Its the holiday season, and people like to buy Crooked Monkey shirts for their friends--because they want their friends to love their gifts and not return them.
We have a gift option at the checkout, and we have the pleasure of writing whatever note you want us to write. We've written a funny blog post about the notes we've written. But this is a different post.
This is about our interns who write those notes and how pretty they make them, because they want the gift to be perfect. Anyways, enjoy this special gift note, and when you buy a shirt from us, take advantage of our interns. Not in the sexual kind of way, but in the "They'll make your gift look even cooler than it already is" way.
This creation was done by Jacqui, our intern from Walter Johnson High School.
Well we just got a funny email from one of our customers. It brought something to our attention that I hadn't looked at in years. Here's what she writes:
"Hi,
This might be a silly question, but I just received the thats how I roll tshirt and the design on the front is printed crooked on the tshirt. Is that part of the 'Crooked Monkey style, or should the design be straight on the t-shirt?"
We actually had to check the warehouse to see what she was talking about. And she's right, the text is a bit crooked. But that's on purpose! No one else had ever asked us about it, but it's a valid point.
I also like that she gave us an out--because our name is Crooked Monkey, we're allowed to produce Crooked shirts. But rest assured, if its printed crooked, it's because we meant to, not because we're trying to solidify our brand.
Every now and then we explain the idea behind Retiring shirts. We'll do it again here.
In order to keep our site fresh, we are always coming out with new t-shirts. And to make room for these new shirts, we need to retire the older guys. This doesn't mean we don't love them, or that we've forsaken them.
On our new website (to debut in 9 months) we'll have an option to vote those shirts back in, so we can reproduce the shirts you guys love. Because to be honest, the "I slid into third at rachel's bat mitzvah" is one of my all time favorite t-shirts.
Holiday shipping is always a bit stressful. Like Santa, we need to deliver on time, every time. But unlike Santa, we don't have thousands of elves working for us--just caring and loving interns.
For Father's Day we're running a huge promotion--25% off any of our t-shirts when you use the promo code "Father." We've noticed some pretty questionable "Father's Day gifts"--namely random girls shirts and the I'm not a gardener i just like hoes shirts. I know those shirts aren't going to your dad, but we won't tell anyone. We're happy when you're happy.
Speaking of being happy when you're happy, I wanted to share some customer testimonials. Real people, just like you, who bought shirts and appreciated our prompt, pro active customer service.
Dave from California writes: "Hey guys, I'm wondering if there's any way I can buy just a few of your company stickers with the crooked monkey logo. You guys always threw in some freebies with my t-shirt orders, but this time I'm just looking for some more stickers if possible.
Dave in California"
We sent him a bunch of stickers and ping pong balls for free. We appreciated his suggestion of paying, but we're going to ship that stuff out for free.
Spencer from France writes: "So many choices! So, the story is that I'm in France and it's going to be my parents who are bringing it here (yes I'm trying to take crooked monkey global)....
If you think it'd arrive in time, I'll go with the Tips shirt, but if you're hesitant, I'm entirely happy with the polaroid shirt.
I leave the decision in your expert hands!"
We appreciated him calling us experts and are glad that he will be taking the shirts to France.
Craig from Connecticut writes: "Proactive customer support….I’m impressed."
Enough said.
So if you've got something nice to say, just email us. Thanks!
At Crooked Monkey, customer service is paramount. The customer is always right, and we're always super excited when customers get phenomenal deals. We even like to share them with you so that you can replicate their deals--and get t-shirts for as cheap as possible.
As you are fully aware, People.com's Stylewatch, featured our funny t-shirts on their site and offered a 20% discount. That discount, on all our t-shirts, ends on Friday. All you have to do is use the promo code: "People"
So here's the amazing deal: A customer bought two discounted shirts, used the People promo code and got free shipping (which everyone gets when you buy two shirts). She bought our Gimme Some Sugar t-shirt (on sale at $16) and our More money more problems t-shirt (Priced at $19.99 in honor of the recession). She ended up spending $28 for two shirts, including shipping. That's $14/shirt. Good work! I think she got the best deal ever for two t-shirts.
Go look for your own deals on www.crookedmonkey.com. Don't forget to use the 20% promo code.
Customers are always surprised when we say that we ship to every single country in the world. And I'm surprised by their being surprised.
Who are we to deprive our funny t-shirts to someone based on their geographical location. That's outright racism and we just won't stand for it.
It's not very difficult to ship t-shirts abroad--you just have to have a lot of faith in the postal service because when you ship abroad you are offered no guarantees and no tracking numbers.
On May 13th we shipped shirts to a customer in New Zealand. Two weeks ago the lady emailed us asking where her shirts were. We told her to hang tight because it had only been one week. Then she emailed us again last week. I gave her my personal address and told her it would arrive by the end of that week.
Then she emailed me yesterday asking for the shirts and I got nervous. 3 weeks? Come on now. I've been to Australia and it only takes 24 hours on a plane. So I told her to wait until Friday--and if her knight in shining armor (AKA the postal man with her favorite shirt) didn't arrive, we would mail out a replacement. For Free.
She emailed me the following today:
"Just when I was about to lose all faith in the postal system - my tshirt arrived!
I am SUPER Stoked! Will be wearing it to work tomorrow.
Thanks heaps
Cristina" You can tell its an authentic email because she wrote "Heaps" and shes allowed to wear her shirt to work. Good on ya.
As you all aware, we are running a 20% discount on all our funny shirts. You don't have to type in a promo code--its a gift to celebrate our 200th blog post.
A customer of ours just logged onto the site and got a phenomenal deal--better than any recession buster deal I've seen.
Here's how it went down: Fully aware that you can get free shipping when you buy two or more shirts, he ordered a couple Facebook t-shirts at the regular 20% sale, and then entered an extra 15% promo code at checkout. Leaving him with a total discount of 42% off!! The total should've been: $53, but because of his savvy shopping, he only paid $30.72. Good work. We're always happy to see our customers take advantage of great deals, and this is one of those once-in-a-lifetime deals.
Here's a beautiful note that a customer received after she sent her friend a Crooked monkey t-shirt.
Moral of the story Part I: If you want your friendsto love you, buy them Crooked Monkey funny t-shirts. Moral of the story Part II: If you want a girl to get naked, buy her a Crooked Monkey funny t-shirt. Here's the Email:
"OMG!!!! You continue to awe me!!!!! What an amazing surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thaaaaaaank YOU sooooo much, girl.
I looove the shirt...I immediately ripped off my clothes to put it on!! Oh my, I am SUCH a lucky girl. MY life is WAAAAAAY better & brighter & more fun & more inspiring with a Colette. I wanna keep you FOREVER n' ever.
I luv u bunches. Thanks for making my day such a special one with a rollerskating shirt & the cutesy card EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you recall, we wrote a blog about one of our customers entitled "Cause Breaking up is hard to do." It's one of my favorite blog posts about a customer, for a number of reasons, but it was also the start of our Things you can't find on google series. During that post we created our "Dumpee discount," where we offer a 15% discount to any customer who recently breaks up with his/her significant other.
I then googled "dumpee discount" and found that no one else in the history of time has ever written those two words, side-by-side. Is Crooked Monkey the only brand caring enough to help alleviate the rebounding process--i.e. promoting consumerism as a way to mask any deeper or lingering issues? It seeems so.
Anyways, that same client who broke up with her boyfriend (in the time it took her to order and then receive her shirt) wanted a refund. And because we love giving refunds to our customers of funny t-shirts, we proceeded with it.
Fast forward to today, when we are working on closing our books for 2008. We noticed that our merchant provider did not process the refund correctly--resulting in a bank error in Crooked Monkey's favor. The customer didn't notice that the refund wasn't processed, and since we never heard from her we could've simply moved on without processing the refund, in essence "fixing the glitch (see youtube video below)". But since we have a moral conscience, are not some evil corporation (like Initech), and love our customers, we mailed out a check today for the refund. It's fun to do good in this world.
Since we are primarily a wholesale funny t-shirt company, we don't get to hear from our satisfied customers as much as we'd like. When we do hear the love stories, we get all tingly inside and are motivated to create even funnier t-shirts.
This particular story is a bit bittersweet. A customer emailed us today asking for her favorite Crooked Monkey shirt. Only issue is, we don't (and never have) carried that tee. She was convinced that it was a Crooked Monkey original, but after an intense round of emails she conceded that in fact, the CEO and founder of Crooked Monkey would recognize a Crooked Monkey slogan when he saw it.
But even greater than her belief that all funny t-shirts can only be produced by Crooked Monkey, is that she decided to stop looking for the shirt she was hoping for, and pick up a C Monkey shirt instead.
Colette W. wrote: "Ahhh that’s too bad! It was in the Crooked Monkey section and I thought I saw the little monkey on the back. Oh well… Will head over to the online store now – I’d rather support Crooked Monkey anyway."
She was looking for a Rehab t-shirt. We gave her a discount and a few meds.
Today we got an email from another one of our satisfied customers. During the holiday gift giving season, it's not always easy to please everyone. But we try pretty darned hard. One way we do that is by shipping on time, everytime. Because, as the late Chris Farley believes:
You know i could guarantee you all day long, but we both know a guarantee is only as good as the man who writes it.
So here's the email. Debbie P. got her funny t-shirt today (her order was processed yesterday): "I just wanted to let you know that the package was delivered today. I don't know what to say. You're amazing. Thank you so much! Have a Merry Christmas!!" Just another day at the office...
We just got a very sweet email from a loyal customer of Crooked Monkey's funny t-shirts, and we decided to share it with you all.
Amanda R. wrote: "I LOVE my Pluto tee-shirt, and would love to buy extras for when it wears out. Any chance it will come out of retirement?"
Amanda really loves her shirt, and we love her for it. Since the shirt is retired, I'd suggest wearing it a little less often, and taking more pictures of you enjoying the shirt. Maybe even putting it away for your kids, so that they too can enjoy the wonders of funny t-shirts.
What's the deal with retired t-shirts? We love every t-shirt we produce--our strict standards require a long vetting process (not unlike that of the Vice Presidential candidates)--but all good things must come to an end. And in the interest of remaining fresh and keeping our shirts unique, we retire shirts. If we never retired the shirt, then it would be mass produced. And that's no fun.
With all the economic woes and worries, it looks like the Apocalypse could be coming. In the distance people see those guys on the horses bringing the end of days. I'll be writing more about the economy and how our funny t-shirts will be benefiting from this mass hysteria, but you'll have to wait for those insights.
I write about the Day of Judgement, not because of some messianic age, but because tonight begins the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. And while I will not be able to wear funny t-shirts to synagogue, I will be able to repent for my deeds and ask for foregiveness from my peers.
As a company, Crooked Monkey would like to apologize for any wrongdoings we've done to you, our valued customers. We really strive to have the best customer service in the world--we repsond to All emails almost immediately (I find it funny when you email a site and you get an automated response saying it will take 48 hours to respond). We bend over backwards to ensure that all customers of Crooked Monkey are happy with their transactions. If we are late on a shipment, we look to rectify it. The customer is always right with Crooked Monkey.
But if in the off chance that we have offended you we're sorry. And if our shirts have offended you, please recognize that we are a source of humor for people, not drama.
Have an easy and inspirational fast. And if you're not fasting, buy some funny t-shirts!
Over the last week we've had some issues with our processing center and we've been working tirelessly to get it back up and running so that people can finally enjoy their C monkey funny t-shirts.
It's been pretty annoying dealing with it--we've had to switch over merchant services and jump through hoops just to get back up and running.
Customer service is real important to us so we contacted each and every individual who tried to order one of our funny t-shirts over the last week. We emailed them with a discount code apologizing for our issues and offered 20% off their order.
So thanks to BB&T for getting everything finalized. I'm pretty psyched. Now that we're at the top of page 2 for Funny t-shirts, we're getting a bunch more orders and we can finally process them. Our wholesale customers of funny t-shirts are also now back on track--thank god!
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Its the holiday season, and people like to buy Crooked Monkey shirts for their friends--because they want their friends to love their gifts and not return them.
