the importance of customer service

During the long break last weekend, we went to Mid Valley as outings are more bearable (Alhamdulillah) now that I'm entering second trimester.

Felt like it's been months since I last had outings with just husband and Rayyan without having to rush home to puke in my comfy bathroom lol.

#realityoffirstrimester

So anyway. Alang-alang we went to Mid Valley, I dropped by Arzu to check out their scarves - being pregnant this time confused me a lot with my choices in tudung. Prior, I'd always stick to the brand I'm comfortable with and seldom change - in fact, I didn't like changes when it comes to my choice in something to wear. I prefer stability, familiarity, simplicity.

But..time has changed. Or maybe this pregnancy just making me wonky.



Was greeted with Arzu's SA who was very nice and helpful. Asked for silk scarves so she showed some of their newest silk scarves range - comes in both square and long scarves.

I was amazed. Been so faithful to one brand that I didn't realize this whole other world of nice patterns and prints!

She ushered me to their fitting room at the back with no walls, but surrounded with big ass mirrors. Since there was no one at the store at that time, I just tried on the scarves there. The SA says it's their customers' preferred trying area since there are some benches to put on the delicate scarves compared to the fitting room itself where they provide none.

As I was trying them on (picked 3 scarves), the SA commented on what suits my face and what's not; while kept going to the shelves to give me more scarves which she thinks suits me better. Felt like a princess the whole time.

So I decided on 3 different scarves as they were having buy 2 free 1 promotion, and proceeded to pay. The SA, obviously so happy kept asking me questions.

"Umur berapa cik?"

Yes, she speaks Malay.

"Oh, tahun ni 29, kak"

She was astonished.

"Eh ye ke?! Saya tua setahun je rupanya *elevated voice pitch* kenapa nampak macam lepasan sekolahh"

I smiled. Wanted to tell her I'm pregnant with my second child but nevermind.

Then I asked,

"Magnetic brooch ada tak? Saya teringin nak beli satu"

"Oh dah habis stok, cik. Lambat lagi nak masuk stok baru, and cik kena beli 1 pack semua ada 6 brooch"

I was disappointed. Seeing my face,

"Tak apalah, ambil saya punya satu. Saya ada lagi"

And..she took out her brooch and gave it to me. Told me to keep it as a secret from her fellow colleagues (might cause her trouble, kot).

I was blown away by this treatment. Seriously, customer service, top notch.

One of the picks, a printed square scarf from Arzu. It's been years since I last wore a square scarf haha.

And I realized something.

There's no point staying faithful to one brand, however influential they are. Especially in fashion business (more specific - hijab fashion business), new brands pop up like cendawan. And each one of them is trying to create their own brand niche, which depends on you whether their niche applies to you, or not.

If they do, most probably you'd buy a number of them because let's face it, a girl needs more than 5 pieces of scarves in her wardrobe. So it's become an investment - you trust their niche, you want to be a part of the "community", you want to be "in".

But it won't be long till they lost their spark, and you'd move on.

So this is what I've learned - don't buy scarves in bulk. Survey, survey, survey - until you're absolutely certain they're a brand you could trust. Who won't increase their prices without justification, who provides top-notch customer service (or online shopping service), who pays attention to what the customers are saying.

There might be a few who understands what I'm trying to say in this post, so I'll let it be. But point is, currently I'm revamping my scarves collection - anybody up for a preloved scarves sale?