They loved our plastic mammoth bones!

Sent: Wed, October 21, 2009 7:27:28 AM
Subject: RE: TAPIR PRESERVATION FUND Customer Receipt/Purchase Confirmation

Good morning,

We received our box this morning and have had great fun putting [the mammoth skeletons] together.

Many thanks!

[LMK]

Lowland tapir t-shirt: One happy customer!

The text was simple, the message was heartwarming:

Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 3:01 PM
To: tapir@tapirback.com
Subject: order received

received my order in THREE
DAYS!!!!!

tshirt is exactly as described and is in mint condition.

will definitely be shopping for more tapir stuff in the next day or
two. thanks,

j

Big smiles here. We always love to hear how happy you are with what we've sent you! Thanks for the e-mail, j!

About the t-shirt:

This is the second shirt design drawn by artist Audrey Jakab especially for Tapir and Friends Wildlife World. We love the tapir's beautifully-formed shape! This time Audrey drew a lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) in the same "faux woodcut" style as her first one — the Baird's tapir shirt. As with the Baird's shirt, this design is also printed front and center, and is about the same size — 8 x 8 inches.Both of the no-pocket shirts look identical except that the t-shirt is short-sleeved and the sweatshirt is long-sleeved. Of course, the sweatshirt fabric is heavier! The shirts are printed in black on ash-gray, and for once we can say the scan came out very well! You'll get a very good idea of what it looks like from the picture. The small print underneath "T is for Tapir" says "© 2000. A. Jakab" on the left and "Tapir Preservation Fund" on the right. Come look through our terrific selection of shirts.

We love to see your projects and we LOVE it when you get good grades!

A very happy mother wrote to us:

Hi! About a month ago I ordered a Horned Toad and a Thorny Devil from you for my son's project for his school's Academic Fair. We just finished the fair and Marshal made a 100 on his project with very high marks for the animal examples he used (your toys!). This was a big boost to him and he worked very hard to make sure his report was as good as his visual project was. I am attaching some pictures of the project! Thanks again for the speedy service!!!!! His name is Marshal Rainwater and he's in the 3rd grade at Hancock Creek Elementary here in sunny Cape Coral Florida. (P.S. - This was made in a child's shoe box. The background is an aquarium background, the 'sand' is crushed almonds colored, and then of course your lovely figures including the 'box' the devil came in.) -- Mandie

Thanks for telling us! We're all smiles around here. Great work, Marshal. We're glad we could help! By the way, the "box the devil came in" consists of two halves, light tan in color. The horned toad is standing on one, and the other is just behind the thorny devil. The thorny devil is a puzzle, and the pieces come in a re-closable plastic case. Marshal used his ingenuity and put the case to use as stones for his diorama. Very clever :)

Walter the Friendly (Stuffed) Crocodile says, "We aim to please!"

Wow, did this photo make our day! This is Walter the Friendly Stuffed Crocodile (green, on the left) along with his new friend, B., (the red-haired birthday boy in blue). Both seem to be quite ecstatic with their new friendship, which we expect will be a long and enduring one. We want to thank Dad (D.) for the wonderful photo! He wrote:

(B.) loves the crocodile. Thank you so much! Here’s a cheesy grin for ya…

What a great smile! It made Sue and me smile, too! We love seeing our animals in their new homes . . . and we love seeing all the happy faces! If you have a photo of our animals and your family that you'd like to share with us, please send it by e-mail. We also like to see our plastic animals used in their new settings - your school project diorama, your kids' play room, or on your collectible shelf. And now that we're into blogging, we promise to get your photos online much faster than in the past!

Oops! It looks like Walter found a good spot to relax. We only wonder if that comfy chair is something like a bed is to a Labrador. We hope Walter will behave and let the humans use the chair part of the time!

If you're into plastic vultures, give us a call!

This is one of our plastic vultures. We have a new one, too, and I haven't managed to get it online yet. When a customer called looking for plastic vultures for his son who had a serious fascination with them, Sue was able to tell him about the one that isn't online yet. He purchased both, and here is his reply:

Hello Sue

This is [DL], I ordered 2 Vultures for my 4 yr old son Ameer. I would just like to say that you were right, he is one happy little camper I could not believe how fast it came. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

We will continue to shop at Tapirback

-- Regards [DL]

If you don't see it on our site, give us a call toll-free at (888) 325-3179 or send e-mail. We do our best to give you the best customer service we can. It's like breathing air. It's not that hard. We love to see you happy! And the vultures have a happy home, too, so it's win-win. What could be better?

Customer service is what we do!

The case of the missing alligator . . . heron with frog, and a few other critters from the swamp. . . .

. . . Solved!

We love getting e-mail confirming our great customer service. It always brightens our day, but the real surprise is that our customers are surprised. Shouldn't we all expect great customer service when we do business with someone? Yes, of course! And you've probably noticed that the little niceties that we used to expect have often disappeared from the business scene. I know that personally I expected to be treated respectfully and kindly, and yes, I still expect the people I buy from (goods or services) to be not only polite and helpful, but sometimes even to go that extra distance with a smile. It doesn't happen as often as it once did. I know that *I* notice it these days when someone gives me great service, and I appreciate it. Our customers often seem surprised when all we've done is what we enjoy doing - helping you with a smile!

Here's another letter we received from a customer today. We appreciate it that you appreciate us! Let's make the world go around a little easier today, OK? All of us!

February 25, 2009 2:06 PM
To: tapir@tapirback.com
Subject: Re: Delivery Confirm: (etc.)

Sorry, it was here, my wife mistook it for something else I'd ordered! Thanks for your prompt help, you are great!

~ M.B. in Georgia

We and our scorpion are "awesome" :)

We haven't seen a photo yet, but the scorpion was purchased to go on a hat for some event. Today John wrote:

Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 6:07 AM
To: Tapir
Subject: RE: Sales Receipt from Tapir and Friends Wildlife World

Got it yesterday. You guys are awesome.

~ John in Ohio

Thanks, John. We love to help and we love feedback!

Sheryl and Sue

Animal writing pen - trout!

Friday, October 10, 2008

Wow! thank you so much. That's really generous of you guys.I really appreciate it!

~ NR

Tapir t-shirts and things . . .

Anita (a long-time tapir fan with interesting stories) sent e-mail on September 5:

Thank you so much. My tapirs & T-Shirts just arrived & they are
mighty cute---Anita

Just a note on our tapir t-shirts and totes. We had considered having our shirt and tote bag designs transferred over to our CafePress tapir store because it would be easier to manage the inventory. However, as of now, we've opted to keep the old designs on the original system, which is to have them screen printed and keep them in stock at our shop. Our printer does beautiful work, and the quality of the shirt material is very good. We're very happy with them. It sometimes means we're out of an item you order and we have to backorder it, and it means we bear the cost of carrying inventory that hasn't sold yet (think lots of sizes for each design). It seems worthwhile to us at this point. With CafePress, we can deliver more designs, which are printed as-needed and delivered from CP directly to you. Cafe-Press can also offer a much wider selection of products because they don't need to store printed inventory. We get a percentage of the profit, which helps support tapir conservation and research. CafePress uses an optical printing method, which is quite good, but it's different than screen printing with ink. We'll continue to grow the CafePress option as well. So, with multiple sources there are more and more choices for tapir gear! And we believe this is a good thing :)

Two cuties

Trisha sent us this picture of her totally adorable granddaughter. The photo was taken last Christmas with a stuffed emperor penguin chick that came from Tapir and Friends. If this were a cuteness contest, I'd have to vote for the little girl, but the penguin isn't bad! :)

High visibility for tapirs: A stuffed tapir is his new best friend!

Pamela wrote to us on August 5, 2008:

Thanks for offering and shipping the wonderful new stuffed tapir. My son used his birthday money (which arrived right at the time you began taking pre-orders) to buy it and he is entirely satisfied -- thrilled would be more accurate. Even though he is 15, he has been taking it around the house with him and letting it perch on his shoulder; he really likes the wired legs which make the tapir posable. Here he is "modeling" Yanisa, while wearing the tapir shirt he got LAST year for his birthday. August loves doing his part to make tapirs more visible!

Return customer and stuffed toy squirrel both happy

Oops! Running out for coffee. Text to come soon!

~ Sheryl

OK, back again :)

Rachel wrote to us from Canada:

Re: Red Squirrel Order

Good Day! This is just to let you know I've received the squirrel today, safe and sound. He's gorgeous, thank you for chosing exactly the right squirrel for me.
:)

We believe the squirrel is also happy and we're sure he/she has a good home. By the way, this squirrel is one of my favorite stuffed animals in our collection!

New stuffed tapir now in stock!

Our new stuffed tapir, Yanisa, has now been delivered and is ready for shipping. We've had a "pre-order" option online for some time, and those who ordered in advance have now received their tapirs. Here is the reply from one happy customer:

Plush Tapir ...safe arrival...

Hi: Just writing to say the TAPIR arrived and it looks very nice. Good in detail, and color too. I'm very pleased with it. Thank you so much, and I hope to do business with you again very soon.

Donna.

Thanks, Donna! We love to hear good news . . . and we're glad the tapir has a good home :) Yanisa's name was given to her by a tapir fan in Russia. Yanisa is the name of his daughter - half Russian and half Thai. We thought it was a beautiful name, and appropriate since real tapirs live in Thailand.

Sheryl and Sue

Plastic elephant on a mission

Sue,

Thank you so much that was very nice of you and I am sure he will love it. You would not believe how hard it was to find reasonably priced toys for kids that they can actually learn from, so I appricate it. Thanks again :)

Lauren

We love it when our animals make someone's day, whether it's to be educational, entertaining, or both. We have quite a collection of toy and collectible elephants. Come have a look!

Cute stuffed hedgehog!

Our hedgehog came yesterday - so cute - we just love it. Thanks.

Ann

--------------------------------------------

Thanks for letting us know! We only have a few of these left –
they are being discontinued. We hope you enjoy your new
friend!

Sue

Plastic sea turtles make a big splash!

Sorry, I basically hate punny headlines. My fingers made me do it!

Thanks Sheryl!

The package arrived today - YIPPEE! My third grader is doing a project on the Leatherback Sea Turtle and we were thrilled when we found a site where we could buy "plastic" turtles. We are making a habitat and they are going to work out great! I will definately keep you in mind in the future as this is the first of many projects to come!

Thanks again for your prompt and professional service! It was a pleasure doing business with you!

Have a good day!

Kathy

Peeper Keepers a big hit for Mothers' Day

Greeting.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank for u making sure I recieved My item in time for mothers day (I did) and it was a big hit My wife loved it thank u so much !!!

Steven

What fun! Plastic giant squid and more . . .

Hi there, our parcel arrived this morning, my little boy is SO EXCITED with all his new sea creatures, he loves them all but he's especially taken with the giant squid! Thanks for the spinner too, that was so kind of you to include that. . . . It has been a real pleasure doing business with you, I'll put another order in as soon as the sea otter with the starfish is back in stock.

I showed my children where the parcel had travelled from on Google Earth this morning, Astoria looks fantastic with all that water around you.

Thanks again for all your help and for such wonderful service,

Sarah

She loves our animals!

Here's another letter that made our day:

Dear Sue, thank you for the Opossum, the meerkat, and the tazmania devil. Your a very nice person. your the best stuffed animal maker in the world. Thank you so very very much. you are a kind person.
From Teryn

Thanks, Teryn. You make our work a total delight!

Sheryl and Sue

Our plastic animals are loved and hated in England

It was a dark and stormy night on the River Tyne, near the North Sea and not far from the Scottish border. A box had been opened . . .


. . . scary creatures had been unleashed . . .


. . . and we received the following e-mail:

Thanks for this; it arrived safely and my son has really enjoyed playing with them (personally I hate them, but I must learn to overcome my phobias!)

Best wishes

Jonathan

Thanks, Jonathan! People like you make our day!

Sue, Sheryl, and Lee