Customer Announcement – Delivery Update on Shipping Times: Read More
Customers vs Companies: Loyalty Works Both Ways
Getting To Know You & Us
One comment we hear quite a lot from our Customers is that it is lovely to speak to a human. As in it is nice to speak with us, the people behind the website. In this world where we have to be very aware of potential fraudsters and scams, first time Customers can sometimes feel they are taking a bit of a risk ordering from an online company they haven't previously had dealings with. This can be even more daunting when you live on the other side of the world in the likes of Australia or New Zealand, and you are ordering from us here in the UK and Ireland.We try to make ourselves as reachable as possible, with multiple phone lines, email, Skype, Messenger and Live Chat as available forms of communication. We know it can sometimes be difficult to reach us in person due to time differences, and so if we notice someone trying to get in touch later in the evenings or at the weekends we will also do our best to reply.We are a family run company, with the owners being siblings and mum involved too. We also have a small team of great employees who work with us throughout the year. Christmas is by far the busiest time of year for us and so we enlist extra helpers then as well. BasketsGalore has been around for over 15 years now and we're pleased to say that we have a loyal Customer Base, as well as new shoppers, and so we often recognise Customer names from over the years.One such name appeared in our inbox just before Christmas, and we instantly remembered him. We'll change his name for the purposes of this story in case he would prefer to remain incognito. Let's call him Tom, and Tom is a Doctor in Alaska.Tom first started ordering from us back in 2013 as he has quite a few family members living in Ireland. Tom selected a range of different Christmas hampers for his Grandparents and Great Uncle's and Great Aunt's and we delivered them to Roscommon and Galway for him. He got in touch shortly after to let us know how delighted they all were with their Hampers, and since then he has ordered with us every year. Tom also ordered Gift Baskets for special birthday's and other occasions as well as Christmas over the next few years.Two years after his initial orders Tom had tried to order on our website and unfortunately his Bank had flagged the payment as a security check and so we were unable to process his orders. It was incredibly close to Christmas at this time and we knew if we didn't ship the Hampers that day then they wouldn't arrive on time. We couldn't even phone Tom for payment before the cut off point, as being in Alaska he was 10 hours behind us time wise.We brought this to the attention of one of the Directors and they authorised us to ship the Christmas Hampers out and we could call Tom after regarding the payment. This of course can be a risk, as we may not have received the funds. However, as Tom was a loyal Customer we trusted everything would be OK. When Tom found out he was absolutely delighted that the Gift Hampers would be arriving in time for Christmas."I am so grateful for your company and the patience that you’ve shown me and would never buy from anyone else."Fast forward another 3 years to December 2018 and Tom got in touch via email on Christmas Eve, as he'd been busy working night shift at the local Hospital. He realised he was too late for pre-Christmas delivery, but was happy for the Food Hampers to arrive between Christmas and New Year. We had all his family members address details stored from previous years and so just needed to work out a time to be able to speak to him for payment details. At is happened his night shift pattern came in very handy and we were able to chat with him during UK working hours.On the phone, he reiterated how he has never forgotten that we helped him out that year by dispatching the Christmas Hampers for his family anyway. We had a chat about his job and how busy it was in A&E with all the Christmas party-goers. He really appreciated how we could process all the paperwork on his behalf, as he just didn't have the time or the method to order his 5 Hampers online. He also mentioned if we were ever visiting Alaska to look him up, so there are no complaints from me. Just look how beautiful the place is!If you are based internationally and would like to get in touch regarding sending gifts to your friends and family "back home" then please don't hesitate. We're happy to help and of course you can order online 24 hours a day if we happen to miss you. You can check out what we have to offer here - UK Gift Basket & Hamper Delivery and Ireland Gift Basket & Hamper Delivery.