berniedolan

Viewing by month: January 2008

Amazon and 1-800 CONTACTS Do Customer Service Right

January 09, 2008

I've had my share of bad customer service experiences in the past, so it's refreshing to see it done right. Here are two recent examples...

Amazon

I ordered a heart rate monitor (to...you know...monitor my heart rate while I exercise) but when I got it the display wasn't working. Probably a dead battery, but I wasn't about to pay for one to find out, so I initiated a customer return / exchange on their site. The experience for this was seamless -- I logged into my Amazon account and indicated I had a return. It let me choose the order from my recent order history then gave me a few options for why I was doing the return -- I selected "exchange" and it gave me the option of printing a prepaid USPS label, which I did, then I shoved the monitor back in the box, slapped the label on, and put the box out for the mailman to pick up. At the same time, Amazon created a new order for the same item and shipped it out -- OVERNIGHT. This is despite my picking Free Super Saver Shipping (i.e. it'll get there when it gets there) when I first bought the item. I have the new monitor now (which works fine), and the defective one is probably still at my local post office being processed. Thanks again Amazon!!

1-800 CONTACTS

I usually get my contacts from my eye doctor, but decided to give these guys a try since the price was significantly cheaper. When filling out the order for a few boxes, I accidentally put in the wrong perspiration on the form (classic brain fart -- I forgot the "-" at the front which effectively put my prescription at the opposite end of the spectrum -- doh!). I didn't realize my mistake till I opened one of the boxes and was about to rip open the contact itself. So I sheepishly called them up and explained the situation (hoping they would at least take back the unopened boxes then do a new order). To my surprise, they offered to ship out the corrected order (again overnight) for free, and they included a return label for my bad order and paid for that shipping as well -- they also took back the box I opened. The absolute kicker though was this note the CSR attached to a $5 gift certificate she included in the corrected order...

"Dear Bernie -- I'm so sorry about the problem with your order. Feel free to use this gift certificate on your next order. I appreciate your business and look forward to hearing from you again".

Crazy -- they give me $5 for my own mistake -- I only wish all my mistakes paid back like that ;)

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