great service at Scotweb.com

[Nick Fiddes]

That does sound like excuses!
Not often on Xmarks these days, but since I saw this after being quite unable to get any sense out of your employees as to whether they were going to make my kilt the length I asked for or going to send something else, I can't see how the weather should affect communication to that extent.
It appears that the kilt was made before I gave the go-ahead, and it's already on its way here. I'm hoping my next message will be a vote of thanks and not an irate venting of wrath.

Martin in Andalucia

Where an effort to explain by being open with honest information ends, and excuses start, is for everyone to judge. My point was actually intended to acknowledge that yes there are times when we find it hard to meet the standards we set ourselves. I don't think we're alone in that. But with the best will in the world, sometimes it's simply not possible.

But since you ask, and say you don't understand how the weather can affect things so badly, let me explain. I posted a blog item a while ago, setting out just how bad it was here, for several weeks on end, at our peak business time of year:
http://blog.scotweb.co.uk/journal/20...er-winter.html
The result of such severe conditions is that not only we, but every one of our suppliers and couriers was suffering similarly. As was every company in the country, so it's not just us alone. We were lucky. Most of our staff made it into work, unlike those of many of our suppliers. (For a while, the national average of staff getting to work was around 50% as I recall.)

When absolutely nothing moves in a supply chain for weeks on end, and the staff can't even get in to their workplace to do the work that they could be getting on with, the result is chaos. Even in this age of electronic communications, for a kilt to be made you need dye to reach the dyer, yarns to reach the weaver, fabrics to reach the kiltmaker, the kilt to reach the retailer, and then a courier to pick it up for dispatch. None of this was happening. Our main next-day courier had to close its doors for pre-Xmas deliveries weeks before Xmas, even from areas they could still reach to pick up from, due to their warehouses having no more room. You also need phone lines and power lines to be operating, when many weren't. A massive backlog builds up, with some companies simply closing the doors. Each company in the network is beseiged by its customers asking similar questions (especially in the run up to Xmas). This takes up a huge share of the time they'd prefer to be spending actually solving the problems. And no one can get clear answers from the next supplier in the chain, because they are suffering similarly. It is only now, two months later, that as an entire industry the situation has now largely stabilised.

So I apologise if you did not receive the 'sense' you were looking for. But I can promise you that we were giving out information to the very best of our ability, based on the best information that was available to us. Of course that's frustrating to you, not least since I imagine in Andalucia the weather rarely causes such problems. But to me telling you all this is not about making excuses, but giving you factual context. I'm sorry that you clearly feel my efforts to be open and to explain only condemn us more.

[seanachie]

I have not purchased anything from you Nick, but whether one agrees or disagrees you have made an honest effort to communicate your issues. That is commendable. I have had instances, not with X Marks vendors, but with others who never reply or provide any explanation.

[MartinGrenoble]

But since you ask, and say you don't understand how the weather can affect things so badly...

I can quite understand that everyone has had a very difficult winter and that that was a good enough expanation for delays etc. The irony is that I was complaining about a kilt being made too quickly (yes !!!), not about lateness or slowness. An email asked me to check the easurements I had sent (problem with cm -- inch conversion), which I did, and was than told that the kilt was already finished.

I'm sorry that you clearly feel my efforts to be open and to explain only condemn us more.

No, sorry, I was not trying to condemn anyone. Obviously, good open communication on all sides is essential.

It was mere chance that I logged on earlier and found your message, and I could not resist mentioning my case which was so at odds with things previously expressed.

I am just hoping that in a few days the postman will knock on my door and all my fears will vanish as I try on my latest acquisition.

Do please go on supplying kilts and suchlike around the world and keeping 95% of your custiomers happy, if not more.

Believe it or not, the rain in Spain can be quite devastating, and flooding has been a big problem in many places as well as impenetrable blankets of snow in the northern half of the peninsular (not that that has any bearing whaatsoever with the subject in hand!)

Martin