my next project

I'm still working on the green Rowan sweater, and I plan on finishing it before I start something new, but you know what they say about the best laid plans...

My next project is for a friend of mine. Sue is one of my best friends -we used to curl together, I saw her through the (far too early) death of her husband, watched her rebuild her life after that, and we've become even better friends as we get older. She's Aunt Soupy to our son, and the person we have decided will step into my life if anything happens to me - she's the only one I'd trust with both my boys - and my husband is okay with this. Many people think she and my husband are having an affair, and I'm either the stupidest wife on the planet, or the most tolerant! (when we all curled at the same club, Husband and Sue would be together, and there would be a legion of people working to keep me from joining them, and "finding out". It was pretty funny...)

Anyway, she's a great friend, and I like to do stuff for her (she does thoughtful things for me constantly.) Best of all, she appreciates the hand knits like no one else. She had dark hair, and the colouring that goes with it and she looks spectacular in red. So a red sweater it is. Elizabeth Zimmerman's Green Sweater as a matter of fact. The tailored lines are perfect for her, and the red will be smashing. I'm on the hunt for the perfect buttons - I'm thinking a natural bone, or perhaps a stunning metal. Maybe pewter clasps. We'll see. I'll know them when I see them.

So in making all these decisions, I decided to order the yarn from Briggs and Little, where the original yarn EZ used was made. While perusing their site and colour cards, not only did the red jump out at me, but some wonderful cream and well as a heathery denim blue decided they needed to become this sweater as well. (The cream for me, and the blue for well, probably me. Or my Mom. or, probably me.)

I email Briggs and Little, then call them with my credit card number (not something I put out over the Internet via email). They are the best to deal with. Then I wait. and wait. I'm not that concerned, because I was happily knitting on the green Rowan sweater, and to be honest, not having the new yarn distracting me was a good thing. But as week three was coming to a close, I decide to check with B&L as to where my order was. Crystal at B&L got back to me immediately with a trace, seems she made a bit of a typo on my address, and Canada Post was holding the package at a postal station as undeliverable.

Want to know the typo? Not the postal code - that was correct. Not the city -she got that right. She got the house number and street name correct as well. BUT... it seems she typed DRESCENT instead of CRESCENT. Yup, doing that, while getting the rest of the address correct is enough to flabbergast Canada Post, and declare this UNDELIVERABLE! Geez. And wait, it gets better. I get a phone call on SUNDAY from Canada Post, checking into my complaint. (Actually, it was Briggs & Little that made the complaint, not me). This guy is trying to understand the problem. (As was I.) We spend about a half hour on this, I'm explaining what I know, he's disputing that it would happen that way, then he finally just declares that she had the incorrect postal code, and that's why it didn't get delivered. It should arrive Monday or Tuesday, and he would be sure to call me on Tuesday to make sure of delivery. Fine. The package arrived Tuesday, (with the CORRECT POSTAL CODE, by the way - someone at Canada Post scribbled over it and hand wrote the postal code of the postal station in Mississauga instead). (The follow up phone call eventually did come, but he was rude, and I had no interest in continuing the debate over what happened, so it was short.)

Then I open it, and...

Crap! There's only one skein of red! I look at the packing slip - 6 cream, 6 blue, 1 red. Really? I only ordered 1 skein of the red? Geez, I'm an idiot. So I check the email I sent. Oh. Seems I'm not an idiot - I did order 6 skeins of red. I send a quick email to Crystal at Briggs and Little with the question, and get an immedate reply - "SO SORRY!" She had mistakenly ordered only 1 of the red for me. She was getting the remaining 5 in the mail (matching the dye lot, and OF COURSE, NO SHIPPING CHARGE...

You know, good customer service is not always about getting it perfect. Good customer service is recognizing an issue, and addressing it in a timely manner.No trying to justify it, or make excuses - just, "We'll get that right out to you".

And they did. Canada Post could take some lessons here.