Jessica and Joshua at Garden of Francis have had one goal in mind since the beginning of their business over 10 years ago: to make sure the customer gets beautiful functional materials, even if that means replacing items.
There have been a few odd situations over the years including a map that arrived, the customer inspected it, decided it was fine, wrapped it up and put it into storage. 2 months later, she opened it up and found it covered in mold. It was fine on arrival but went bad in storage. That map was replaced.
Or the two customers who waited more than 13 months to say that they didn't receive their order, despite the post office having tracking information. One of those customers later posted pics of their atrium online and in the background were items from the missing order. Hm. Unfortunately if the post office damages a package, they hold for 6 months at the local regional location, then they dispose of the unclaimed items. All tracking links are e-mailed to the customers upon shipping and stored with their account information so they can log in and see it at any time.
Or a customer who mailed items to Garden of Francis that were not ordered from Garden of Francis yet demanded a refund. The items were sent back to the customer, at GoF's expense. And Jessica helped them find the actual company the customer had used.
A customer ordered Mass linens - the finger towel has always been made of a different material than the rest, but this customer was not satisfied and really wanted it in linen. She got a new finger towel.
Once in a great while items have had to be updated between posting the photo to the product listing and the customer ordering - this can happen with ready-made items or when a pattern needs changing - so a quick question regarding the difference gets things cleared up right away.
An international customer had her large order mixed together by customs and packaged into a completely different box - and another international customer had her items messed up by customs as well. Jessica worked with each of these customers to help them sort out every last piece. Why? Because she wanted to be sure nothing was lost and that the customer wasn't put out any further than already done.
What is heart-breaking is when the customer doesn't give Jessica or Joshua a chance to respond. Now it is a family friend trying to address e-mails so that Jessica can focus on orders and grieving the loss of her son and celebrating his life. Assistance is still immediately forthcoming and discussions of a proper resolution.
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Empty Tomb - Interchangable Set
(shift around to provide 1 Gospel at a time) |
A recent order was returned with a demanded refund because "everything was low-quality and mixed together" (paraphrasing). Each set had been packaged in individual plastic bags, but we think that because the customer ordered the Empty Tomb - Interchangeable Set but expected to receive only one Gospel's set, they tried to make a set with the remaining figures then thought everything else was mixed together even though it wasn't.
Some of the wood (pin maps and pasture bases) warped in shipment and these would have received an immediate replacement. The concern here is that the customer pointed out "stains" in the unpainted wood, which was nothing but wood grain: it was the wood itself.
She didn't like the size of the altar for the Good Shepherd Eucharistic Presence. Jessica would have sent her a larger one.
She didn't like one of the international figures - a replacement would have been sent.
She received one set of candleholders, but said there should have been two sets. Her order was combed over several times before shipping for accuracy. When it was returned, it was still fully accurate to what was actually ordered, except that the two cloth slings (for baby Jesus 3d figure) were missing. Only one set of candleholders was ordered.
She claimed certain figures (1 small Good Shepherd and several 3d figures) were extras. The 3d figures were in her interchangable set and the Good Shepherd is because of the individual components she ordered. It's all in the order.
Flight into Egypt doesn't include a donkey. There is no donkey in the Scriptures and no donkey mentioned in the product description.
The customer thought the 3d chalice was intended for the Eucharistic Presence of the Good Shepherd even though they were packaged with the Last Supper Jesus holding His hands up to hold the chalice.
She didn't like that the apostles are more identical than unique. She said that nothing on the website indicated they would match. Following is a photo of the original 3d figures (what was posted when she ordered) - painted version. She ordered UNpainted.
Following are Jesus and some of the apostles from the new set:
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| Jesus is holding the removable chalice |
The customer could not identify the altar linens, but a simple question could have cleared it up quickly, even if the customer didn't want to look on the website for the photos and the dimensions on the product description. Palls, burses and altar cloths are very different from each other; the purificator and corporal are the same size but similar shape to the veil. A quick question or a quick look on the website would have cleared it up.
85% of the order was in perfect condition and exactly as described in the product descriptions, including a hinged Bible (two small rectangles connected with 2 hinges) that the customer insisted was part of the Books of the Bible work (it is a separate line item on the order).
15% would have received an immediate replacement. These items have had excellent reviews from so many people and Jessica would have been happy to replace them as well as answer any and all questions. It is so disheartening to read the cruel words people use towards someone who only wants to serve them.
Among all the liturgical celebrations, Pentecost is yet another that holds rich meaning for us. My son and I celebrated aspects of Pentecost throughout the entire year.
