One of the tools of my trade is a waterproof notebook for note taking in the field. In them, I write down pertinent observations and sketches. The data collected in the field goes into databases and reports. If it rains or the notebook falls into a stream, the notebooks HAVE to hold together and my writing still be legible.
Thank God for Rite In The Rain notebooks--they are waterproof and come in all different sizes and adapted for all sorts of professions. If it is important to my profession and can be written down on paper, my notebook has it in the handy reference section in the back.
This company is known as the top of the line of fieldgear for my occupation, and for many other professions in which some work takes place outside. They are...the Prada of fieldwork. In all honesty, I'd rather have REI hiking boots than Prada high heels, anyway.
Recently I went out in the field with my 2 year old field notebook. It rained for three days straight, and I was filthy, muddy, and waterlogged. I dropped my field notebook in the mud, and it held up just fine. After one day, though, water started to seep into the edges of the pages in my Rite in the Rain notebook. I decided to complain about this, since that is NOT supposed to happen. I simply went to their website, clicked on the email link to complain, and sent my letter.
The next day, I got a very courteous reply asking for the batch number. I sent that in, and the same guy that answered my original complaint letter decided to send me a free notebook to replace my half-used, waterlogged one! (Yay!)
Anyway, this all happened in less than a week. Personal, immediate replies and a happy resolution to a complaint. Kudos to Rite in the Rain!
3 comments:
Do you write on the notebooks with a regular pen or do you use oil pens?
I ordered thermal tags for my shop on Oct 3, hadn't rec'd them by Oct 13. Tried to call the company - busy signal all day. Sent an email asking for tracking info.
Hours later, just before they closed for the day, I got a canned response to "Vikki" saying they were checking with the shipper. My name is not Vikki.
Sent a reply saying cancel the order, I no longer needed them. It'd been 10+ days by then and I'm closing my shop the end of October (bad economy...it's killing me) then I ordered tags from someone on Ebay instead, because I really do need one more roll. We're talking $70 for 6 rolls of these things, they aren't cheap.
Next day, tried to call and confirm that the order was canceled. Busy signal all day.
Finally got thru today. Woman was silent while I asked - again - if my order was canceled. Why, no - they'll be delivered tomorrow. I said, NO, I don't want them anymore. By that time, I'm pretty ticked but kept my cool. She told me just to refuse them when the Fed Ex guy showed up.
What a pain...15 days til the shop closes for good and I still have people's stuff to tag. What a horrible company. Keenzo - never order tags from them. LOL
I HATE BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE.
You were really lucky!
R--I use pencils with hard lead (regular lead smears on the paper easily) and a regular-ink space pen (so I can write in odd positions) while out in the field. They both write just fine in pouring rain on this paper!
susan--wow! that customer service sounds really awful!! I'm really lucky to get such a fast personalized response.
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