As you are all too aware, customer service in this country sucks. Some companies simply grow too fast too quickly, and customer service gets lost in the shuffle. Some companies expand by buying other companies, and it simply takes a long time for the existing systems to be “connected” properly. Some companies simply grow too large for customer service to be effective. Other companies see customer service as a drain on profits and farm their support services out to the cheapest offshore company. And lots of companies just don’t care about customer service.
At one time or another, most of us have been trapped in a customer service nightmare of endless phone trees, service reps that offer ineffective solutions or try to get you off the phone as quickly as possible, repeating the same information over and over again… It’s like something Kafka might have dreamed up. But one company isn’t like that at all: Zappos.com.
Zappos.com is an Internet shoe store. I’ve ordered from them twice and found their service to be outstanding (although I never had reason to call them for anything). But then I read the story of Zaz Lamarr.
It seems that Ms. Lamarr bought a couple of pairs of shoes from Zappos and found that they didn’t fit. She arranged to return them, but sadly, her mother passed away and Zaz found herself busy with making funeral arrangements, settling her mom’s affairs, and well… mourning. After a few days had passed, Zappos emailed her to ask where the shoes were. Zaz emailed back telling them that her mom had died and that she would call UPS when she got the chance.
The next day, Zappos emailed her back, apologizing for her loss and informing her that they’d arranged for UPS to come out and pick them up – all she had to do was seal up the box and put the on her doorstep. And if that weren’t sweet enough, when Zaz came home the next day from running errands, Zaz says that “a florist delivery man was just leaving. It was a beautiful arrangement in a basket with white lilies and roses and carnations. Big and lush and fragrant. I opened the card, and it was from Zappos. I burst into tears.”
Now THAT’S customer service, people! Let’s hope that anyone from Comcast, US Air, Delta, Wal Mart and any of the other giant American companies read that article… soon!