Thank you FedEx!

(AP Photo/The Tennessean, John Partipilo)

If you hadn’t heard about the Nashville floods last week, then you must have been hiding under a rock – like me. I was so busy preparing and attending the Avia Wildflower Triathlon (notice I said “attending” not “participating”), that I had not watched, read or listened to the news in over a week. So I was clueless that something so devastating was happening in Tennessee - until my Twitter buddy, Newton Dominey of The Crag at Cool Springs Climbing Facility ( @cragcoolsprings ) contacted me.

On Monday, Newton sent me an email asking if I would consider sending some Action Wipes for the volunteers and shelters in Nashville. He advised that the city was under water after a storm dropped 13 inches in a short period of time and that one of the water processing plants was submerged, thus causing a severe water shortage. The city was asking its residents to cut water usage as much as possible – which meant the volunteers could not shower.

My immediate response was “of course!” I told Newton I would be happy to send several cases after he confirmed the city would accept them. (You may be asking yourself “why would you ask that?!” Well, when I wanted to help the Haiti disaster, none, and I mean NONE, of the agencies would take the Action Wipes - even though “hygiene, baby wipes and wet wipes” were listed on the “Need” lists. They would only accept cash donations.)

A day later, Newton called to tell me he had spoken to the Mayor’s office and they would love to have the Action Wipes. So, I told him I would send them out right away. As time was of the essence, they had to be shipped overnight, they could not wait for ground shipping, which takes a week. I was so happy they could actually use the wipes that I didn’t even think about the cost to ship several boxes “overnight”. So when I went to the USPS and UPS sites to calculate overnight shipping, I just about fell out of my chair when I saw the rates! (USPS quoted $309 and UPS quoted $490 to $690, depending what time of day I wanted it there.) As a small business, I just can't afford the overnight shipping.

So I called UPS, explained the situation and asked if there was anyway they could provide better rates. Their immediate answer was “no, those are the rates”. So I asked if they could verify that the boxes would get there first thing in the morning, only to find out they were not delivering to the area at all. Next call was to USPS. I asked the same thing, “do you have a disaster fund that can help me get these boxes at a better rate?” “No, and delivery to the area is being delayed due to the floods" they advised.

Now, when I get something in my head, I leave no stone unturned! I knew there had to be someone out there that could help me, help Nashville. So I began calling friends and shipping companies everywhere and still, no one could help me. Then, I realized I had not yet tried FedEx!

Frustrated, tired and on the verge of tears, I called FedEx - after going to their website first and finding the Custom Critical Surface and Air Expedite number, which I thought was a good place to start. I went through the story again and asked if they could help. I was advised it would cost about $900 as I had to rent the entire truck.

*Sigh* My first thought was…”Sh*t, H*ll, F*ck!” But, here is what real customer service is all about… realizing my frustration and hearing the “sniff, sniff” of my dripping nose and teary eyes, he suggests we try a different department. He then calls around and transfers me to the Standard Shipping Division. It’s getting better, they quote me $695. As my voice starts to quiver and tears start to roll down my face, Gary then suggests “let’s try the Customer Advocate Division”. What?!

After going through a couple of transfer hiccups, I’m finally speaking with Debbie in the Customer Advocate Division. Unfortunately, she can’t help me either…but again, Debbie doesn’t blow me off, she suggests I speak with the “Charity Division”. What the…did she say “ Charity Division”?!

Now I'm hopeful; can FedEx really help me?

Enter Lisa from… the Charity Division. I don’t even get five words out when she asks “how many boxes we talking about?” Four I tell her, “what’s the weight?” 72 lbs I advise, “Oh hell, that’s nothing. Here’s what I need you to do…” Holy crap, I actually found someone that can help me. I’m shocked, I’m in disbelief, I don’t understand. “What’s it going to cost me?” I ask. “Don’t worry about it honey, we’ll take care of it. When tomorrow do you need it there?” she asks “Um, first thing in the morning?” I ask timidly. “OK, is 8:30am good?” she wonders, “Um, um, yeah!” I reply.

And batta bing, batta bang holy Batman, we have a shipment going to Nashville – overnight!

THEY DID IT. FedEx stepped up to the plate and delivered. This huge corporation helped me, a small business, help Nashville. The packages arrived as promised at 8:35am the next morning. Amazing! 

So Thank you FedEx for caring. Your great customer service helped me help others. I am - forever grateful.

And thank you Heileigh of Perry’s Parcel and Courier Service in Atascadero for helping me get all the labeling right and the boxes ready for pickup! You too are awesome.

Let's Make Lemonade

As many of you know, I've been very excited about the launch of our new single packs. We have spent weeks and weeks working through the package design, tweaking the formula so that it's just right, approving samples and eagerly waiting while the packs were printed and filled.

So you can imagine my excitement when UPS delivered boxes filled with the new singles last Tuesday, May 26. The delivery was well timed too as the existing inventory of multi-packs is quickly dwindling. I was so excited that I asked my UPS man to open one of the boxes right away so that he could see the fruit of my labor and gush with me as to what a great product I had created. I was like a little kid at Christmas, holding my breath as he slowly cut through the tape.

With eyes big as buttons, I saw a glimpse of the beautiful orange color and blue swoosh upon shiny white packs. But as I reached in and held them in my hands, my big button eyes quickly turned into saucers! My excitement was extinguished and disappointment quickly set in. This was not the packaging material I had approved!

As the UPS man and I began testing them, we noted that the scent was spot on, the foaming action and wetness was right - but something else was off. I then realized that the fabric was not quite the same weight as my standard wipes. As tears started rolling down my face, all I could say was "how could this have happened"? After all, I was at the factory when we created the first run of single packs (the plain packs created for teams, clubs and companies wanting to co-brand the wipes.) The only thing that was suppose to change with the second run was the printing on the packs.

While they are beautiful and work just as I intended, they are not what I promised you or the retailers and distributors that had received samples.

Needless to say, I quickly called my manufacturer and advised them of the situation and we immediately arranged a face to face meeting to discuss how to rectify it. (The great thing about working with U.S. companies, aside from keeping the money here and folks employed, is that I can meet with them as needed.) Having met this past Friday, I'm happy to report that we are working to correct the packaging within the next couple of weeks.

So this is where we turn those lemons into lemonade...

I now have thousands of single packs that I can not put into retail stores, though they still have the same great Action Wipes formula, same big-size wipe, same refreshing scent and clean feeling. So, here is what we are going to do - we are donating the wipes to our military troops! All I'm asking is for help with the shipping fees. The U.S. Postal Service has a special flat rate fee of $10.95 for boxes sent to an APO/FPO address and a flat rate of $10.35 for boxes sent to a U.S. base address. These boxes will hold about 100 single pack wipes each - enough to share with others.

So, If you have a loved one or a friend serving our country and would like to send them some of these Action Wipes, ORDER NOW. I can guarantee you that these will go fast, so put your order in right away, and please, let other military families know about it too.

If you're a non-profit with an upcoming outdoor or athletic event, contact me right away and we'll do our best to help you too!

The Competition

They say copying is a form of flattery. I think it's a lack of creativity!

Recently, I've noticed some competitor networks coming to our Action Wipes website and spending quite some time going through our web pages. Two that really stand out are The Thymes Limited and Johnson & Johnson.

So, what are they looking for?

J&J is a household name - they are a HUGE corporation with great baby products, K-Y Jelly and Neutrogena to start. They started coming to the site in June, having landed on our home page by googleing the key words "refresh soothe". Our tagline of course is "Clean. Refresh. Soothe." We've been using it since the day we created Action Wipes.

So maybe they're thinking of doing something with "refresh & soothe" and their Neutrogena brand of products. I think their current tag line, "Touch and be Touched", along with their commercials is sexy and alluring. I wish I had come up with that tag line!

But then I noticed they kept coming back, only this time it was direct, so they must have bookmarked our site. The second time, they spent more time looking at our Slick Lube. One of the things I love about J&J is that they've brought sex into the mainstream with their K-Y Jelly commercials - even though they're a little bit over the top. I mean COME on, who really starts making love at 8pm and keeps it going till 3am?? And without the little blue pill or the one that keeps it up for 36 hours?? Wow. Oh yeah, that's right, it's because silicone lubricant last much longer than sticky water based lubes. Hmmmm, we personally like our C&M Couples Create Passion Personal Lubricant.

Anyway, this has been going on for months...they keep coming back, having taken a look at all our products by now. Jeez, why don't they just call and hire me as a consultant??

The Thymes Limited is not as big as J&J, but they're certainly not small and are a little more bold when it comes to competitor Research & Development. (You typically see their bath & body products at places such as K-Mart, Walmart, Target, specialty boutiques... ) They first came to our site by googleing "essential oil wipes" and landed on our Essential Oils and Aromatherapy page. From there, they explored further and they too returned later - having bookmarked our site. However, they weren't satisfied simply reading about our products - they wanted to actually smell, feel and experience them...

So within a couple of weeks, we receive an on-line order from Madam X for a 15 ct pack of Action Wipes, which sell for $9.50. For shipping she chose UPS Ground, which was a little over $10.00 and would have taken 4-5 days to deliver. So as I typically do when ever someone chooses UPS and I know U.S. Mail will be more cost effective and quicker delivery, I immediately sent her an email and asked if she would prefer U.S. Mail. Offering to make up the cost difference by sending an extra pack of wipes. She wrote back and agreed to the U.S. Mail, but asked for a refund of the difference.

Through out this exchange, I had not paid attention to her email address - until she asked for a refund. Now typically, most buyers choose the extra pack as it's a really awesome deal - so I check out the email address and find that the extension is xxxx@thymes.com. I then check the delivery address and guess what? It's The Thymes Limited headquarters in Minnesota. Now COME on...I'm not a genius, but I'm not stupid either. (However, I do know women with extremely high IQs, but they're still stupid. I call them "stupid smart women" (SSW).) Do you really think I can't figure out what they are up to?? Of course they're in the process of developing their own wet wipes!

Needless to say, I refunded her the money - all of it, including the pay pal fees and advised I could not put my heart into delivering my baby into their hands for R&D purposes. I know they'll find a way around me if they're really interested, but let them work harder at it! What would you have done??

We'll save the Burt's Bees story for later...