In this post, I'll explain why criticism is right and good, why I sometimes make mistakes with your orders, and why I explicitly want you to point them out. Using a current example, I'd also like to show you why criticism can go so far that I get really frustrated...
First of all: The Chocolate Wonderland is a one-man business run by me (Kim Mayer) in my free time. I consider the Chocolate Wonderland my hobby, primarily to be able to offer chocolate to children with allergies. Hobbies cost money, so the Chocolate Wonderland costs me several hundred euros every month instead of generating profits (which, of course, has to be the goal). As an employee and commuter, it's not always easy, especially when I have to drive 90 minutes home from work just to accept a chocolate delivery from Finland, which is delivered by a shipping company and has to be picked up in person. And then I have to drive the same route back to work. I enjoy doing all of this! Especially when I hear from you that you're really happy to have found the right chocolate for you or your children. But unfortunately, everything has its downsides...
Last Saturday evening (November 30, 2019), when over 100 orders of Santas were packed and I drove them to the post office, I had a successful, fulfilling day behind me. My goal was to ship all the Santas to you starting December 9th (December 9th = scheduled arrival of the shipment from Finland). And anyone familiar with the hurdles that come with a delivery from Finland knows that there were more than one situation where I really broke out in a sweat. For example, when the entire country of Finland went on a general strike/solidarity strike with the shipping companies, and it was no longer clear whether the Santas would be able to leave Finland. Only through a great deal of effort were we just able to get the chocolate onto the ferry to Sweden, where the trucks were already backed up. It was a damn close call, and Mr. Iso-Kungas from Dammenberg helped tremendously. Aside from all the hurdles, this delivery was a huge financial fiasco for me, because the relatively small order had to be delivered by a freight company from Finland (fragile goods). Every Santa Claus meant at least a €4 loss for me. But I knew that beforehand, and I gladly did it anyway !
So, the goal was actually to ship the orders to you after December 9th. Now all the Santas are with you a whole week early, which makes me very happy. And after sacrificing Saturday to ship the packages, a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders . Even though it meant I couldn't spend any time with my eight-year-old daughter again. In any case, the whole thing could have gone wrong...
But why did I not order the Santas until mid-November? By mid-November, we had completely sold out of all of Dammenberg's nut-free Santas in stock. We were overwhelmed, and some customers ordered 10 Santas at once. I really wasn't prepared for that! Then you wrote to me saying you were desperately looking for a Santa for your children. And now the chocolate Santas are already gone in November?! Mid-November is a time when it's virtually impossible to source more Christmas chocolate from Finland. Dammenberg needs up to four weeks to process orders, plus a shipping time of up to 21 days. And that doesn't even include general strikes! Only through a lot of effort did we (Mr. Iso-Kungas from Dammenberg and I) make the impossible possible: placing a (what Mr. Iso-Kungas called "crazy") order on November 13th. That same day (Wednesday, November 13th), I released the Santas for sale after Dammenberg informed me that we would somehow manage to keep them until December 9th. This gave you the security and you could essentially "reserve" the Santas for Christmas! And we were already able to sell the Santas, even though they hadn't even arrived yet...
But to ensure that no one buys a Santa Claus and is then unpleasantly surprised by the long delivery time, I have placed the following note in the description text for all Santa Clauses:
We placed a follow-up order in Finland on Wednesday, November 13, 2019. The previous Santa Claus delivery was sold out before it arrived at the Chocolate Wonderland! We expect the chocolate to arrive by Monday, December 9th at the latest! This means that orders with a Santa Claus will be shipped to you this week at the latest! We will keep you updated on the current delivery status on the page: Status of the ordered Christmas chocolate ... Of course, we will ship earlier if the Santa Clauses arrive first!
And so that no one misses this information, every early orderer received a personal message from me after placing their order, like this:
|
Dear Ms./Mr. XYZ, Thank you for your order at Schoko-Wunderland! The Santas will probably be on their way to us from Finland soon. The shipment will arrive in early December. We can then ship your chocolate promptly. Best regards, Kim-Rudolf Mayer from Schoko-Wunderland |
Some of you responded to this message and we had to find a solution because delivery would have taken too long. I hope we have found a satisfactory solution for all parties in these cases.
So, Saturday evening, I was actually in a good mood, happy, and content. And then I received this news, which dampened my spirits:
|
Hello!!! It would be really great if Santa could come soon. Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent, and our son will be very upset because there's no chocolate for him! He's allergic to nuts. If Santa doesn't bring a chocolate Santa on Thursday, I definitely won't be ordering from you! Kind regards … |
Of course, I looked at the order that same evening. It was placed on November 16th, my information email (see above) was sent to the customer on November 18th, and Santa's item description contained the green text at the top. So what went wrong?
Well, I really don't know what to do in this case. Given the history (reordering in Finland, shipping all the Santas directly on the Saturday after they arrived from Finland), the Santa delivery was a success for me and all the customers who were desperately left empty-handed in mid-November.
I'm now interested in whether other customers are dissatisfied?! Didn't everyone receive the information (I know from one customer that the email ended up in the spam folder). What can I do better? Do you have any tips? Of course, I make mistakes, so it's important and right that you get in touch! Together we'll correct the error, and I'll learn from it for the future! Constructive criticism is also welcome; the Chocolate Wonderland should be better!
One thing is certain: I'll pre-order more chocolate for the warehouse for Easter, but I won't be reordering . The whole thing was extremely stressful. I neglected my daughter, only to end up with dissatisfied customers. And on top of that, I lost a lot of money.
And I can only offer the customer some well-intentioned advice: You're dissatisfied, I understand that! And dissatisfied customers make me dissatisfied too. Knowing how the Chocolate Wonderland works, it's clear that I can never meet your expectations. I really won't hold it against you, nor will I take it personally, if you place your order elsewhere. Because I can't compete with Amazon and other high-tech online shops. And with an unhappy order, we have three unhappy people: you, your disappointed son, and me.
What hurts me most is that I can send two fewer Santas to someone who might not need them as quickly and would therefore be happy about them…
I welcome your opinions and criticism (via email or here as a comment)…
I wish you all a wonderful Christmas season and lovely, contemplative hours with your loved ones!
Your Kim-Rudolf Mayer from the Chocolate Wonderland…
Addendum: The order was then delivered to the customer on the morning of December 2nd, at least in time for St. Nicholas Day…