customers service center and disovered that our order had been delayed. At first, we were miffed that nobody took the initiative to call us regarding the dealy. However, the customers service representative said we would be compensated for our wait. Sure enough, when the couches arrived, Pottery Barn compensated us with a generous $450 credit.
In the second case, we went to our local Pottery Barn store in Portland, Oregon to purchase a lovely European-style Arts & Crafts rug. When we got home, we opened the rug up to discover that it was the wrong one. Although the package was marked with the name of the rug that we wanted, it was packed with another rug. We had to roll it back up and drive back to the store. Before we could even get too worked up regarding the error, the saleswoman at the store said that she would credit our account for $200.
Did Pottery Barn buy our goodwill? Well, yes. However, it will come back to them many times over. We continue to purchase there, and I've recommended the store to friends looking for furniture. And, this postive blog entry will further Pottery Barn's positive buzz.
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