Article: Customer Feedback. The Positive & Dealing With The Negative

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Mar 23, 2022Dowina Guitars

Customer Feedback. The Positive & Dealing With The Negative

July 1st will mark my 27th year in guitar retail!!

Where do the years go?

When I look back - one thing has never changed and that is my primary motivation in life which is to be happy (ok - If we want to get deep here we all know thats a big hurdle straight away - the phrase "at peace" may be a better choice of phrase) and to make others happy around me.

Its like they say about Christmas - the joy of giving is the greatest pleasure and probably what keeps Christmas alive, even more so than the list of wants we give our parents and those around us every year.

There is one guitar that I have been recommending for so many years - The Furch Blue Gc CM. We now have 43 reviews for this one guitar and I couldn't help notice that the reviews go back to 2013 when I first introduced this particular reviews system (Yotpo).

I hope this one guitar alone demonstrates the consistency and integrity of my personal recommendations!

You can read them here...

https://rguitars.co.uk/products/furch-blue-gc-cm?variant=264572382

It was reading these 43 reviews spanning 9 years that made me not just think how proud I am of what we all do here but it also made me focus on the negatives.

One of the unique values I hope I bring my business is my emotional attachment to it. Its not just a business but an extension of my life - a physical manifestation of my ethos in life. Whilst I have no doubt this still remains a great asset - I am also all too aware of how this works against me when trying to "right wrongs" or be perfect 100% of the time.

Reading negative reviews is pretty traumatic in its own right - reading personal comments about my personality or my mental health ( a self-proclaimed anxiety expert! :) ) is unbearable.

( on that subject - I donate £100 a month to MIND and one of my proudest moments was the release of my "mindful" acoustic that reminds us all the benefits of being "present" and not caught up in negative thoughts - the cutaway GA body version we have just released.... https://rguitars.co.uk/products/dowina-pure-gac )

I just want you to know whatever you read - positive or negative - the truth is always a personal experience. Let your truth be based on your personal experience and not what you read on a page.

IF things should go wrong, I make it a personal mission to contact the person and discuss the issue and see what I can possibly do to make amends - or at the very least learn from the experience and hopefully avoid such a problem in the future.

Even when I cannot console an individual I leave the conversation with the peace of mind that everything possible was done that I can control - and I cannot control how people perceive me or my business - and in fact - I should not care - as any good Buddhist wil tell you! To care what others think is merely driven by personal ego - A desperate attempt to fit a mould - to be seen a specific way - to live your life to meet high expectations you set yourself in the fear of "not being true" to yourself (which isnt "you" - just your EGO!).

The truth is - the only thing that should be important to me is whether I am being the best version of myself I can be - At this moment. If that box is ticked then thats all I can do and all I should be concerned about.

So as I approach my 28th year in business.... I will keep doing what I do, living my life and running my business in the same fashion I have done for the previous 27 and if thats good enough for you - THANK YOU xxx

To what I know is a very small percentage of the tens of thousands of happy customers who have experienced our service over the years - who have had any negative experience - and are open to conversation - I am ALWAYS here to build bridges and will always appreciate the opportunity to do so.

Lots of love to everyone out there who have supported us over the years - I cannot thank you enough.

Written by Richard Cholerton

1 comment

Recently purchased a Lava guitar from Richards Guitars great customer service let me know by email the progress of my order from setup to despatch very happy with all aspects of this transaction.

Simon Ticehurst

April 17, 2024 at 8:18 pm

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For me - there is no difference between "personal" and "business" life - It is all "my life". Interconnected and therefore highly personal. Every guitar I sell (EVERY) is one I can tell you the backstory - about the people who make them - the ethos of the brand and how they align with my own - they are a genuine personal recommendations based on 28 years in the industry.

With the industry dominated by marketing, hype, and "blinkered" brand loyalty - retailers focus on what they get asked for - with little effort in raising awareness of guitars that are better than the one you asked about. This leads to a lot of poor buying decisions!

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Customer Feedback. The Positive & Dealing With The Negative

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