Home > Business > Category Archive: Customer Service

You are viewing the Customer Service category archive.

Purchase from Buy.com, FedEx loses package; what can a consumer do?

Found in: Consumer Rights, Customer Service
Thursday
November 6, 2008
2 Comments

I’ve received an e-mail this morning from reader Eric who shares an unfortunate shopping experience with Buy.com. He ordered a hard drive which Buy.com says was delivered on October 30th. Unfortunately for him, no signature was required and the package disappeared from his front porch. This is not surprising, considering it was delivered on Mischief Night. He’s contacted Buy.com and it seems they aren’t offering much recourse to him now.

I just thought I would write since I am chock full of anger, which unfortunately is not how I should be feeling the thursday after election night.

I placed an order (#XXXXXXXXX) for an external TB firewire LaCie drive from buy.com and waited for it’s arrival. Nothing came. Several days after the date that was indicated in my shipping email I tried contacting them and after several false starts- they have a terrible support system- my order was reviewed and I was told I already had the item. That it was delivered, and that since Buy.Com does not request a signature the item was “left outside”. Now my wife works from home, so she’s always home, so I’m not sure how she didn’t hear the delivery person ring the bell. Worse yet the “delivery” date was Mischief night, October 30th, so it’s hard to believe they would leave a 300 dollar item outside without getting a signature.

Buy.com “reviewed” my claim and denied me via an automated email with no option for appeal. After writing them back I was told this,

Per company policy: “Title to goods passes to you upon delivery to the common carrier.” (http://www.buy.com/corp/legal.asp). Basically this says that once a product is in transit via the shipping carrier, the ownership and responsibility of the product has passed from Buy.com to the customer. It is the customer’s responsibility from this point forward to make sure someone is at the delivery address provided to accept the package. If no one is available at this address at the time of delivery, the carrier is authorized to leave the package at the door and the order is considered completed at that time. Basically, the security of the delivery location provided by the customer falls under the responsibility of the customer.

So apparently when you make a purchase from Buy.com you are actually not buying it yourself, but rather purchasing the item for a delivery service that may or may not send you the item. So what is to prevent the delivery agent from keeping the item, giving it to a friend, covering it with glitter and making a puppet friend?

I have tried to file a claim with paypal (what I used to pay), but I was hoping you might have some more information on what my rights are as a purchaser? Also if nothing else, please let others know this policy.

Buy.com customer service has offered no assistance or alternatives in resolving this matter. Here they basically tell the consumer that he is shit out of luck from their end. At the very least, I would think that they should offer to contact FedEx on the consumer’s behalf to assist in the investigation.

Is it the responsibility of e-commerce stores to work with the carrier to ensure packages get to the customer? At which point should a signature be required for delivery? If the retailer is going to offer no assistance in making sure packages get delivered, what other rights do consumers have in this type of situation?

It’s 2007 and retailers need Community Managers

Found in: Customer Service, Social Media
Wednesday
July 4, 2007
2 Comments

Imagine it is Friday at 5:00PM and someone just posted, on their blog, about a horrible shopping experience they had at your store. Maybe a cashier was rude or maybe a store was disgusting – but whatever their frustration, they just posted their thoughts online and now it’s gotten linked to from two dozen websites and now people are talking about it across the country.

In this day, do you really want to wait until corporate PR gets into the office at 9:00AM on Monday morning before someone even thinks about reacting to this story? Monday is too late when there’s the potential that someone, reading the blog post, has decided not to shop at your store on Sunday.

Think it is far-fetched? I talked about this earlier in the year, when one consumer posted about their bad experience at a Kohl’s.

Think something like this can’t happen to your business? I can tell you that no matter how well you think you are training your employees, something somewhere is going to happen and someone is going to talk about it online. The next big story could be affecting your retail chain.

Today I read, over at Consumerist, about an unpleasant experience a person had returning items at Victoria’s Secret. Look through the comments and you will see a range of responses – some agree with the poster and complain about Victoria’s Secret customer service, while some stick up for Victoria’s Secret, while others debate the quality of merchandise Victoria’s Secret carries.

You know what I would love to see? Someone from Limited Brands posting a comment in that thread. Maybe they say that they are sorry for the experience, that they will look into it, and get in touch with the original poster privately. They could talk about how they are going to look into the policy and figure out if the sales person was poorly trained, rude, or even correct in what they do. A personal face of the corporation, being honest and engaging conversation, could stop an already bad experience from spiraling out of control. A personal face who could prevent the same situation from happening again.

This is the role of an online Community Manager: someone who represents a brand, online, and engages in honest communication with managers. It’s not hard to go through blogs, social networks, and community websites to find out what is being said about your brand. It’s not that hard to engage and welcome conversation and criticism. It’s not that hard to admit that, hey maybe someone made a mistake at the store level but it was due to poor training and we are going to correct that.

People make mistakes and they want to see big businesses admit that they do, as well. But a retailing remaining silent and ignoring the conversation around them is going to hurt their business and drive away customers.

How Verizon gets their message across

Found in: Branding, Customer Service
Wednesday
June 13, 2007
Comments Off

I thought this was funny.

Last night, I went out to my driveway to pick up the new copy of the free local weekly paper. When picking it up, I noticed it seemed a bit heavier than normal. Much heavier, in fact.

Did they add a new section? Nope. Just fifty advertisements for the new Verizon Fios service!

Sign up for Verizon Fios!!!

Guess they really want me to sign up? Or maybe they want me to give them out?

(Or maybe a machine messed up at the printing plant and stuff them all in there, mistakenly? I guess that’s it.)

Express Lane for 6/5/2007

Found in: Customer Service, Express Lane
Wednesday
June 6, 2007
1 Comment

Rundown of things I’m digging, on the web, today, June 5:

This link has made it’s way around the web, but for good reason: New York Magazine has provided a fascinating look into how various businesses are run, and able to stay alive, in New York City. Called The Profit Calculator, this article looks at different levels of retail – from Macy’s Herald Square to a dollar store. What makes them work and where does their profit come from? Love this. [via kottke and Signals vs. Noise]

Does Macy’s Herald Square really get 15-20 trucks a day?

Came across a fairly new blog by the name of Talented Blonde. An experience retail analyst blogging provides for some good reading. Today she shares her thoughts on May store comp numbers, which are due to be released later this week, and her projected winners and losers.

I’ve linked to this Service Untitled before and recommend that you check them out often, too. Positive perspective on customer service and ways you can improve your business. Today they’re talking about working for 99% of your customers, not the 1%.

Express Lane for 6/4/2007

Found in: Customer Service, Express Lane
Monday
June 4, 2007
2 Comments

Stories that I’ve come across today on the web that I’d like to share:

Originally announced back in August, the Rite Aid purchase of Eckerd and Brooks pharmacy chains is official today. Rite Aid will have to divest certain properties to allow for competition. Conversion of the stores should take 16 months. Once this deal is complete, Rite Aid will be the third largest pharmacy chain in the US (behind Walgreens and CVS) and the predominant pharmacy retailer on the East Coast. More thoughts from the Albany Times Union.

I’ve got to say that I’m sad to see the Eckerd brand go. Part of it is the fact that the Eckerd stores in my area are newer than the Rite Aid locations, making for a more pleasurable shopping experience.

Last week the Motley Fool had a good look at Abercrombie & Fitch, this week they’ve got a good look at J.Crew. They’ve had a succesful IPO, improved their gross margin, increased revenue, and increased same store sales. Good times for that retailer.

Recently, Target introduced a line of wedding dresses and related apparel by Isaac Mizrahi. Today, the Chicago Tribune is talking about this, what it means for Target, and what it means for the industry.

Finally, lux.et.umbra is asking whether summer hours would improve business in Silicon Valley. Good thoughts. The budgets for small retailers is tight, but not being open when your customers want to shop is bad business. That’s not to say that everyone should be open 24 hours, but late hours during the Summer may not be a bad thing.