I heart Midwest Gloves & Gear
Sometimes companies go far beyond the call of duty when it comes to customer service. I’m talking about that “Oh, wow!” things that make you stop in your tracks. I’ve experienced such a reaction with Midwest Gloves & Gear. Let me back up a bit.
A couple weeks ago, I bought a pair of gripper type, rubberized gardening gloves at Wal-Mart. I thought I’d see how well they work on the myriad of thistles we have growing on The Plot. They worked great! The textured rubber coating is durable enough that all except the most robust of the thistles’ spines didn’t penetrate the gloves and bite my fingers. On the few occasions a point did start poking my finger, I just put my hand in a different part of the stem and was good to go.
I was so happy to have found these inexpensive, but effective gloves, I e-mailed the company’s customer service department A couple days later, I received a reply from a rep named Rhonda, who apologized for the time it took her to reply and thanked me for the positive comments. She said she was happy to hear the gloves worked well for me and would send my comments on to their CEO.
By the time I read her e-mail, I’d worn these gripper gloves a total of four times, but some of the rubber coating on the right glove’s fingertips had split out and the fabric was probably not far from tearing. I wrote back, saying I hated to write with bad news, but the gloves were already giving out. I acknowledged that they were probably not designed for the workout I gave them.
Rhonda came back with an empathetic note:
Oh Kimberly!
I was just heartbroken to hear about the early wear your experiencing with those grippers. I suspect that either they were defective from the factory or you are just a really hard worker! I am going to send you a little “care package” to replace your 64A7’s and I’ve also included 2 other gripper type gloves - style 65-M, you’ll notice the texture is just a little different and they are on a knit glove.
The other one, my personal favorite is a style 67A7 (these are really light weight lightly coated nylon gloves - they will be untagged in the box) I’ve found them to be great for all types of gardening and light landscaping. I’ve also thrown in a few others (plus a couple of fun items just for you!) to keep you in gloves until the fall.
I hope your replacement grippers perform better!
Have a wonderful summer!
This so touched me. When I wrote, I truly never expected to receive such a kind response and replacement gloves. Not just replacement, but extras. How cool is that?
Well, it gets better. Today, a box arrived via UPS. It is probably an 18″ square box, loaded with gloves! There are 30 pair of gloves in there, plus hats! There are gloves of almost every kind: leather, rubber-coated, canvas, cotton, nylon, and even a pair made for mucking about in the pond; the latter are waterproof rubber gloves with plastic sleeves that come almost all the way up my arms. There are also two knit camouflage pair which have a rubber coating on their fingertips and palms…I am afraid I will lose them. LOL
Aside from the incredible customer service, these gloves do look like they’re well-made. The company certainly manufactures a wide variety of gardening and work gloves.
I used to work in customer service, including a 3-year stint in the customer service support group with the company which owns Jackson & Perkins, so I have high expectations of companies and really watch these things. That’s one more reason Rhonda and Midwest Gloves & Gear is getting a shout out from me today. I know people will tell all sorts of friends and family about bad experiences, but seldom tell about a good experience. This is definitely one great experience and I appreciate it!
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Rhonda certainly went above and beyond for her company! You received some great stuff and I’m sure will be a customer for life
It takes so little to make you happy. I guess I should be happy about that lol. I don’t have to buy you diamonds I just need to find someone to send you a box of gloves or a wheelbarrow of dirt etc…
See what I mean the threading waters border punch! LOL
LOL! He’s teasing me because I just got an e-mail from Sudie at the Unkit blog saying I won the Fiskars threading water border punch.
It sounds like a great company to me.
WOW! I could have used a pair of those babies today when I shoveled 2 yards of redwood chip into the new front beds! I now have some lovely blisters.
Good customer relations/service was non existent for a long time but I notice more businesses are trying to improve in that area in the past couple of years. It is great to see it making a comeback and your glove company deserves praise for taking it to the next level.
Ooh, ouch…Hope they heal up soon for ya. So are you in a new place now, Brenda?
While not much of a hat person, I rather like that orange topper. You’ll look fantastic in it!
It’s great to hear about companies with good customer service. Seems to be such a rarity anymore.