Holiday Hunting, Part 2

In last month’s column, I recounted my holiday-shopping experiences with The Sharper Image, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com. This month I offer more catalog-shopping tales in case they’re helpful or instructive to other catalogers.

I requested a copy of the Wisconsin Cheeseman catalog, because a recent vacation in Wisconsin convinced me of that state’s supremacy in cheese-making. The catalog, which arrived about a week after I requested it online, offers various cheeses, meats, sweets and other delectables. It’s a terrific marriage of photography and copy. And the color quality and merchandise selection is exceptional. So with the catalog, a credit card and my gift list in hand, I called the order hotline.

April, a call center rep, picked up before the first ring, and immediately asked for my account number, which was a long series of numbers on the mailing label pasted to the catalog. I gave her the numbers, but there was a mix-up, and she couldn’t find me in the database. She then asked for the “number in the pink box on the back of the catalog.” I told her the pink box was empty and said I was a new customer who’d ordered a catalog via the Web. That apparently didn’t satisfy her, and there was a bit of impatience in her voice that made me uncomfortable. But to her credit, she quickly collected herself, and brightly asked for my last name—a back-up plan that apparently was successful. We were back on track.

I ordered six items, split into two shipments: two items for my husband, and the rest for my in-laws in Florida. April asked when I wanted the orders delivered, a question I welcomed since I was calling a month before Christmas. Take-away tip: I found it disconcerting to be greeted with a request for a long string of numbers. But after that, the shopping experience was an enjoyable one.

Next I ordered a gift basket of hot sauces and condiments from the 2002 Tabasco catalog for my fire-breathing brother-in-law in Colorado whose cuisine philosophy is, “It’s simply not possible for something to be too spicy.” The catalog is small and a bit too sparse on copy. And when I called the customer service number, I discovered that placing an order was actually number 4 on the voice prompt, behind taking a tour of the Tabasco Country Store and inquiring about an existing order! I found that strange.

No matter, I made my selection, and Lena, the rep who answered my call, was efficient and pleasant. Without my prompting, she confirmed what the catalog noted, that there was free shipping on the gift basket I ordered—which saved me from having to ask. Nice touch, I thought.

Take-away tip: For a $65 product, I would’ve liked to read more about the offering. The Tabasco folks may want to beef up their copy a bit.

All in all, these were satisfactory shopping experiences. I hope 2003 is a profitable and productive year for you. Happy New Year to all!