Some time I commented on what a horrible experience I had with Lion's Brand Fisherman's Wool and the large amount of knots in each skein(16 in one alone). Sent an email to LB on 03/03 and they asked for everything but the kitchen sink be sent to them for inspection. They even wanted the pieces of yarn that still had knots in them that I had had to cut out. Didn't hear anything back. Finally contacted them Friday and today they say they are sending out 4 replacement skeins and hope it wasn't an inconvenience for me to have them take so long. Glad I hadn't desperately needed an answer.
I may be nuts, but it is getting harder and harder for me to buy yarn these days. So many companies that used to be great are just going downhill it seems.

That's modern customer service for you! Well, I guess at least they're sending replacements.

I wonder what they are going to do with the knotted skein and the cut out knots.

Do you mean you contacted them in March of 2003 or March 3rd of this year? The second one would be bad enough, but if it was six years ago, that's horrible!

But getting four new skeins is nice. I actually used this yarn for my level 1 swatches and it was very nice. I had no knots or any issues that I recall. Hope these skeins are perfect.

I had issues with Moonlight Mohair and knots within the last 15 yards of 3-4 skeins. I contacted Lion Brand (had bought the yarn elswhere) and they replaced it immediately.

I also had dye lot issues with Caron Yarns Simply Soft. Their customer service was also very prompt in helping me.

Hopefully your experience was an abberation.

Sorry about that. I checked my post and the date went right over my head, it was March of this year. They really got on the ball when I asked them about it. Got the email that it was sent out by UPS today. Will be glad to get my second slipper felted and the sets for the grandkids now. Were supposed to be easter presents but will be for Christmas now.

I thought you meant this year, but some experiences I've had with customer services myself, it wouldn't have surprised me to find out you did mean 6 years ago!
I've been having an issue with the car dealership where I got my car 3 years ago. Too long a story for here, but the short version is I bought a product as an add-on to my car, which was used when I bought it, and now the dealership won't honor the warranty because I'm not the original owner of the car. I have contacted the Attorney General's Office, and someone is looking in to it. It's been over a year. *sigh* (Not since the AG office got involved, although that's been a while too.)

Yarn companies want to see any defective yarn so they can hopefully ascertain where in the production process the flaw happened. Knots or splices tied during spinning are often different than those tied during skein winding. Pretty hard to fix something or complain to the mill if you can't identify where the problem is ocurring. And, sad to say, there are people who will complain of defects hoping to get free product. Insisting on returns of defective product cuts down on those scammers.

It is a sad fact that a lot of people take advantage of companies good will, and that might be another reason that customer service seems to have suffered. They have learned the hard truth of "Trust, but verify."

What is surprising to me(maybe it shouldn't) is how many people have emailed me about their LYS owners having the same problem with this yarn and other Lion Brand products. When I contacted LB they did everything but accuse me of cutting and tying the knots myself. Two LYS owners say they were treated the same way. The skeins not only had knots, but I had to cut and tie the yarn in several spots because of thick, then thin spots.
Since I grew up(literally) in a woolen mill where Mom worked, I know what to expect and how mistakes come about, but lately some companies seem to just want the yarn made and to heck with the quality control. Have returned skeins to 3 companies so far this year and received replacements and letters of apology when they saw what had been sent out for sale. So, it's not just LB.

I had similar problems with Noro Silk Garden a couple of years ago. Every skein had at least one join in it and the joins were made without regard to the color sequence. In addition the yarn was full of trash. I spent half my time it seemed pulling little prickly bits out of the strands. Definitely not what you want in a sweater next your skin. At 12$ a skein I would expect better. I won't buy it again.

Today UPS brought me a box of yarn. I checked all of the skeins and didn't find a single problem so fired off a thank you to Lion Brand. Even founf the perfect cabled cardie to make from Bernat and got gauge spot on with it, so it won't be felted after all. This time I will make something just for me and to heck with the drooping lips and sad faces. It's Grandma's turn.