I always like good news before bad news. So here's the good stuff first: I have a great little post about my bridal shower invites! The bad news is that I am I so worn out and frustrated from dealing with my Broadway Paper wedding invite fiasco. I love local business, I love supporting business, but I can't stand poor customer service (especially when you spend a boatload of money at the place). How do you guys deal with poor customer service? Let me know, because I'm sure a lot of people have had this similar dilemma.
I special ordered a bunch of paper for my wedding invites, envelopes, and a custom embosser from Broadway Paper in Milwaukee. I told them a deadline, was given an estimate, and picked out what I wanted. The order came almost a week later than promised (get your order in on time, people), the cost was double the estimate (thanks!), the items I wanted were discontinued (shouldn't they know this?), I was charged shipping for items I picked up in the store (why?), the custom paper did not fit into the envelopes I ordered (don't they check?), and when we came in to problem solve, I felt like we were rushed out the door (um, didn't I just spend $700 here?). Seriously.
I don't like to complain (I feel bad about it), but as a consumer, I DO always like to have a heads up if a business engages in a repeated pattern of neglecting their customers. So here's your heads up: I would not recommend Broadway Paper for special order paper/stationery. However, our printer, Anchor Printing, has been fantastic; they rushed our order since everything came in late, they double and triple checked everything, and they had a wonderfully positive attitude. The lesson we walked away with: sometimes a humble, hard-working business is way better than the "high-end" alternative.
What would you guys do in this situation?
I'm so sorry to hear about your bad experience there. I had looked at them (broadway paper) for my own wedding invites, but found the staff to be extremely not helpful, so I asked around and got a recommendation to another local store (yay! - since shopping local was my whole intention). Paperwork (on Downer Ave) was AMAZING - if you have any other stationary needs, I'd recommend them. In the meantime, rest assured that eventually, poor service will catch up with B.P. karma totally applies to retail stores.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I didn't go with Simma's for my wedding cake. Rude people who won't answer any of my questions. The cakes may be great, but who wants to hire and deal with vendors like that?
ReplyDeleteI endured horrible customer service at a bed and breakfast I went to once. I'd never been to one before and didn't know much about how they operate. I went out for dinner and the owner left, locking me out for most of the night with no way to get to my stuff. She hadn't given me a key to the house and she didn't answer her phone. She also did not apologize when she DID return six hours later, telling me matter-of-factly that the door had been open but I needed to kick it to open it. As though I would have even CONSIDERED kicking her door! I should have just left right then, but I was exhausted. After that nightmare, the only thing I could do was tell anyone who would listen about my experience with Joanne's Bed & Breakfast in De Pere, WI. Hopefully that attitude was a fluke, for her sake.
I was very surprised to have found the same results with BWP. I think their store is adorable, love the paper and unique cards so thought they would be the perfect match for my wedding invites. Well I set up an appt to meet with a wedding 'specialist' who was of no help and worked the cash register the whole time. Why did I bother setting up an appt then? My friend ordered her ceremony paper through them via rush and same thing happened, came in late. I really want to support local business but that experience made it impossible to go with them.
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