My darling daughter asked me after Christmas if I would make new stockings and a tree skirt for her for this coming year. That is 5 stockings in all. I gave her some ideas and then the light bulb came on.............Angie's Bits and Pieces. I told her to take a look and this is what she chose.
Fabric in Canada is expensive.............no doubt about it. I would love someone to just explain why. I was told once it was because we are bilingual and they have to put French on the end of the bolts. Give me a break! That is a little piece of sticky paper that gets printed by the thousands. That is not the reason, that is an excuse.
We went on line. You saw that last week in the posting "My Pictures". We ordered from two companies......Thousands of Bolts and Hancocks of Paducah.
Let's talk about Hancocks first. Two kinds of fabric, one green, one muslin. That was the order. I placed the order on January 10th. I received my shipping confirmation on January 12th. Today as I write this it is Friday, January 21st.
Now lets discuss Thousands of Bolts. 4 pieces of fabric......3 of them greens -- 1 yard cuts and then 1 red fabric 3 yard cut.
I have it! It was here on the 20th of January. One week shipped by USPS from Boardman, Ohio.
I also ordered fabric for myself from Connecting Threads. After I ordered I decided to order some Insul-Bright so I had to telephone the company, but lets talk about shipping and receiving first.
This was a large order. Lots of cutting of different fabrics. Creams, reds and one green.
I ordered on the 10th, received confirmation on the 12th and I received in January 21st. 11 days from ordering to receiving. I received updates from them on a regular basis, just like Thousands in regards to confirmation of order, the order is on its way, and then to tell me it had entered the Canadian postal system.
I told you I had to phone CT to add to my order. The girl took the information from me that she needed and sadly said, its shipped! I said okay that's alright I should have thought of it sooner and then I placed my order. It arrived with the fabric. I have fat quarters on back order with CT so I phoned about them yesterday (Thursday) which is now last week. They will be available on February 2nd and they will be shipped either that day or the next.
I am getting priorities here. The fabric from Thousands of Bolts is absolutely beautiful as are the lengths I ordered from CT. They are inexpensive................about $6.00 a yard!!!!!!! I rounded that up. Shipping from Thousands was $12.85 and divide that by the yards and then add it on....................I'm still way ahead.
Connecting charged me $7.00 for each parcel. If I had been wiser I would have only paid that once, but we all make mistakes.
Customer service is really important to me. If I don't get it, I don't deal with the company/store any longer. I have been on both sides of the counter....................as a clerk and as a customer. I treated my customers very, very well. If I was in the middle of my hot cup of tea, I would put it down, get that smile on my face and greet them like a long lost friend. I let them wander the store if that is what they wanted to do. I didn't sales pitch them to death...................that isn't in me. I know my customers liked me. They told me that and it made me feel good.
I will deal with Hancocks in the future, but I'll look elsewhere first. I find their prices are climbing and climbing quickly and that is something I have to consider when buying. I will definitely not be buying something if I need it tomorrow. I'll have to plan ahead if dealing with them.
Take a look at the sites. I know some of you already deal with Connecting Threads as I have been tooting their horn for a long time. Thousands of Bolts is new to me, but I will definitely be dealing with them again......like right now. I need lining for a jacket.
