Another Happy Customer

I can't help but share my most recent and as expected, positive, interaction with Zappos.com. I think my exact words when I hung up with their customer service rep (was it Christina I was talking to?), was "how are they so nice?"

Story goes a little something like: my folks bought me some Hunter boots and liners for Christmas. The boots are grey and the liners ma purchased were green--and boy oh boy did they clash. So those had to go back and get exchanged for charcoal. As for the boots, I wore them one day after Christmas and unfortunately the insole of the left boot rode up the back of my heel as the day went on, making for a very uncomfortable fit.

I had emailed Zappos a few times to figure out how to do the exchange and they said I should call--they'd be available 24/7. So finally, I did tonight and with ease, the transaction was completed. But this wasn't your normal transaction--the customer service gal was so nice! Chatting me up, asking what I was doing this weekend (and when I said going for a training run for my half-marathon, she made conversation about that). Looking up the gift order was easy--all she needed was my mom's email address. And, apparently the boots were $35 cheaper when my mom ordered them than they are now, but the gal just waived that. I was slightly worried about the boot exchange since they had been worn once, but they chalked it up to a defect--no questions asked. Additionally, since my mom and I are both VIP customers, my order is shipping tomorrow for arrival Monday.

Gift returns and exchanges can be difficult when you're in the store, standing across the counter from an associate. Thanks for making this process easy, breezy, beautiful, Zappos.com.

Success

As a follow-up to my past blog post, I have to give a huge shout out to Southwest for helping me book my airline ticket to Austin! I really appreciate them listening to me and helping me with the process. I was agitated with the events of last Tuesday, but they have redeemed my faith in their customer relations after all. LUV ya' SWA!

What do I also LUV? That I have officially reached my fundraising goal for the 2012 LIVESTRONG half-marathon! $500 down? CHECK! Plane tickets booked? CHECK! Training--working on it!

Letter to Southwest Since I Exceeded their Character Count on their Email Form

Dear Southwest:

On Jan. 3, I started the entirely-too-long-of-a-process to book my flight from Kansas City to Austin, where I will be running in the Austin LIVESTRONG half-marathon. I’m running with my uncle, a cancer survivor, and his nephew, also a cancer survivor (stating this to put into perspective that all of this is for a good cause). By the time we run our 13.1, our team will have raised $2,000 for the LIVESTRONG organization.

This debacle started when I found a flight to purchase on southwest.com. To Austin would be flights 1509/3388 departing KCI on Sat., Feb. 18 at a rate of $39, and the return flights would be 1198/3072, departing Austin after the race on Sun., Feb. 19.

Because I had a one-way voucher that expires on Jan. 26, I called 800-I-FLY-SWA to make sure a voucher-worthy seat was available for the Sunday flight. I wanted to confirm that before I paid $50 to extend the voucher. The nice man on the phone ensured me there was and said I should book the flight quickly, which I did. I completed transaction one of paying the $50 fee, extending my voucher and booking my return flight home from Austin. Easy as pie, as is typical when booking and flying Southwest.

Because my other flight would not be with a voucher, I then went to complete my separate transaction of booking my $39 flight to Austin; this was minutes later. I got an error message when I tried to select my flight, so after refreshing the webpage, imagine my shock when I see the flight price had risen from $39 to $178! An increase of $139 in a matter of minutes! I was floored!

I immediately called 800-I-FLY-SWA back and explained the situation to them. I was floored what I was told by Southwest—a company I covet for customer service: there was nothing they could do for me. They gave me another number to call: 214-932-0333. I called the number and got a response I don’t think I’ve heard in the 21^st century: a busy signal. I looked at my phone, back and the number I scribbled down, and back at the phone. They matched; I must of written it down wrong. I tracked down the number on Southwest.com and low and behold—it was the right number. Because of the wonder that is the iPhone call log, I can prove that I called 214-932-0333 at 5:01 pm, 5:05 pm and 5:13 pm Central—being greeted by a busy signal all three times.

It’s about this time I call 800-I-FLY-SWA back and tell the woman that answers this time what is going on. I paid $50 to extend my voucher, went to purchase my $39 flight and it went up to $178. I’d either want the $39 rate or the $50 refunded. She told me she can’t do either, but that my newly extended voucher is now good through Jan. 3, 2013…to which I wanted to respond with, “at this time, I hope to never fly your airline again.” Alas, there’s nothing she can do; I need to call customer relations and she gives me the number: 214-932-0333. I explained I had called that number and it was busy. She said again there was nothing she could do, that I needed to call customer relations.

“Then who am I talking to?” I asked?
“Customer service,” she replies.

Oh, I see. Not.

It’s around this time I send an email to Southwest asking for someone to call me back and also tweet to @southwestair “@southwestair your customer relations line has been busy for an hour now. What's the trick to get thru?” And then I pack up and head home from the office, because my colleagues are tired of me getting worked up about all of this.

5:40 pm

6:15 pm

6:21 pm

6:24 pm

6:38 pm

6:52 pm

7:02 pm

7:19 pm

7:42 pm

Those are the next attempts at getting through to customer relations, again, only to hear the dreaded beep, beep, beep.

Finally, at 8:02 pm I get through. No busy signal! But the greeting on the other end did tell me they closed at 8 pm.

Yesterday, I received a tweet back from @southwestverity and she and I tweeted back and forth about her helping me, which I appreciated. But what if I wasn’t on Twitter; how would I have been helped? This morning I received a response to my email, but ultimately I asked for them to call me, which didn’t happen.

At this point, I’m just disappointed that I was told no twice and basically ignored 12 times by a company I’ve long admired for customer service. And unfortunately, I’ve shared my thoughts with many friends, family members and co-workers.

I guess what I want is this:

1.  Let’s get this flight booked. I’m going to Austin. I’d like the $39 rate that disappeared in front of my eyes. If that isn’t possible, I’d like to be told if there is a voucher seat available for the Feb. 18 flight I referenced above. My uncle has a voucher that I can extend and will use for that flight if a voucher seat is available. (They are transferrable, right?)

2. Please recognize the annoyance Southwest has caused me the last few days. I’m a loyal customer. I travel frequently and SWA is my preferred airline. I accept rules and policies. I just felt I wasn’t listened to during my communications and the inability to talk to who I apparently needed to talk to added fuel to the fire and was frustrating. I like you; like me back. In the end, I’ll continue to fly Southwest and I’ll probably even fly Southwest to Austin (though there is a $59 on Delta I’m seriously considering). Please just show me a little LUV cause I haven’t been feeling it thus far in 2012.

Sincerely,

Wendy Fitch

Short Life

On March 5, 2011, TFitch bought the Sunfaded Stanton Short from J. Crew on the Plaza in Kansas City. I know the purchase date and the style because we still have the receipt. I like the shorts--he bought them in a pewter-ish blue--but TFitch wasn't a huge fan. He thought they were too short. (They actually fit him and weren't baggie.) But as such, he wore them less than a handful of times.

But he did decide to wear them to my cousin-in-law's 40th birthday party on July 2. Looking dapper going into the bounce house, TFitch came out of the bounce house with 2/3 of his boxers exposed and a hole in his Sunfaded Stanton Shorts from the crotch to the hem.

This annoyed me. Yes, a 31-year-old man was in a bounce house. But other adult men were in the bounce house too and they didn't come out semi-nude. If these were shorts Trevor loved to death and wore everyday, that would be one thing. But they weren't. They were basically in new condition. I wasn't accepting that high of a cost per wear.

So I took them back.

I found the receipt and even the original J. Crew bag the shorts came to Sloppy Joe in, and last weekend I trekked back to the scene of the purchase. I explained the situation to the cashier. She had to talk to the manager. She came back and said there was nothing they could do.

I asked to speak with the manager.

The manager, Lesley I'd later find out her name to be, came out. She wasn't helpful. "The fact that they've been washed and worn ... blah blah blah ... " ... "we can't tell if their defective."

Not defective? Do I need to show you the photo of my grandma grabbing my husband's boxers through the hole in his shorts? (I didn't show Lesley, but I'll show you.)

My POV was simple:

These shorts are basically brand new. Minus the gigantic rip, you can tell they don't have a lot of wear and tear. I think it's unacceptable to pay $60 for a pair of shorts that lasted less than four months with minimal use.

Lesley still wasn't convinced. I finally told her that was fine; that I was done buying clothes at J. Crew. Why would I spend the money their store charges if more than likely the garment would fall apart after two to three wears. 

FINALLY she started to come around. She was pissed about it. I didn't care. She made it difficult. She scanned my credit card and my receipt and said there was no record of my purchase. She asked if I had returned them once before, which really made my blood start to boil. (Was she accusing me of lying?) She called the J. Crew batcave to have them look up the transaction. Amazingly, she gives them my credit card number and they can recite back to her that not only were those shorts purchased on that ticket, but so were three men's shirts and two women's tank tops.

Boo to the freaking yeah.

Five hours later and with mixed reviews of J. Crew, TFitch and I depart with a crotch-intact pair of Sunfaded Stanton Shorts that he probably will never wear because he hates the damn things anyway. And I'm fine with that. In the entire scenario, I wanted J. Crew to acknowledge they had a disappointed customer. The proof was in the pants. I wanted them to be disappointed that their merchandise failed. That they hoped it would never happen again and we'd be satisfied customers here on out. Instead the consumer had to fight for what they wanted. We had to ask for the manager to come out. We had to push her to give us what we wanted. We were honest and transparent with the story. We told you the shorts were in a bounce house, but they are chinos for crying out loud. You don't sell china dolls. And I remain strong on my point that other people were in the same situation and their (likely from Banana Republic) shorts didn't rip.

On JCrew.com, they post the following:


"Quality is our highest priority. Always has been, always will be."


Neither quality in their products nor their customer service were demonstrated to me last weekend. Maybe they should take a lesson from Zappos.com. 

Southwest Slam Dunk

As a marketer, I'm always looking for effective ways (or non-effective ways) brands reach me. I have high expectations, which is why I was impressed with my Zappos experience last year.

Southwest just broke through the clutter with a Rapid Rewards direct mail piece. I can identify an airline's miles statement immediately, and do you know what I do with them? I don't even open them; I just rip them in half and throw them away. It's either them trying to get me to sign up for their credit card to "earn miles faster!" or some other offer I'm just not interested in. So when this piece landed in my mailbox last week, I was intrigued. It was packaged differently; not just an envelope.

When opened, a pull-out note on top thanked me for my seven years of membership and a personalized luggage tag was on the bottom. 

The piece worked for a few reasons:

1. The packaging was unique and stood out from ordinary mail/envelopes.

2. It was personalized with not only my name, but the number of years of membership.

3. Along the same lines, it was unexpected. Think of big milestones--typically the first or something ending in either a five or a zero. Seven is different. It's thoughtful. It's unique. Kind of like Southwest.

4. It's a nice piece. The luggage tag is something I'll use, and I'm normally not a branded-chotchkie kind of girl.

As marketers, we constantly talk about moving your target audience from awareness to loyalty. From drink tickets to free checked bags to unexpected and personalized customer interactions, Southwest knows how to retain passengers for life...says the girl in 16A.

Love Affair

Do you love my gorgeous lilies? (Some are still blooming!)

I was surprised with them Saturday morning. They're from Zappos.com and no, that's not my new nickname for TFitch. You all remember my affinity for them from this and this. Well, a few weeks ago Zappos asked if I would be willing to participate in an interview for a book on exceptional customer service. The author, Shaun Smith, had talked to Zappos on the subject and asked if they had a customer he could talk to. Apparently I came to mind. I spoke with Shaun and it was fun! I never tire of telling about my experiences with Zappos. Hopefully I was exciting enough as to not get cut :) Nonetheless, Zappos sent me flowers to thank me for my time. I'm pretty sure we're dating--I mean the infatuation is mutual.

That darn Zappos.com

They got me again! 

A little history: I like to have fun with my gmail account. It's why the signature for that account from my blackberry reads: "I have big thumbs and this was sent from my handheld with itty bitty keys. Please forgive any typos."

Well, when I was on the Breast Cancer 3-Day a few weeks ago, I set my vacation notice (basically the out of office functionality for gmail) to read something like "Thanks for your e-mail. I am currently hitting the pavement in Denver, walking 60 miles in three days to put an end to breast cancer. I'll respond to your e-mail when I'm back." I then included contact information for Shannon in case someone was inquiring about Paint the Town Orange.

Fast forward to today when I just got our mail at home. Opened a birthday card for Trevor from Southwest. Cool. Behind it - an envelope from Zappos. I'm thinking it's a birthday card to me or a "thank you for a recent purchase" note. Nope. Not at all. It was so cool it made me tear up! (But I am lame like that sometimes.)

This is what the handwritten note read:

(Dated 8/28/09)

Hello Wendy!

While working through emails from our amazing customers, I came across your auto reply. Normally we mark them as auto replies, but yours caught my eye. I just wanted to let you know what an admirable thing you are doing! We at Zappos are proud to have you as a customer, and as part of our family. 

Thank you for being a wonderful person.

Ashlee - customer relations rep at Zappos

(With a big 'ole "THANK YOU" on the top)

I mean seriously. I can't get over it. I have friends, family and colleagues that didn't even acknowledge my participation in the Breast Cancer 3-Day, and I get a card from Zappos.com.

Zappos - you SERIOUSLY rock. I am in marketing/customer service shock. And if any of you have heard my recent complaints about Master Tailor and Urban Active, you know I was starting to lose faith in customer service. I love that I can now gloat about a company that has gone above and beyond. I've made one purchase from Zappos.com. One. And this is what I get. Unfreaking believable. Now I don't have to feel guilty buying shoes, 'cause I'm gonna go hog wild at Zappos.com. (

Zappos.com-er for LIFE!

I had my first Zappos.com experience, and I'm in love.

It all started last Friday when I was shopping for latte-colored shoes for Meghan N. Scott's wedding. I found a pair at Von Maur - these Me Too Jeanettes. They were super comfy and cute, and I remembered Brooke endorsing them. I had looked at a lot of shoes and decided I just wanted to get these and be done with it. However, they didn't have my size and I was slightly gun shy about spending $90 on them. That evening, I decided to give Zappos.com a whirl. I found a 6.5 and just decided to purchase. Shipping was free and no sales tax - so it was almost a bargain.

This morning, I was showing fashion-extraordinaire Pamela the shoes. (She had just shown me some cute shoes she found for Julia to wear when she is a bride in a few weeks.) She mentioned how Me Too was a good brand and I said I hoped so since I spent $90 on them. That's when she said, "did you pay that for them?" and pointed to the price. They were 19% off - marked down to $72! "OMG," I shouted in excitement and I immediately picked up my phone and called Zappos.com's customer service department. The phone number was right on the main page, so it took me all of about two seconds to get to the customer service department. I was connected with Kiesha right away and in about two minutes and explained the situation. I learned Zappos.com will issue price adjustments if the purchase has been made within the last 10 days. She instantaneously credited my card (of course reminding me it might take up to two business days before this is reflected in my account) and then told me I'd be receiving a VIP e-mail. I apparently should bookmark this URL because I'll get free shipping or something - I don't even know I was just like "What?!? This all seems too good to be true."

Zappos.com had me on a high; my phone just rang and apparently my "This is Wendy" answer was more enthusiastic than normal. T. Fitch was on the other line and his response was "hi, chipper" or something like that. I had to tell him the entire story. And it's true - Zappos.com just made my day and I'll definitely use their site when ordering shoes in the future. Zappos.com and I sure got off on the right foot - pun entirely intended.