If you hate your customers ...

... you can take a leaf out of Square Orange Foods' (Beanies Coffee) book. They really know how to treat their customers just badly enough to guarantee you never come back. For quite a while I've been ordering my flavoured coffee from them; not the big amounts, but still. I've been very enthusiastic about the taste and the quality, and didn't stop talking about the decaf, recommended them to anyone who couldn't run fast enough. It was never a problem and I always got the coffee the next day or the day after. Now something went wrong, and I needed their customer service, which, unfortunately, was rather appalling.
 I ordered Thursday the 11th and expected the goods to arrive on Monday the latest, but they didn't come, nor came the e-mail that the goods have been dispatched, not until Monday, that is. They normally dispatch either the same day or the next. So that was already an unusual delay. No explanation whatsoever. I know there are times when a company is a bit busier, so I let it slip past; after all, the world doesn't revolved me, you see?
So the coffee should have been here on Tuesday, Wednesday the latest. But it wasn't. On Friday I sent a message to Square Orange Foods explaining that my goods haven't arrived. I got the reply that apparently, they've tried to deliver three times, but I didn't get a call, a card, a note, or anything, and I know for sure they didn't try to deliver, because I work from home and when I know a delivery is coming I'm staying at home. Alarm bells went off, along with a deja vu, but I couldn't pinpoint it. I was told by Square Orange Foods to call the courier, which, I find is the first sign of bad customer service. Why am I expected to follow it up when I paid £4 for a service? But hey, I gave them (CYC) a call to speed things up. The unfriendly woman at the other end then told me again someone had tried to deliver and I told her that I was at home and if not someone else would have taken it. Worked last time, even if that was a massive discussion, but to that later. Anyway, she told me a van is in my area and the good would be delivered (it was around 4pm). The driver would call me five minutes before he arrives. I said, he doesn't need to as I'm at home. She then checked the address again and said the flat number was missing and that was the issue, to which I replied that it had worked perfectly fine in the past, so that couldn't be the issue. She then started to get really short, talk over me, and I heard she was annoyed and wanted to get rid of me. Yay, CYC, thumbs up for great customer service. Not!
I waited, excited that the coffee would arrive, stood at the window, longingly looking out, but it went dark and no courier in sight. I wrote to Square Orange Foods informing them. Mark, the guy in customer service said that it's basically the courier's fault and if I had any other queries I should get in touch. Err, hello? It's most possibly not the correct way of dealing with the situation. My order is delayed and I don't get any explanation. It's now your turn to make something happen. Saying it's out of your control once you sent the order out, blaming others is neither my problem, nor am I interested in it. I'm the customer; I order, I pay, I want my goods. Simple. Having then the cheek to say he hoped it wouldn't put me off ordering again had me shaking my head. I was willing to order again until Monday came.
He then said, I should leave it with him, he'll chase them up on Monday. In the meantime, I remembered what the issue with CYC was last time: I needed to leave the house as I had dinner guests in the evening, so I called CYC, asking them to leave the goods in the hallway. The woman said it wasn't possible, it had to be delivered to the person who ordered the goods. I told her that I herewith declare my wish for anyone to be able to take the parcel. She insisted, equally unfriendly back then, talking over me, and I was left with an upset feeling. I went to get my groceries and when I came back, the coffee was in the hallway. Over the moon to have received my goods, I called the courier to thank them for making the exception. The unfriendly lady didn't really care, her voice sounded bored, treating me as if I've lost the plot, as if I reported how I wash my hair. Shocking, really, that not even an honest praise could get her out of her grumpy mood.
So, back to my current situation:  Yesterday morning (Monday) I wrote an e-mail to Square Orange Foods, saying I'm still waiting for my goods. Mark replied he'll chase them and if the goods arrived in the meantime I should tell him. Right, you're saying you can ignore me for hours, but want to be informed if anything happens on my end, is that right? Well, luckily, I'm a big fan of keeping people in the loop, unlike you, I must add, and would have told you without being repeatedly asked. Because I know how to treat customers. Again, I waited. Again being housebound. Four hours later, I didn't hear anything. So I sent another e-mail to Mark asking for an update, to which he replied he'd chased it up and is waiting for a response. Four hours? Are you kidding me? And that after they fucked the whole thing up on Friday? I then suggested to just send out another order free of charge, which is the sensible thing to do, but he didn't even respond to that suggestion. How surprising. Monday went, too, and I was still without goods. When I informed him about it, he just e-mailed back saying I should leave it with him and he'll chase it up tomorrow. I told him what I thought about the poor service and that I'm not willing to wait longer as all I'm getting are empty promises, which isn't enough. He defended himself saying it's a bit harsh as it's hardly his fault if the courier messes things up. Yeah, I agree, but it's your fault that you didn't satisfy me by sending another order, that you didn't keep me in the loop, that you find excuses for the lack of customer service. I won't have it!
Only if something goes wrong, a company will show what they think of their customers, if they are important to them. It seems to me that Square Orange Foods And CYC don't care. 

I've now asked for a refund, and have ordered from a different company. It's already been sent, so here's hope.