CUSTOMER’S FEEDBACK POLICY
1. Purpose
Customer feedback is one of the most valuable things we receive at Chocolat-e. Whether it’s a shipping problem, a comment about a tasting experience, a corporate gifting review, or a message telling us our chocolate made someone’s day — every piece of feedback tells us something important.
This policy exists to make sure we handle feedback consistently, respond with care, and use what we learn to improve. As a B Corp certified company, how we treat our customers is part of how we measure our impact — not just whether we sell good chocolate.
2. Who & What This Covers
This policy applies to all customer feedback received by Chocolat-e through any channel, including direct email to Norm Rice (norm@chocolat-e.com) or Jeanyves Verdu, in-person feedback at events and tastings, and social media comments or direct messages on any platform where Chocolat-e has a presence.
It covers all feedback types: complaints and concerns, service and delivery feedback, corporate gifting client feedback, and positive feedback and testimonials. Ambassadors who receive customer feedback in the course of their work are expected to pass it to Chocolat-e promptly rather than handling it independently.
3. Our Commitment to Customers
• We will acknowledge every piece of direct feedback within 24 hours of receiving it, even if a full resolution takes longer.
• We will treat every customer with respect and gratitude, regardless of whether their feedback is positive or critical.
• We will not be defensive. Critical feedback is an opportunity to improve and we will approach it that way.
• We will follow through on any commitment we make — if we say we will resolve something, we will resolve it.
• We will keep customers informed if a resolution takes longer than expected rather than going silent.
4. Response Standards by Feedback Type
Feedback Type Acknowledge Resolve / Respond Follow Up
Shipping or delivery issue Within 24 hours Within 3 business days After resolution
Product quality concern Within 24 hours Within 3 business days After resolution
Corporate gifting service feedback Within 24 hours Within 5 business days 30 days post-order
Positive feedback / testimonial Within 24 hours Thank & log immediately Permission to share
Social media comment or DM Within 24 hours Within 2 business days As appropriate
5. Handling Shipping & Delivery Issues
Shipping problems are the most common source of customer frustration in our business. Our approach is to resolve first and investigate second — we never make a customer wait while we sort out who is responsible.
STANDARD RESPONSE
When a customer reports a shipping issue — lost package, significant delay, damaged goods on arrival — we will acknowledge within 24 hours and offer a resolution within 3 business days. Resolutions may include a replacement shipment, a refund, or a store credit, depending on the circumstances and customer preference.
DAMAGED PRODUCT
If a customer receives damaged chocolate, we will request a photo where possible for our records and quality tracking, then offer a replacement or refund without requiring the customer to return the product. We will log the issue and follow up with our shipping provider if a pattern emerges.
CARRIER ISSUES
When a shipping issue is clearly the carrier’s fault, we will still make the customer whole and handle any carrier claim ourselves. Customers should not have to navigate carrier disputes on our behalf.
6. Corporate Gifting Client Feedback
Corporate gifting clients represent an important relationship for Chocolat-e — they trust us to represent their brand thoughtfully when they give our chocolate as a gift. Feedback from these clients deserves particular attention and care.
POST-ORDER FOLLOW UP
For corporate gifting orders, we will proactively reach out to the client within 30 days of delivery to ask how the gift was received. This is both good service and an important source of testimonials and repeat business. The follow-up can be a brief, personal email — it does not need to be formal.
SERVICE CONCERNS
If a corporate gifting client raises a concern about our service — timing, presentation, customization, or anything else — we will treat it with the same urgency as a product complaint. A dissatisfied gifting client is unlikely to return, and the reputational impact of a poor corporate experience can extend to their wider network.
FEEDBACK CAPTURE
Notes from corporate gifting client conversations — including positive feedback, concerns raised, and resolutions — should be logged in Claritysoft CRM against the client record. This creates a record that supports relationship continuity and B Corp customer impact reporting.
7. Positive Feedback & Testimonials
Positive feedback is something to celebrate and capture. When a customer takes the time to tell us they loved our chocolate or had a great experience, we will thank them personally and meaningfully — not with an automated response.
REQUESTING PERMISSION TO SHARE
When we receive a particularly strong testimonial — written, verbal at an event, or via social media — we will ask the customer’s permission to share it in our marketing materials, website, or B Corp impact reporting. We will always attribute testimonials accurately and never paraphrase in a way that changes the meaning.
LOGGING TESTIMONIALS
Testimonials with permission to share should be saved in a dedicated folder or CRM note, including the customer’s name (or “anonymous” if preferred), date received, channel, and permission status. This library is valuable for marketing, corporate gifting proposals, and annual impact reporting.
8. Social Media Feedback
Social media comments and direct messages are a public-facing channel that requires prompt and thoughtful responses. How we respond publicly reflects our brand and our B Corp values to a wider audience than just the person commenting.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Respond to public comments — positive or negative — within 24 hours where possible. For negative comments, acknowledge the concern publicly and invite the customer to continue the conversation via direct message or email to keep sensitive details out of the public feed. Do not delete negative comments unless they contain abusive language or violate platform community standards.
DIRECT MESSAGES
Treat social media DMs with the same care as email. If a customer raises a complaint via DM, handle it through the same process as an email complaint and follow up to confirm resolution.
REVIEWS
If Chocolat-e receives reviews on any platform — Google, Facebook, or otherwise — we will respond to all reviews, positive and negative, in a timely and professional manner. Negative review responses should acknowledge the concern, not be defensive, and invite further direct contact.
9. Logging & Learning from Feedback
Feedback only improves our business if we capture it and act on it. Chocolat-e will maintain a simple feedback log — in Claritysoft CRM or a shared document — that records the following for each significant piece of feedback received:
• Date received and channel (email, in-person, social media)
• Customer name and type (consumer, corporate gifting client, event attendee)
• Nature of the feedback — complaint, compliment, suggestion
• Resolution taken and date resolved
• Any follow-up action or product/process improvement identified
This log will be reviewed quarterly by the co-founders to identify recurring themes, improvement opportunities, and patterns in customer satisfaction. Findings will be summarized annually in Chocolat-e’s B Corp Benefits Report under the Customers impact area.
10. Using Feedback to Improve
The ultimate purpose of this policy is not compliance — it is improvement. Chocolat-e commits to treating each piece of negative feedback as a genuine signal worth acting on. When the same issue appears more than once, we will investigate the root cause and make a change, whether that involves our packaging, our shipping provider, our ordering process, or our product.
Ambassadors are an important source of informal customer feedback as well. We will create a simple process for Ambassadors to share what they are hearing in the field so that customer insights reach us even when they are not directed to Chocolat-e directly.
11. Policy Review
This policy will be reviewed annually by both co-founders. As Chocolat-e grows its customer base and adds new channels, we will update this policy to reflect new feedback sources and response expectations.
12. Approval & Signatures
This policy has been reviewed and approved by the co-founders of Chocolat-e Inc.