That was a very well-written letter! [img]biggrin.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
Dear American Girl,
I have been a major enthusiast of your company since I was a small child. I am now going on nineteen years old and find that I still love your products and re-reading the historical characters' books on occasion. Having not had the means to spend too much money on your products when I was younger--I would recieve a doll and never any clothes or accessories. Just my Samantha, and eventually Josefina--I have been thrilled to find myself now able to splurge on the things that I could not have before.
For a span of time I considered myself a bit of a closet collector until I stumbled on a certain message board. This message board has shown me it is alright to still love my dolls, no matter how old I become. This message board has encouraged me to keep going with my hobby, to go ahead and buy more from the company. This message board is known to American Girl. It is the American Girl Fans Message Board on hostboard.
To my dissapointment lately, some American Girl employees lately seem to be taking a very negative stance towards your older customers. I understand that this company is based around little girls, that this company makes play dolls. This is part of the reason I love American Girl--for giving parents an alternative to some of the very risque new toys that now line the toy aisles at most major stores.
Some members on hostboard have been told in what seemed a rather rude fashion that these dolls are "not for collectors". Personally, I find this surprising considering the limited edition Girl of the Years that are now released, forcing parents to scramble to buy them and calling investors to stock up, only to sell on ebay the following year when they are no longer available at obscene prices.
I have two major reasons for finally sitting down to write this letter. One is that while I understand the company is based around young girls, I feel it is wrong for employees to treat some of us the way they have because we're no longer the targeted group for these items. American Girl cares about young girls---but what about what those young girls someday become, under influence from your products? I feel there is no reason for us to be treated as though we are too old and should find a new hobby.
My second reason has to do with the codes periodically released by American Girl. When recieved in catalogs, some codes have had messages next to them instructing their recipient to share them. So naturally, they become shared. But lately customer service has been practically interrogating us as to where we got the codes. A member of this message board was treated very poorly by a customer service supervisor recently. She was told that American Girl knows all about hostboard, and that we are the people hurting American Girl's marketing department, by sharing the codes.
This struck me as being very odd after several people had been told TO share the codes. As for hurting American Girl's marketing department, I feel this is a huge exaggeration. American Girl is a huge company pulling in incredible amounts of money each and every day. The products are expensive and worth it, but at the same time items add up quickly. Codes shared through our boards and elsewhere cause more and more people to place orders they would not usually place.
Discount codes give us excuses to place an order without feeling as guilty over what we paid. I honestly feel we do not abuse these codes, but that we use these codes to abuse our bank accounts willingly and happily. I am beginning to understand that codes are usually only given to new customers. But what about all of us who have been so loyal to the company? Why should we not be rewarded for our continuous orders, but instead treated more poorly as more time goes on?
This letter is not to say that ALL customer service is poor. I have had some absolutely wonderful experiences with customer service before, and have been thrilled at how kind they are to their customers. It just seems that as of late there have been more incidents such as the above running through my head and bringing me down.
Thank you very much for your time.
Sincerely,
Janine *****
That was a very well-written letter! [img]biggrin.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
Great letter!
Thank you for writing your letter.Let us know how they respond. [img]smile.gif[/img]
Very well-written, Janine! I think we should start a petition with that letter.
Very well-written, and well thought out. You laid it all out, and were very polite about the issues involved.
Well said! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] Let us know how they respond.
Thanks for all the support everyone! It was just really beginning to irk me and I'm the person that usually has problems keeping their mouth shut. [img]wink.gif[/img]
I will definitely let everyone know if I get a reply. Hopefully a more polite reply than some of us have gotten from them recently. [img]smile.gif[/img]
Great letter! I hope they send you a decent response.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I second that! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]Originally posted by Kit 1934:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by AGMom2:
Very well-written, Janine! I think we should start a petition with that letter.
What a wonderful letter, by the way. Please keep is posted. [img]smile.gif[/img] </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Here, Here!!!
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