customer service

[Mercy]

Hello,
I really love and appreciate all the help I have received whenever I have made a phone call or written in to ask questions or when ordering. However, my friend, who is considering using HOD, is unfortunately not having the same experience. She does not feel comfortable using the forum for placement questions and has called a few times, but has not received a call back or an answer when calling. She is frustrated and considering not using the curriculum based on her experience with customer service. I'm so disappointed and I know this doesn't seem characteristic of the HOD family I have come to love so much. Just wondering if there is something else she should do to get a hold of someone to help her place her children and place an order?

Thanks,
Mercy

[bethelmommy]

I believe Carrie, Julie, and their families are at an homeschool convention this weekend in Richmond, Virginia. Since HOD is a family run business, there is currently no one available to return calls. Please let your friend know that if she has left a message, they will return her call as soon as possible when they return.

[Mumkins]

Has she tried email? Email is easier to check on the road. If she emails and requests them to call, I'm sure they will.

[sahervey]

Since there's no customer service reps here, she gets to talk to the creator of the curriculum! How often does that happen? If not her, then her husband, who I'm sure is just as knowledgeable. Tell her that they are probably busy with conventions, but in my experience, have always contacted me quickly. I usually contact them via email and Mike typically responds. It's worth the wait. Otherwise, she should be posting on here or on the FB group.

[Carrie]

Mercy,

Oh, I am so sorry! I am surprised by this post, as we have been home and returning phone calls all week. Unless we are traveling, we typically return phone calls within 24 hours. Sometimes it is 48 hours if we cannot reach people. If we are unable to reach a person, we leave a message that we have called. We have returned phone calls all of this past week after returning from the Florida convention, so if your friend left a message someone would have tried to call her back. If she does not have a voicemail or an answering machine, it is possible that we were unable to catch her (which may have given her the impression that we were not returning her phone call). It is often difficult to catch people when we call back. Sometimes this results in telephone tag.

If your friend is calling at various times with the expectation that we will answer the phone, she may be frustrated in trying to get someone to answer. She will need to leave a message in order to receive a call back. Sometimes people leave messages and forget to leave their telephone number, or at other times we cannot hear the telephone number distinctly making it tough to call back. So, there can be several possibilities as to why she hasn't been able to visit with us.

If she does not have voicemail or an answering machine, if she leaves a time for us to return her call we can try to do that. Otherwise, if she has more than one number at which she can be reached (and can leave that on her message) that helps as well.

Often when people tell us they have been frustrated in trying to reach us it is because they expect and want us to answer the phone when they call. This is not something we are able to do at this time in our lives, as we are often busy homeschooling our own boys or are on another line helping customers. So, leaving a message is the best way to get a response.

We have also been busy answering questions on the message board this week, and even if your friend does not feel comfortable posting on the message board there is much wisdom that can be gleaned from reading my posts and my sister's posts on the board. We also help people on Facebook and by email, so any of these avenues are open to your friend as well. We try to be available in many different ways for families to get the help they need.

If you email us your friend's name (and her telephone number if she is comfortable with that), we can be watching for her call. We will be departing for the HEAV convention on Wed. and so at that time there will be a delay in response to phone calls and emails, however our message on our answering machine will reflect this. Most of our customers expect this delay as we travel, knowing there is only so much time available and that we are a family-run business. We enjoy helping people and consider it a wonderful privilege to be a part of their lives. One of the benefits of a family-run business is that when your friend does get to visit with us, she will get to speak to a family member who is very knowledgeable about Heart of Dakota and can thoroughly help her with any of her needs. We look forward to visiting with your friend in the coming week.

Blessings,
Carrie

[mrsrandolph]

The Austin's are PRIMO at customer service. I remember getting a call on my cell at Wall Mart from Mike when I was concerned about my child having dyslexia when she was younger. It was NOTHING HOD would have benefited from financially, but they returned my call because the wanted to help me. I will never forget that!!