earleygallery Posted July 15, 2015 Share #61 Posted July 15, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) As i did write in an earlier post in this forum, that wasn't an option for me, since i found out that calling UK was an additional service at my phone company, that would take some days to activate. You said you could call from your office, but didn't want to bother! Anyway I trust you have now ordered and all is well again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 15, 2015 Posted July 15, 2015 Hi earleygallery, Take a look here Billingham: Customer service. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
earleygallery Posted July 15, 2015 Share #62 Posted July 15, 2015 I don't know about Billingham but in my company I write our blog on our website, but to change anything else requires an order to our web company and entails several exchanges, time and cost. For a temporary glitch it's really not worth doing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocaburger Posted July 15, 2015 Share #63 Posted July 15, 2015 A while ago I had a problem with the foam padding in Billingham partitions breaking down, and I sent an e-mail to their US distributor figuring that would be the best way. Got no reply from them, so I sent a PM to Billingham on their Facebook page. Within a day I had a message back from Harry Billingham and he shipped me replacement partitions from the UK at no charge. This for bags going on a decade old. If the CS from their home office seems sluggish I would suspect something like technical difficulties or perhaps vacation, but not an attitudinal problem. Their customer service is beyond exemplary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 16, 2015 Share #64 Posted July 16, 2015 With Apple I have a 1 on 1 with a "face" in the upper echelon .. With Leica I have a "Contact" @ The Mothership .. Amazon - Anyone who answers the phone - L I agree completally but the big plus with Amazon is that it does not matter who you speak too ,they just get the issue sorted out,fast. That is my experience anyway. BrianP Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBillingham Posted July 16, 2015 Share #65 Posted July 16, 2015 Hello Board! Firstly, thank you to Andy for calling me and making contact. I'm sure you all know you're in good hands here! BjarniM, Thank you for your previous (and I hope ongoing) support of our products and company. You have experienced an extremely frustrating time through no fault of your own and I do apologise on behalf of everyone here for that. We work very hard to build and maintain our levels of customer service and this type of situation cuts through all that. It has and will be discussed at Board level. Unfortunately, as can often be the case, a problem only occurs at the very extreme; often under a stack of cascading issues. And it is then, by its very nature, a large problem. Over a week ago, on Sunday afternoon, we started to receive error logging from our servers. We investigated and found faults on our telecoms equipment. This was diagnosed as being a line fault and after investigation was repaired. Luckily, our telephone lines were only down for a few hours. However, the telephone line we use for our broadband was still not 100% functional. During this time, Call Forwarding from our old address 'phone numbers to our new (5 years old) address were dropped - so some customers who have our old numbers programmed into auto-dialling systems couldn't get through. It took until this past Monday to establish our internet connection back to operational levels. We were running a 4G back up throughout this period. However, it became unstable on Tuesday night. We run our own mailserver internally and because of the lack of connection, we decided to turn it off. Meaning attempted deliveries would be sent back to the sender, rather than be dropped into the blackness! What should have been a very small blip for us became a huge headache that we didn't have the resources to properly manage. I am not making excuses, I hope to only enlighten you to the situation so that perhaps some frustration can be dusted off. Our social media channels are managed by an external partner. To label them as such seems a bit sanitised, though. They're not exactly faceless drones who charge per minute. We have a great daily working relationship with them, all of whom love our products and most use them, too. They are fans just as some of you may be. You are correct, we should have made better use of those channels to send information about the situation. There was no cover up or attempt not to communicate; the job was mine and I didn't fulfill it. My mind was focussed on establishing our connection. I'm sure you can imagine the internal systems of a manufacturing business that rely on stable internet connections. I wanted to keep my staff working and earning. Again, it was my failure not to oversee it in a better way; I am sorry. Billingham is in a very exciting position; we are growing all around the world. We are recruiting and our main focus is on building customer service. We obviously can't do that if your experience becomes common. We beleive it isn't common. Please be assured that no one was ignoring your contact. There was no intent to not reply or get in touch; our team were under a huge amount of pressure that week, compounded by the phone line issue. Hats off to them all. I hope that your questions and issues are now being dealt with swiftly. Of course, you can contact me here if not; even though you shouldn't have to! Perhaps our restorative work will add to my sincere apology and we can retain you as a fan of Billingham and our products. To note - I'm the youngest son of company founders - Martin and Ros Billingham. Not MD, yet. They are still highly active, daily, in the operation of the business and are following this issue. Please get back to me with any questions you may have and I will try to answer them as honestly and swiftly as possible. If you have a query about products or orders, I would encourage you to use our standard channels; which are all up and running now. Thank you again, Harry Billingham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mijo Posted July 16, 2015 Share #66 Posted July 16, 2015 I own a couple of Billingham bags, Combo and Eventer, and absolutely love the craftsmanship. I'm impressed by Mr. Billingham's post and the way he takes responsibility for situation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
euston Posted July 16, 2015 Share #67 Posted July 16, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Good for you, Harry! A complete and frank explanation is the right way to deal with this hiccup. And it’s great to hear that Billinghams is thriving. I have two of your bags which will without doubt outlast me. Your firm is a credit to British manufacturing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted July 16, 2015 Share #68 Posted July 16, 2015 I am so deeply impressed by Mr. Billingham's response, candor, and concern that I found myself thinking, "Gosh, I would like to work for that man." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlaing Posted July 16, 2015 Share #69 Posted July 16, 2015 I own a couple of Billingham bags and am impressed by the response as well. Never had a problem with them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BjarniM Posted July 16, 2015 Author Share #70 Posted July 16, 2015 [...] Thank you again, Harry Billingham. Same to you, thank you for taking the time. I've already said what i had to say about this specific matter, so i'll leave it at that. All the best for your business in the future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted July 16, 2015 Share #71 Posted July 16, 2015 Your loss. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted July 16, 2015 Share #72 Posted July 16, 2015 I am so deeply impressed by Mr. Billingham's response, candor, and concern that I found myself thinking, "Gosh, I would like to work for that man." He says they're recruiting, what's stopping you?! I have never really considered Billingham beyond being aware of their bags (not owned one). Knowing that they are a small family run British company, and the fact that Harry took the bother to visit here, actually makes me keen to buy one of their bags. Once I've got some spare cash! They certainly are durable and not some silly fashion bag like the shoddy ONA. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted July 16, 2015 Share #73 Posted July 16, 2015 He says they're recruiting, what's stopping you?! ! For starters I am not a British citizen, I am seventy years-old and battling a precancerous condition, IOW a lost case. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 17, 2015 Share #74 Posted July 17, 2015 He says they're recruiting, what's stopping you?! I have never really considered Billingham beyond being aware of their bags (not owned one). Knowing that they are a small family run British company, and the fact that Harry took the bother to visit here, actually makes me keen to buy one of their bags. Once I've got some spare cash! They certainly are durable and not some silly fashion bag like the shoddy ONA. I was involved with the Billingham company about 25 years ago ( at least 25 ) .At the time I was involved with supplying some Pfaff sewing machines and my contact was Martin Billingham (Harry's father ) . My first bag was a pre production sample and since then I have bought several but not always for camera equipment.All those years ago the company was a pleasure to work with and had a constant aim to produce very high quality. It's good to see the company is still going from strength to strength and producing a product which in my opinion is second to non. I seam to recall a poster or a sales leaflet which shows an elderly gentleman hand stitching a bag and I am sure the man was Martin B father . The picture dated from the time the company made fishing bags for trout and Salmon fishermen. Happy days and some good memories. BrianP Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted July 17, 2015 Share #75 Posted July 17, 2015 I have never really considered Billingham [...] They certainly are durable You have never considered a Billingham, nor used one, but you conclude they are durable. Impressionistic consumer, are you? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrbelmuda Posted July 17, 2015 Share #76 Posted July 17, 2015 Fabulous response and I have been more than pleased with my two Billingham bags and am always looking for an excuse to purchase more, the Australian distribution although does let your products down a little. Regards John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted July 17, 2015 Share #77 Posted July 17, 2015 You have never considered a Billingham, nor used one, but you conclude they are durable. Impressionistic consumer, are you? Do you only ever form your opinions based on direct personal experience? How can you have an opinion on say a film if you've never been an actor? Has it ever occurred to you that we can form opinions from learning about other peoples experiences? Or are you just argumentative by nature? (No need to answer). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted July 17, 2015 Share #78 Posted July 17, 2015 Do you only ever form your opinions based on direct personal experience? Yes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeicaPassion Posted July 17, 2015 Share #79 Posted July 17, 2015 Outstanding response. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill W Posted July 23, 2015 Share #80 Posted July 23, 2015 I would love to be Billingham's central Texas part time sales representative.....I am qualified just older.....! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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