Monica Jaillet

Review of Saffire Blue Inc.

I have been a customer of this company for 4 years...

I have been a customer of this company for 4 years. My customer experience has changed a lot in that 4 years. In their favour, they have a great selection of high quality products at good prices and they package their products well for shipping. I had a few occasions where the wrong product was shipped and after a quick phone call, they shipped the proper product for free, usually the same day. Their communications have usually been quick and courteous. When I started ordering from them it typically took about 2 days before my order was picked (fulfilled in their terminology), so if I ordered on a Monday, it would be picked and shipped by Wednesday. The shipping method I choose takes two days, so my order would be received on Friday. Over time, the processing time grew to 3 days, then 5, then 7 and even 10. I understood. It's busier at some times of the year. They did expand to a larger warehouse a few years ago, and I'd had hopes that it would mean hiring more staff and thus, more timely processing. Sadly, this isn't the case. On November 5, I placed an order, and chose not to pay the extra $10 for rush processing. On November 28th, my order was still not showing in fulfillment, so I contacted them by e-mail to see if there might be something on backorder. The response received that day was that it was in fulfillment and would be shipped in 24-48 hours. On December 5th I sent yet again another e-mail, as it hadn t yet shipped, as I had been advised. I was again told that it was in fulfillment. The order was picked and the courier was contacted on December 12th. This company used to be very pleasurable to deal with, but the past year has seen changes, and not for the better. My opinion is that that money and volumes have become more important to them than a good customer experience. I expect the people writing good reviews about fast service are those who pay the $10 to have their orders processed before the ones not paying the fee. I don't feel it should be necessary to pay extra. IMO, if a company has so much business that it can't get an order shipped after 7 days, then more staff are needed. I m also displeased with their new policy of charging a "small order fee" of $25 for orders under $75. People like myself who make soap or lotions for personal and family use don't want to make large orders. Of course, I made an order for $75 because if I'm going to be charged the $25, I may as well get product for it. I am very disappointed in how much this company has changed. I will be finding new suppliers.