For The Special Dad

“Any man can be a Father...but it takes a special person to be called Dad.” –Author unknown

The first Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910. This holiday was inspired by a father, William Jackson Smart, who raised his children after the death of his wife.

http://www.history.com/content/fathersday

We, at Baskets by Bonnie, draw our inspiration from our favorite fathers.

For a dad who tries to be hip and relevant, but sometimes needs a little help:
For A Cool Dad

For a dad who likes to golf and to help make up for all the times you’ve teed him off:

Tee Time Golf Bucket

For a dad who enjoys a good snack, a bribe for putting up with you all of these years:

Number One Dad

These are just a few of the many ideas we have. For additional gift baskets, visit our Seasonal page on our website. Anything can be customized to fit your specific needs. Please make sure you’re allowing enough time for delivery. It’s never too early to get an order in.

Customer Service - Do the Right Thing

Never Underestimate the Value of Good Customer Service

At Baskets by Bonnie, we make customer service our Golden Rule. We feel it is important to do the right thing, even when we may lose some money. If you treat people the way you would want to be treated in their situation, you will gain customer loyalty. Sometimes you get much more in return. Such is the case in a recent transaction with Tina W. in Castro Valley, California.

Tina had ordered two Tiki Drummers for her boys. One of the drummers was not working properly. Common sense told us that :

a. Tina was being truthful and
b. It would cost as much as the value of the drummer to have her ship it back to us.
We did the Right Thing and sent her a replacement, "no questions asked". Case closed.
Or was it?
We were totally unprepared for the Over-The-Top customer review she gave us on Yelp. You can't put a dollar value on this kind of endorsement! This really made our day.

By the way Tina, if you are reading this, make our flavor Triple Chocolate Delight!!!

Yelp review from Tina W., Castro Valley California
http://www.yelp.com/biz/baskets-by-bonnie-columbus

If I ever make it to Ohio, Baskets by Bonnie is the first place that I will stop at to buy some presents for my friends and fam. The customer service is unbelievably good and undeniably one of the best I have ever encountered. My phone order which was placed after hours was returned immediately, taken down with detail, filled with love and wonderfully packaged - as well as shipped out instantaneously. I was notified by email of the tracking number and ship date. The box included a cute HAND WRITTEN note and the sales receipt. I was ecstatic and did a little happy dance.
When I realized a couple of days later that part of the order was malfunctioning (mind you, NOT the fault of Baskets by Bonnie) I called the store and inquired about any possible return or exchange policy. I was immediately shipped another item, no questions asked and was told to just keep the damaged one. I didn't even have to pack a box and send the broken one back.
This is truly as good as it gets. In a time where consumerism and Walmarts crush customer service, stores like this leave people with a huge smile on their faces. Baskets by Bonnie deserves a new ice cream flavor named after them if you'd ask me.

Ode to a Discontinued Friend - The Beloved Tiki Drummer

Last week I called my supplier to reorder this Tiki collector must have. Much to my dismay, I found the Tiki Drummer had been discontinued. Currently, at the time of this post, we have one left. I could not let our dear Tiki friend disappear without a final concert. Without further ado, I give you Tiki Live, the Farewell Concert.

Wine Emergency Uncovers a Great Find - Sterling Vintner's Collection Meritage

At Baskets by Bonnie, we like to under promise and over deliver. Many times we go beyond the call of duty. We are sometimes questioned "Why?" I believe in Karma, and that there are paybacks for exceptional service. Last week was a good example of this.

We had a client who needed a quick turnaround and had a tight, moderate budget. We needed to find a wine to go in baskets for executives with high-end taste buds. Our mission was to find a red wine that retailed for under $15.

Thankfully we have exceptional partners. I was able to reach my Glazer's wine representative, Jackie who came up with this brilliant recommendation: Sterling Vintner's Collection Meritage.

Within the hour, we were able to pick up a case from Glazer's warehouse. The baskets were quickly made and delivered on time. I had to buy a bottle to try later that night.

The verdict: Both Jackie and Sterling Vineyards totally rock! Had we not gone the extra mile, we might not have discovered this great find.


This is by far the one of the best wine values I have come across in a long time. Everyone who sampled this delightful blend was impressed. I rate this wine 2 Stems Up!

For a more technical review, see below:

Sterling Vineyards Wine Makers Notes:

Meritage (rhymes with “heritage”) describes a unique blend of classic Bordeaux varietals. Handcrafted by our winemakers, Sterling Vintner’s Collection® Meritage is a distinct blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Each grape varietal contributes layers of flavors and aromas that live together in perfect harmony. This richly textured wine has hints of cherry, chocolate, black raspberry, and vanilla, which leads to a full, lingering finish. Enjoy!

The Meritage Association: http://www.meritagewine.org//

In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify handcrafted wines blended from the traditional "noble" Bordeaux varietals. Meritage was coined to identify wines that represent the highest form of the winemaker's art, blending, and distinguishing these wines from the more generic moniker "red table wine."

Sterling Vintner’s Collection® Meritage is 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot, 3% Malbec, and 1% Petit Verdot.

Gahanna's Girls Night Out

Mill Street in Olde Gahanna on Thursday, May 7th was the location of the 2nd Annual Girls Night Out presented by Portraits by Knight.

While the weatherman had predicted rain, partly-sunny skies prevailed and Mother Nature provided a lovely backdrop for this pre-Mother's Day event.

Among the food donated by area restaurants was a platter of fruits, cheeses & meats from Mezzo Italian Kitchen and desserts from Ganache Dessert Kitchen. Participating vendors such as Tastefully Simple - Angie Hendershot also provided munchies.

Two massage therapists contributed chair massages to invigorate the busy shoppers; Nick from Sound Touch was stationed at Portraits by Knight and Holly from Center for Therapeutic Massage worked her magic in the window at Honey Grove Botanicals.

I also had a chance to pop over to Zodiac to pick up a Cosmic Cake Cupcake but didn't have enough time to take in a reading. Afterwards a group of us took over a pit-group on the patio at Mezzo's and grabbed a bite to eat. A good time was had by all!

I can't wait for the next Girls Night Out! ( or should I say Knight Out). Kudos to Sara for organizing such a neat event!

Portraits by Knight is where the conga line of participants started at 3:30 p.m.; 30 minutes before opening time. Sara Knight had put together 50 cool canvas totes jam-packed with goodies from over 20 participating businesses.

Within half an hour, the goodie bags were all snatched up!

Sara Knight and her trusty assistant, Adrienne making everyone feel welcome!

A few of the many participating vendors.

Unusual Window Display in Honey Grove Botanicals: A relaxing chair massage being given by Holly amongst the intoxicating aromatherapy fragrances.

Customer Retention - When Things Go Terribly Wrong

Even the best of companies can have a service failure. How these issues are resolved are key to customer retention. To paraphrase a line from Lilo & Stitch, "we are the ones you call when things go terribly wrong".

We are all human and therefore it is safe to assume we all make mistakes. What the recipient of a service failure needs most is validation of their concerns and correction of the error. Upon resolution of the issue, our Service Recovery Clients will call us to send a gift to their customer that includes a nice note. This reinforces the value of their relationship. The best part of our program, it doesn't cost a dime if you don't have any service gaps.

There is an excellent article from GreatBook that discusses Service Recovery Practices. Spot-on advice!

By the way, we are also the ones to call when things go exceedingly well!