OMG, i used to b a pretty good writer! (不要脸！！！）

So im working on updating my resume now la to apply from a communications job with one of the IR.

N i stumbled onto this folder i created eons ago which contains all versions of my CVs n application letters.

I can't believe that i used to come up with such a good load of bull when i was so fresh outta school with zero corporate experience.
I guess the terminology learnt in school were still fresh in my head then ;D

But the best i think i have ever written was this particular complaint letter bout a certain florist which i wonder still exists today or not man. ;D

Never one to write for others, i've always been secretive bout my essays n projects cos i always felt embarrassed bout putting my personal thoughts out there for people to read, judge n scrutinise.

Having just finished a module in Services Marketing n not to mention the very inspiring lecturer we had (who sadly have passed on the last i've heard), i included some theory from wat i learnt in school into the complaint letter n forwarded it to ALL my un course mates back in NTU then.

N one of them forwarded it to my then lecturer. hohohoho~ ;D

By then it was my last semester n i always wondered if my complaint letter was ever used as a example of the "intangible aspects of a service being consistent with the tangible aspects" subject. ;p

Attached below is the letter, word for word!:

"Hi everybody! :)

So how did everyone’s Valentine’s Day turn out?

Well we all know the sheer power of the Word-Of-Mouth communication and the harm it can do to a person, or an entity when the information carried is negative. My main purpose for writing this email is to tell everyone about MY Valentine’s day disaster, caused by a particular florist, or rather, a flowers and hamper shop.

As most of my friends in constant contact with me will know, my boyfriend is currently overseas studying so obviously he could not be with me. However, sweet and thoughtful as he always is, he recognises the significance of presenting flowers to his girlfriend especially on Valentine’s Day. Personally, any flowers would be good for me; after all it’s the thought that counts, right? :)

Okay, it was much to my surprise and utter delight when the flowers was delivered to my workplace in the evening around 8, yes it was right on time, but boy, was I surprised by the condition they were in. One of the red roses (never mind that the invoice said it was supposed to be pink) was drooping and the rest were in pretty bad condition with wilty, black edges. The “lush foliage” as described in the website which I later checked out, were more or less half dead and were soggy and drooping as well. It also looked as if it had been lying under a pile of other bouquets and hampers the entire day because it was pretty flat and limp and lifeless. My friends who saw them were rather embarrassed to point out the obvious flaws to me at first, but had to because it was really that bad!!

Nonetheless, I was delighted and smiling because it was a nice and extremely thoughtful and sweet act on the part of my boyfriend. Anyway, it’s really the thought that counts, who cares whether it’s a single rose, a dozen or whether it had to be perfect right??

Wrong. It was right because the entire evening when I was hugging and carrying the flowers I did not expect a worm to be in it. YES! A live wriggly hairy caterpillar, or worm, whatever it was, it came from inside the wrapping paper.
Alright, for some of you reading this, you might think, ‘it’s just a worm, no big deal.’ Well maybe for some of you out there who have an obsessive fear of lizards, snakes, cockroaches, whatever bugs, you would understand the point I’m getting at.

It was wrong, all wrong. Who would expect a bouquet of dying roses with dying foliage with worms crawling around on Valentine’s Day of all days? To this point, I maintain that I do not blame my boyfriend for the bad choice of florist because
1) The website looks really professional and even pledges that “Confetti is an established flower and hamper company in Singapore. In operation for the last 15 years, Confetti is reputed for well-conceived arrangements and floral designs that leave valued and lasting impressions.”

2) He called up the company all the way from London and this guy actually assured him that their flowers and the design he chose would be very nice.

However, this guy actually called my boyfriend up on a second occasion and said that an additional $20 is needed because of the demands in capacity for V-day. Never mind, if the flowers are going to turn out perfect, if not just nice, it’s worth it right?

Fast forward to the service recovery process. Never mind that I left the flowers on top of a bin in Orchard Road, I could not bear to touch it after discovering the worm. I called up this florist company and the fellow who spoke to my boyfriend told me that the flowers, the design my bf chose is supposed to be like that. I asked him, “Are you sure it’s supposed to be like that? With the leaves looking like kang kong and all?” His reply to me was that he is new to the company and was sceptical himself when he saw the condition of the flowers. However, the poor guy claimed that his colleagues who were with this company longer than him claimed that it was supposed to be like this. That the design I chose is supposed to be like this. Never mind the design!! The inner me was screaming, what I was referring to was the condition of the flowers!
His explanation was too bizarre for me to accept, I did not know that flowers were supposed to be like that, I had received and sent flowers several times before, and none of them had ever turned out like this.

Next, about 30 minutes after, my boyfriend called up, at 4 am in the morning in London, this same guy picked up the phone again. This time, he explained that some customers were understanding enough to accept that V-day is a super peak period for flowers and gifts companies, and whether we could also understand that they are unable to provide 100% perfect service and quality? That they had already hired extra help and were sorry for the poor condition of the flowers. Our stand remains that
1) V-day is a busy period for nearly every florist in the world, but we still see gorgeous if not, moderate pretty bouquets on the streets
2) They asked for an extra charge to cope with the extra orders during peak period and my bf was more than willing to pay that for quality
3) This guy himself claimed that he saw the bouquet and also thought it was in a sorry state, so why still deliver it?
4) We are generally very unfussy and forgiving people but this is really the pits. We could just accept bad foliage but nice perky fresh roses, or maybe the other way round, in fact, I was happy with the already bad shape the bouquet was in, however, the worm just completed the entire experience. I suppose even the most tolerant of customers would have a limit somewhere.

To the company who I’m also sending this email to:
The guy who handled our complaints seemed sincere enough in his apologies and was reasonable enough when my bf said he was going to withhold the payment on this transaction, but only when my bf had to impress upon him how pissed off we really were. He actually offered to send a replacement bouquet but not only does he not understand that I would not want to go near any bouquets for a long time, the action would and could not make up for the initial failure in service. It was Valentine’s Day yesterday, not today, not tomorrow and I don’t want the flowers anymore.


More importantly, you are not just doing the business of selling flowers and delivering promptly, you are also selling an experience and sending regards on behalf of the sender. Clearly you guys at Confetti understand this because you do claim that in your website under the “About Us” hyperlink. Maybe this whole process would be eliminated if the guy who inspected the flowers before the delivery could just do the simple act of replacing it with a new one?
To put simply, the intangible aspects have to be consistent with the quality of the tangible aspects in order to provide excellent service. In your case, it’s probably the other way round.

To my friends who are reading this:
Sorry for the long email, but for those of you who have had crappy valentines, maybe this would serve to amuse you. :) And of course guys, if any of you intend to order flowers for your girlfriends off the net you would know which website/company you can/should not waste your time browsing. Thank You!

Regards, Dorinn
15th February 2003
Saturday"

Post note:
Oh mi gosh, i did a quick google search n the company in question actually still exists after all these years lor.
Guess word of mouth is NOT tt effective back then when blogs r not prevalent.

They r lucky cos i was a mere student then. With no blog.
I seriously think customers in this day n age r very much less forgiving n definitely more demanding than 6 years ago.
I wonder if the bosses r the same n if they remember a very pissed off marketing student who sent them this exact complaint letter n CC-ed it to the entire marketing student population of NTU as well. HAHAHA.

Too bad my old ibook crashed n their replies to my letter were contained in there.
i remembered quite well the person who replied did say something bout my seeing an innate need to highlight their service lapse to many others.
I guess they din really see a need to placate a lowly student then. Until they realised wat i did. *wry smile*

Im sure many of my course mates who i still keep in touch with, still remember my evil deed n the above letter, which shows that it served its purpose. Oh well.

BACK TO WRITING MY CV!