One Step Forward Two Steps Back

It's been one of those weeks, again. Every morning I get up and make myself think of good, happy cheery things. Think of what needs to be done and what things I should be focusing on to get Rainbow Designs making money again.

It starts well, with a coffee while my computer fires up and writing down any ideas I had overnight but then...............blah. The emails come in and in the 'orders' folder there's zero or one and in the 'customer enquiry' there's one. What will that 'one' be? Maybe them thanking me, for once, or maybe it's another one chasing up their parcel.

Why is it that couriers find it so hard to do their job properly?? Why why why?? To be honest, over the last few weeks I have had very few orders but I have had to still chase up parcels. It is so frustrating and disheartening. It makes me and my business look bad when I have done everything I can do. Process and send the order as soon as humanly possibly and then I get let down, again and again, by the couriers. My customer doesn't care who is to blame as they order with me, with Rainbow Designs. So in their mind 'we' have let them down and it's true, we have.

Couriers take no responsibility with late deliveries, with damaged deliveries, with no deliveries, with incorrect deliveries. It is an absolute nightmare chasing things up with them and even if they do finally get back to you it's almost always too late and not good enough. No refund is ever offered. I think maybe once or possibly twice I have received an refund, well partial refund, over the last 12 years and I can tell you I have unfortunately had far more then two wrong deliveries made!

Delivery prices have gone up A LOT over the last few years and I have always absorbed these cost, now to the near detriment of my business. I honestly believe if I have any more orders that get stuffed up by courier companies and my customer requests a refund I will be out of business.

So pull your fingers out Fastway Couriers and Australia Post and do your friggen job. I am tired of having to deal with problems caused by you. I am tired of dealing with your so called customer service staff and their indifference. I am tired of having to wait WEEKS for anyway to even bother to look into an incorrect delivery! Do you think MY customer is happy waiting this long?? NO THEY ARE NOT. My deliveries are GIFTS which generally mean they are time sensitive so LATE or WRONG deliveries mean that the gift is no longer needed or wanted.

I am currently trying, unsuccessfully so far, to chase up an express parcel that was scanned by Australia Post as delivered but was never received. Why is this such a hard thing to do. It's not like they are new to the business of delivering parcels - surely they should have a better system in place for chasing up parcels. What's the point in tracking? What's the point in paying extra for express if it never gets there anyway?

So I am ending this week with a big fat loss, thank you Australia Post and thank you Fastways. Not only am I losing money I am most definitely losing customers. You don't think that my customers will ever order with me again when they have had so much trouble with their last order? It doesn't matter now what I do, they're not coming back and more than likely they'll tell many people, possibly even online, not to use Rainbow Designs.

Jacqui ~ disheartened Rainbow Designs owner

Cheap Gift Giving but Also Very Yummy

I started Rainbow Designs (way back in 2004) with the idea of having cheaper gift hampers/boxes so more people were able to send something - whether it be for a birthday, house warming or just to cheer someone up. This is still so very true today! I've even lowered a LOT of prices which means I may have to work much, much harder and sell a LOT more gifts to make a living but that's just fine with me! I want people to be able to feel comfortable and happy to order form Rainbow Designs and to be able to do it without blowing their budget. Lower prices definitely doesn't mean lower customer service or poor quality products! NO WAY! I work so hard at delivering service that people expect, want and deserve - they're spending their hard earnt money with me so they deserve the very best I can give.



The quality of the lollies and chocolates we use are a major part of our gifts so I always ensure we get the best we can, not gourmet, but well made and, well, yummy! Allens are a definite favourite as is Mars (think M&M's - I LOVE M&M's!!) and Cadbury and Nestle and Trolli (gummi bears are SO popular - they are almost always included in the cravings gift!) We're lucky that we have a great local distributor here in Port Macquarie that stocks most of the yummy confectionery we use plus we also worked with some fantastic businesses who help us with our gorgeous hamper gifts (we've got one in Victoria and one in Queensland).

 



Delivery has been helped ENORMOUSLY since we started using Toll Express! They have been amazing in their service and delivery times. They surprise me quite often with how fast they can deliver especially to places like Darwin, Perth and Alice Springs - the NEXT day! I think that is pretty special! Their tracking is also great, I can keep an eye on all the parcels we send out and generally be able to update customers when their gift has been delivered. I think this is a nice touch as more often than not they are in another state, sometimes even another country, so it's great that they can feel part of the whole gift giving experience! (and then they can see how long it takes their recipient to say thanks!!).

 



It's hard work running Rainbow Designs and I have to admit that at times I've had doubts about the success of it and can sometimes get caught up in the day to day BUT in saying that I love working for myself and hearing from happy people and knowing that I was a small help in their lives for just a moment.

And don't forget to eat some chocolate,

Jacqui