Strange online relationships you have formed.

[janedoe]

I have been ordering from seedsnow before non-GMO, open pollinated, non treated, heirloom, etc was a common thing. Every delivery I received came with a handwritten note. E-mail followup was standard.

And it all came from Monica.

Monica would ask how the weather in my town was and would name the town. She would ask if the seed delivery went well and what I was planting. I came to expect these communications. Because Monica cared.

Intellectually I realize that Monica was probably looking for quotable statements for their review section but it was a comfortable exchange and it made me like the company even more than I already did. This went on for many years.

Today I got a message from Chris.

Who the heck is Chris? And where is Monica?

[SunDance]

I always enjoyed getting the handwritten notes from chewy.com at Christmastime...or notes written on other orders elsewhere from time to time....tips and pointers, etc....something showing that someone appreciated my business enough to take the time to reach out.

I've gotten into fairly long conversations on the phone when I've placed orders sometimes if I get a chatty person on the other end.

I'm not sure any of that qualifies as "relationship" but it's still nice.

[POPTOP]

Having personal contact with a human during or after an online order ranks high for me. I've used 1800petmeds in the past and they are always very nice and concerned. They called once to remind me about refilling a med for Melody who had just passed. They were very sympathetic. Shortly thereafter I received the sweetest condolence card.