Fanatical Customer Service
What makes customer service good? I've had some experiences lately that certainly made me think.
Case number one. I purchased a pair of kids shoes from Nordstrom. My daughter couldn't live without them. (She obviously takes after me). They were shiny and pretty and according to the salesperson, were covered with individually hand sewn sequins. And I do mean covered. If a light shown on her feet we would all be blinded. We got the last pair in her size while other customers with little girls hoping for shiny feet glared at us. If I had let her she would have worn the suckers out of the store.
Next morning, she hopped out of bed and right into her new shiny shoes. She already knows that (almost) nothing makes you feel as good as having great shoes on your feet.
She came home crying. A few sequins had come off. I comforted her and assured her that it was only a few and oh, well, it was bound to happen.
But it kept happening, right on the toe. And it wouldn't have been so bad except underneath the sequins, the shoe was ugly. BUTT ugly.
Before I let you know what happened, I want to introduce you to case two.
Case NumberTwo--A few weeks ago, while I was in NY, I went to Manolo Blahnik. I tried on this one exquisite pair of shoes and had to have them. I knew it the minute I tipped around the store that I was going to skip lunches for a whole month and then some to justify the cost of these works of art,. I bought them and had them shipped to me. I blogged about it, remember? Especially after my Oprah moment in the same store a year ago. When my shoes arrived, I was filled with glee. (yes, I said, Glee). I ripped them from their packaging and threw them on my feet. Changed the whole game plan for the day as I wore them to a meeting I had to attend. I grinned at the looks my feet got from my friends. I was a shoe diva for a day (okay another day. I'm often shoe diva. Except for one problem. The shoes were flipping off my feet. Seems that in real world conditions, they didn't seem to fit as well as the did in that pristine store. And fit is REALlY important in almost five inch heels. Can you imagine? "Ma'am, how'd you break your neck?" "Walking." or better yet, "Falling of my shoes. But they are cute though."
I emailed the sales rep. She'd just sent me a note with the upcoming summer shoes. She told me to go ahead and send them back.
So I paid the fifty bucks to ship them back. Yes, fifty. This suckers needed insurance.
But wait,
Let me introduce you to Case number three.
Case Number Three. Back in October 2006, I was in a jean jam. Ya'll know what I mean. You want jeans, but nothing fits. The thighs are too tight,or they are too short or curved wrong, or my favorite, they don't come up high enough and stop at the top of your thighs. I searched and searched for the best jean and thought I'd found a solutions in Mejeans.com. They claim they will custom make your jeans. You ta ke a zillion measurements and off they go. I ordered the jeans on November 3. Well, after two update emails, and one email inquiry on my part (never answered) my jeans finally arrived at the beginning of April 2007. Yaaay! They arrived in their own denim drawstring bag. They felt good to the touch. Even had my name in the inside label. All of these were good things, even if they did misspell my name. My heart beat hard as I removed them from the packaging and slipped them on. They'd emailed me to doublecheck the measurements at least a month before. I'd been waiting with bated breath and....they don't fit. Everything fits good, except they give me Beyonce Butt. My butt crack is showing and although that may sometimes be in style, its never in good taste.
Return instructions said email for a return authorization, What happened?
What do you think? Which companies give good customer service? Which are fanatical?
Case Number one. I was resigned to keeping the kids shoes. I remember being a kid with scuffed toes. I had red mary jane like shoes that I always managed to wear out on top before I wore out the bottoms, so what were a few missing sequins? Besides, even though she had them for two months, she rarely wore them now. Missing sequins dulled the shine. I talked her into wearing them when we went on our Easter Shoe Hunt. We found ourselves back at Nordstrom. The same saleslady helped us, and she clucked her tongue at the state of the shoe. And you know what? They took them back. Just like that. No receipt, no questions. My kid wore new sparkly shoes out of the store that day and is happily blinding all who dare look at her feet with raised eyebrows. Nordstrom gave me fanatical service and I will certainly be back.
Case Number Two. They called me from Manolo and told me they couldn't exchange my shoes after all because I'd worn them from the car to the door of my meeting. Yes, I was pissed and ready to write an angry blog. Nordstrom took back their 40 dollar kid so es without blinking, so you know I expected something similar since these cost several times that. They offered to put a pad in my shoes to make them fit better. You know, I was pissed with this and was already planning my boycott section of my webpage. Part of wearing good shoes is that when you take them off, they look sexy lying there, artfully placed all by themselves and when your friends look at them, they say, "Those are great shoes." They are so busy looking at the shoes that they overlook anything that might be wrong with the rest of your outfit. A pad inside just takes away from the art of the shoe. Its like wearing designer sunglasses with tape on the bridge. Or a pin in the back of your jeans.
Well, after about a week, my shoes finally arrived. They'd put them in a new box. They'd paid for shipping. And guess what, they didn't add a pad. I was just going to have to walk slowly so I didn't break my ankle because I'd be damned if I wasn't going to wear the shoes. But when I slipped them on, they fit perfectly. Apparently, my shoes hadn't been to the shoe hospital, they'd been rebuilt. On closer examination, they'd indeed added a pad, under the insole so it couldn't be seen and the aesthetics of my foot candy were preserved.
How's that for fanatical service? They rebuilt my shoes. Yaayyy! I'll be back.
Case Number Three.
Hmm. I sent my email three days ago. I haven't gotten a reply yet.What I did get after I received the jeans was a note saying to expect my jeans in a few days because they'd been shipped. Duhhh. I figure I'd give them a few days because of the Easter holiday, but I'm pissed. They could at least send me a note saying, "Dog, Kiss my foot." Its bad enough the jeans took soooo long my measurements have changed (for the better, I hope. But what was wrong isn't a measurement problem. How does one's butt crack get higher?) I can't find a phone number on any of the documentation or on their website. If I don't get my authorization in a few days I will call my credit card company and dispute the charge. I bet they email me then.
I'll let you know how it turns out.
Case number one. I purchased a pair of kids shoes from Nordstrom. My daughter couldn't live without them. (She obviously takes after me). They were shiny and pretty and according to the salesperson, were covered with individually hand sewn sequins. And I do mean covered. If a light shown on her feet we would all be blinded. We got the last pair in her size while other customers with little girls hoping for shiny feet glared at us. If I had let her she would have worn the suckers out of the store.
Next morning, she hopped out of bed and right into her new shiny shoes. She already knows that (almost) nothing makes you feel as good as having great shoes on your feet.
She came home crying. A few sequins had come off. I comforted her and assured her that it was only a few and oh, well, it was bound to happen.
But it kept happening, right on the toe. And it wouldn't have been so bad except underneath the sequins, the shoe was ugly. BUTT ugly.
Before I let you know what happened, I want to introduce you to case two.
Case NumberTwo--A few weeks ago, while I was in NY, I went to Manolo Blahnik. I tried on this one exquisite pair of shoes and had to have them. I knew it the minute I tipped around the store that I was going to skip lunches for a whole month and then some to justify the cost of these works of art,. I bought them and had them shipped to me. I blogged about it, remember? Especially after my Oprah moment in the same store a year ago. When my shoes arrived, I was filled with glee. (yes, I said, Glee). I ripped them from their packaging and threw them on my feet. Changed the whole game plan for the day as I wore them to a meeting I had to attend. I grinned at the looks my feet got from my friends. I was a shoe diva for a day (okay another day. I'm often shoe diva. Except for one problem. The shoes were flipping off my feet. Seems that in real world conditions, they didn't seem to fit as well as the did in that pristine store. And fit is REALlY important in almost five inch heels. Can you imagine? "Ma'am, how'd you break your neck?" "Walking." or better yet, "Falling of my shoes. But they are cute though."
I emailed the sales rep. She'd just sent me a note with the upcoming summer shoes. She told me to go ahead and send them back.
So I paid the fifty bucks to ship them back. Yes, fifty. This suckers needed insurance.
But wait,
Let me introduce you to Case number three.
Case Number Three. Back in October 2006, I was in a jean jam. Ya'll know what I mean. You want jeans, but nothing fits. The thighs are too tight,or they are too short or curved wrong, or my favorite, they don't come up high enough and stop at the top of your thighs. I searched and searched for the best jean and thought I'd found a solutions in Mejeans.com. They claim they will custom make your jeans. You ta ke a zillion measurements and off they go. I ordered the jeans on November 3. Well, after two update emails, and one email inquiry on my part (never answered) my jeans finally arrived at the beginning of April 2007. Yaaay! They arrived in their own denim drawstring bag. They felt good to the touch. Even had my name in the inside label. All of these were good things, even if they did misspell my name. My heart beat hard as I removed them from the packaging and slipped them on. They'd emailed me to doublecheck the measurements at least a month before. I'd been waiting with bated breath and....they don't fit. Everything fits good, except they give me Beyonce Butt. My butt crack is showing and although that may sometimes be in style, its never in good taste.
Return instructions said email for a return authorization, What happened?
What do you think? Which companies give good customer service? Which are fanatical?
Case Number one. I was resigned to keeping the kids shoes. I remember being a kid with scuffed toes. I had red mary jane like shoes that I always managed to wear out on top before I wore out the bottoms, so what were a few missing sequins? Besides, even though she had them for two months, she rarely wore them now. Missing sequins dulled the shine. I talked her into wearing them when we went on our Easter Shoe Hunt. We found ourselves back at Nordstrom. The same saleslady helped us, and she clucked her tongue at the state of the shoe. And you know what? They took them back. Just like that. No receipt, no questions. My kid wore new sparkly shoes out of the store that day and is happily blinding all who dare look at her feet with raised eyebrows. Nordstrom gave me fanatical service and I will certainly be back.
Case Number Two. They called me from Manolo and told me they couldn't exchange my shoes after all because I'd worn them from the car to the door of my meeting. Yes, I was pissed and ready to write an angry blog. Nordstrom took back their 40 dollar kid so es without blinking, so you know I expected something similar since these cost several times that. They offered to put a pad in my shoes to make them fit better. You know, I was pissed with this and was already planning my boycott section of my webpage. Part of wearing good shoes is that when you take them off, they look sexy lying there, artfully placed all by themselves and when your friends look at them, they say, "Those are great shoes." They are so busy looking at the shoes that they overlook anything that might be wrong with the rest of your outfit. A pad inside just takes away from the art of the shoe. Its like wearing designer sunglasses with tape on the bridge. Or a pin in the back of your jeans.
Well, after about a week, my shoes finally arrived. They'd put them in a new box. They'd paid for shipping. And guess what, they didn't add a pad. I was just going to have to walk slowly so I didn't break my ankle because I'd be damned if I wasn't going to wear the shoes. But when I slipped them on, they fit perfectly. Apparently, my shoes hadn't been to the shoe hospital, they'd been rebuilt. On closer examination, they'd indeed added a pad, under the insole so it couldn't be seen and the aesthetics of my foot candy were preserved.
How's that for fanatical service? They rebuilt my shoes. Yaayyy! I'll be back.
Case Number Three.
Hmm. I sent my email three days ago. I haven't gotten a reply yet.What I did get after I received the jeans was a note saying to expect my jeans in a few days because they'd been shipped. Duhhh. I figure I'd give them a few days because of the Easter holiday, but I'm pissed. They could at least send me a note saying, "Dog, Kiss my foot." Its bad enough the jeans took soooo long my measurements have changed (for the better, I hope. But what was wrong isn't a measurement problem. How does one's butt crack get higher?) I can't find a phone number on any of the documentation or on their website. If I don't get my authorization in a few days I will call my credit card company and dispute the charge. I bet they email me then.
I'll let you know how it turns out.
Comments
When I roll through New York, I might treat the wife to some Manola Blahniks. All the ladies seem to rave about them anyway.
Cheap jeans do me fine. No need for special made ones, now a suit, that's another story all together.