I *USED TO* be a fan of Wicked Good charcoal...

caliking

Its quite good charcoal, as many of us know. But they could learn a thing or two from some of the other businesses on here ( I'm looking at you CGS, CGW, Baking Steel and BGE Grid Extender! ), apart from using the forum to snipe at their customers.

Posted below is the recent email exchange I had with one of the co-owners (names/email adds edited). I'm pretty happy with B&B which is available for a decent price about 5mins away. I have some Royal Oak to try after the recent Wal-Mart sale too. I'll probably be happier to not pay $1+ per lb for WG. 

Oh well, for the folks who like WG, I hope their supply and distribution improves.

"Hi Lee Ann.

Thank you for your email. We often wonder who some of the lurkers on the forum are. 

I posted my opinion on the forum, which I and others are free to do. I am glad to hear that your business is flourishing, and hope that it continues to do so without my patronage. If you follow the forum, you would know that I actually liked Wicked Good charcoal ( I have posted as such not too long ago), but there are other brands of lump charcoal that I like as well. It is possible that they would rather have my business.

Other businesses also follow (and contribute to) the forum - ceramicgrillstore.com, ceramicgrillworks.com, The Baking Steel among others. You may be able to learn something from them with regards to how to interact with your customers.

Wishing you all success ( once your supply is replenished), 

-Ashish 

> From: wickedgood 
> To: ashish 
> Subject: Re: Availability in Houston?
> Date: Thu, 30 May 2013 01:02:10 -0400
> 
> Ashish (caliking) ... I happened to see your post on the BGE forum. I certainly 
> don't appreciate your assumption that we are "not interested in the charcoal side 
> of their business anymore". You don't have a clue about our business and the 
> work it takes to succeed in the charcoal business!
> 
> We sold out on our charcoal ... simple as that! We have a very large customer 
> base and continues to grow every year. We have folks that support us in our 
> business, not folks that make negative and uninformed assumptions! It doesn't 
> matter if you like our charcoal or not ... but at least have some respect for the 
> work we do!
> 
> Lee Ann  / Co-Owner
> Wicked Good Charcoal, Inc.
> www.wickedgoodcharcoal.com
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <ashish
> To: "Wicked Good Charcoal" <wickedgood 
> Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2013 4:07 PM
> Subject: Re: Availability in Houston?
> 
> 
> Hi Lee Ann.
> 
> Thanks for writing back. San Antonio is 3 hrs away, Austin is 4 hrs away, and 
> Conroe is 1 hr away (2 hrs roundtrip). Is there no interest in supplying the 
> Houston area? I like Wicked Good, but to be frank, not enough to drive 2 hrs 
> for.
> 
> I do hope there is a way to remedy this problem.
> 
> -Ashish
> 
> --- Original Message ---
> 
> From: "Wicked Good Charcoal" <wickedgood
> Sent: May 9, 2013 8:21 AM
> To: "Ashish  " <ashish
> Subject: Re: Availability in Houston?
> 
> Hi Ashish,
> 
> If you've been buying it at Ace Hardware ... we are no longer supplying them.
> Perhaps one of the retail stores listed on our 'Where to Buy' page may be near
> you ...
> http://wickedgoodcharcoal.com/texas.html
> 
> Hope this helps!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Lee Ann  / Co-Owner
> Wicked Good Charcoal, Inc.
> www.wickedgoodcharcoal.com
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ashish 
> To: <sales@wickedgoodcharcoal.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2013 4:18 PM
> Subject: Availability in Houston?
> 
> 
> Hi.
> I can't seem to find any Wicked Good lump in the Houston area. Has it been
> rebranded in some way, or have you stopped shipping/distributing to Houston? I
> considered ordering online, but the shipping charge is prohibitive.
> I would appreciate it if you could let me know where or when I can find some of
> your lump charcoal in Houston, TX.
> Thanks.
> -Ashish"

travisstrick

WG is now on my black list. Thanks for the post. 

Hibby

Looks like someone forgets that the customer is always right. Hard to believe she doesn't know how much bad will can be created by fencing with the customer via email.

yellowdogbbq

Yikes!!!!   E-mails last forever business 101. 

dpittard

It's pretty sad that they don't care that you don't like their charcoal.  No one likes a company that doesn't care about their customers.  I'll definitely stop trying to find WG.  It doesn't make sense to support a company that doesn't care.

Thanks for the post.

SkinnyV

Not sure she said anything that would make me boycott em , she just got a little upset.

I just hate how the stuff takes long to light, but there are still uses for it, low and slow.

fletcherfam

Man fail on Wicked Good's part. Agreed, emails last forever. A simple post on this forum about supply issues, or demand issues, would have sufficed. Or even a response to your post saying that they are very interested in our business but demand has out paced supply and they are working on it.

 

Customer relationship for me sells something, yes something can be completely screwed up, but if you address the problem correctly, you just earned by business back.

Case in point, long story short, went to a restaurant, worst service ever. Paid $25 for dinner, spoke with manager about it, they called me next day and wanted to earn my business back and gave me $100 in gift certificates and put the server on final notice. Earned my business and recommendation back.

 

Wicked Good should have done the same, not send a nasty gram. Unfortunately for them there are many lurkers here who see that email and will never buy their product again, even after recommendations from people.

jimreed777

I don't like having lump shipped to me because it tends to get pretty pulverized. Not every time, but it happens.

I just called my local Ace yesterday and confirmed that they have 28 bags of WGC on the shelves because I was shopping for Ozark Oak as an alternative for my brisket, butt and other smokes and the only source I can find is online. 

I am having second thoughts about buying a dozen of the 22 pound bags to re-stock my supply now that I see this exchange.

I am going to have to consider buying OO online. On the other hand, my local Ace started stocking WGC after I bought a bunch online from Ace and had it shipped to store. I spoke with the owner and he agreed to start stocking it. He just got a couple pallets and he says it typically flies out of the store when they get it in. I do not want to stop patronizing my local source just because this lady was in the mood to get persnickety. 

hmmmm

dpittard

SkinnyV said:

Not sure she said anything that would make me boycott em , she just got a little upset. I just hate how the stuff takes long to light, but there are still uses for it, low and slow.

This quote from the email seals the deal for me:

" It doesn't matter if you like our charcoal or not "

cazzy

Thanks for posting!  I have always been a fan of WGWW.  Sunset Ridge in San Antonio is an affiliate of ACE and are supplied by them, so it's no longer available in San Antonio either.

Lee Ann, i'm sure you're lurking and reading this:

Thanks for the email to caliking!  I now know that I will not go out of my way to search for your product.  As a co-owner of a company, you're far too sensitive about "opinions".  As a business person, you should also know that poor customer service is communicated the majority of the time.  You will soon learn how large our EggHead community is, and how many eyes will view your very unprofessional e-mail.

BryanLyle

If you've been buying it at Ace Hardware ... we are no longer supplying them.

That says it all for me.  Going to stock up on RO from Walmart while it's $10 a bag.  Oh well.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

ooooh, delicious. What was the comment you made that set her off?

Spaightlabs

The customer is far from always right.  But they are still the customer and they have many options in the marketplace as to where to spend their hard-earned dollars.

When companies start believing their own BS and start to think that they are the most special of all the snowflakes out there (institutional arrogance) a lot of things can start to occur, and most of 'em are bad.

Insightful management looks inward first and can often right the ship.  Arrogant management blames the customer, the supplier, the distributor, the economy, the employees, the internet etc.

Stay Humble my friends.

SmokeyPitt

I wonder if I'm gonna get an email saying she doesn't appreciate me calling her a beeeotch on the forum.  

Oh yeah...what a beeotch! 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

SmokeyPitt said:

I wonder if I'm gonna get an email saying she doesn't appreciate me calling her a beeeotch on the forum.  

Oh yeah...what a beeotch! 

busted out on that one.

henapple

Yo, yo cali the king. Keep reprasintin the muda&@# BGE forum crew. Yous is one bad sumb&@#. Imgona hook yous up wit henapster and he'll rock yo wurld with sum fine #@&amp; lump from Ozark cuntry.

Keep your pimp hand strong.

Evidently the lady isn't too bright.

Spaightlabs

I'm gonna take the bag of WGWW I just bought last week and burn it.

A little bit at a time.

But I had to go out of my way to find it so I could try it and I'll probably just stick with BGE lump to support my dealer - he's a good guy and takes good care of folks.

SWVABeanCounter

Thanks for sharing this eye opening exchange.  I've ordered from Ace and with all the handling was either big pieces or dust.  I'd like to try some that was palletized and not handled excessivly, but not now.  I know this was only one person, but if that is their attitude, I'd rather spend my money elsewhere.  Off to Wally World.

Griffin

Wow!! Never seen the stuff in person, I'll make sure not to pick up any if I ever do. Horrible customer service.

hapster

Why do I think her husband is sitting in his office pulling his hair out; completing regretting  giving his wife a "marketing job" and letting her play with social media and bbq forums, answering customer email...

He's probably wishing he had just told her to stay home, go to the club and play tennis with your friends...

Poor guy...


Please note - This is simply what I think is happening. I don't know these people and hope that their situation improves and that even the hard lessons are learned for the future.

Little Steven

As a business owner I would never, ever communicate to a customer in that manner. Unthinkable!

double

I just finished my last bag of WGWW I don't know @caliking but by responding like that I take it personally so I will take my business elsewhere.

Haws72688

Ditto for me, normally take regular altercations with employees with a grain of salt.  They lost me at the Co-owner tag.

Fred19Flintstone

Was my favorite. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth now.

chris123stock

Worst thing ever said. I love WG, and we all know the customer is not always right, but in this case there was no right or wrong, just a question. That was just a stupid thing to say, "I don't care" three little words that mean the world. O-well, lessons are lived and learned. 

hapster

I wonder if Lurker Ann / Co-Owner will even have the stones to address her mistake here on this thread?

travisstrick

Haws72688 said:

Ditto for me, normally take regular altercations with employees with a grain of salt.  They lost me at the Co-owner tag.

Same here. If it was some min wage lady I might be ok with it. Not from the owner. 

SaturdayFatterday

Well, I was going to go ahead and order a few bags, since their price + shipping is still cheaper than at my local store, but forget that.

I worked retail for years, at a chain that values its customers and realizes that even if the customer isn't always empirically right, they always ought to feel like they were treated fairly.  That's why it weathered the economic storm while its competitors went under.

If Wicked Good doesn't care about @caliking's business, then they don't care about anyone's business.  Period.

SmoothSmoke

Wicked Gone

dlk7

Just checked their website and here is what it says:

We always love to hear from our customers.... your thoughts and comments are most welcome! Wicked Good Charcoal, Inc. P.O. Box 647 Kennebunk, Maine 04043 sales@wickedgoodcharcoal.com Our Office Hours are 8:30 a.m. ~ 6:30 p.m. (EST) Monday through Friday Saturday 9:00 a.m. ~ 1:00 p.m. / Closed Sunday We will make every effort to answer e-mails as quickly as possible! The Shopping Cart* is available for placing an order 24/7. Lee Ann & Larry Johnson

dlk7

Not sure I believe the part about loving to hear from customers.