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| Big Mistakes Are Big Opportunties |
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Last year, Steve Rhodes, one of our managing directors, decided to present his nephew, an avid sports fan, with a magazine subscription. What followed was a comedy of errors which not only highlighted some of the difficulties of online purchasing, but dot-com service at its worst. Lessons to live by? Steve tells the story.
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In early 1999, my wife and I decided to surprise our nephew, who lives in Israel, with a subscription to Sports Illustrated. Thinking that, in this age of everything.com, it would be easy to purchase a magazine subscription online, we were amazed to subsequently discover that in fact, it is very difficult to purchase an international subscription on the Net. We were thrilled when we discovered that shopping.com would take our order. Little did we know, our troubles had just begun.
First, shopping.com requested a faxed copy of our credit card. This should have been the tip-off — we spend hundreds of dollars on product online every month and this request was a first. We complied, reluctantly, only to be told the fax was illegible; what could we do? Forget one-click virtual e-tailing, we mailed the check and forgot about it.
Six months later, our nephew happened to mention that he'd never received the magazine. Had the check been lost in the post? No — a quick check showed the check had cleared the bank. I fired off an email to shopping.com's customer service department. Now begins the lesson in how to lose a customer forever.
Unhappy customers are always a challenge, but they are also an opportunity. A customer who complains is not only voicing dissatisfaction, but is also giving you the chance to rectify the situation and even, if properly handled, to build the relationship.
So here's how shopping.com responded: they didn't. Two weeks later I send a reminder. Silence. So once again, I resorted to the latest technology in contacting this dot-com retailer: I used the telephone. Here's an approximate transcript of my conversation with the customer service representative:
Me: I bought a subscription six months ago, my check cleared, but the magazine never came.
Service Rep: What was the number of the order?
Me: The number was XXXX.
Rep: That order was canceled by the vendor.
Me: Huh?
Rep: Yes, the vendor wasn't willing to send the subscription overseas.
Me: Why wasn't I told this and my money returned?
Rep: [Long, pregnant pause.]
Me: Hello, are you still there? [Even with the most advanced telephony equipment, sometimes these international phone calls can be tricky.]
Rep: Yes.
Me: Good. I want my money back.
Rep: We'll send out a check in a day or two.
Me: Thank you.
I don't know what the rep was doing during the silence: Dozing off? Looking through a manual for what to say? She certainly never used the "s" word as in, "I'm terribly sorry sir." Bad, right? It gets worse.
The check didn't come. After several months of sending increasingly irate (and admittedly, insane) e-mails, none of which were ever answered, I decided to go the top. In mid-May, I sent a message to the corporate counsel of AltaVista, shopping.com's parent company. A month later, I received a check in the mail with no cover letter or explanation. (By the way, the check was for $38.14; the subscription had cost just over $41.03. I guess they took off $3.00 for "postage and handling.")
Even at this late stage, having chased after my $41 for nearly a year, shopping.com still had a chance to redeem itself. A sincere letter of apology from a senior manager assuring me the matter would be investigated, a gift certificate for my next purchase: none of these would guarantee that I would ever buy from them again, but it might have gone some way to appeasing a very angry customer. Now they can rest assured that they have lost a customer forever. Contrast shopping.com's approach with the following true story.
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| A Different Approach |
Several years ago, a start-up company approached us for assistance with their business plan. After several weeks of work, we submitted a first draft. They hated it, and that's an understatement.
We invited our clients to meet to discuss the document and see if the problems could be resolved. The first thing we did when we sat down was to hand them their money back. Then we went to work, listening to their concerns, criticisms and frustrations. Then we told them that, unrelated to the money, we would revise the whole document.
The short version of the story: not only was the client pleasantly surprised by our attitude, but the subsequent business plan went on to win an award. Today we are working on the client's third business plan and we recently assisted them in raising their first round of seed capital.
But lest this tale of dot-com incompetence scare you off online purchases for good, here's some positive tidings: last month, I purchased some software online which I subsequently discovered was unsuitable. I immediately wrote to the vendor describing the problem and asked for a refund. This company immediately sent me a credit (note that, since the software was downloaded, I technically still have it). But here's the important past of the story: their reply said: "Thank you for your message. I have referred your comments to our development/technical department. They will be in touch with you soon." These guys thanked me for complaining and expressed interest in learning from my complaint.
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| The Bottom Line |
We all have disgruntled customers at one time or another, it is an inevitable element of being in business. The true test is how we handle these situations. Do we listen to the complaint? Do we learn from it? Do we thank the customer for complaining? Unhappy customers can become a walking time-bomb — discrediting you, your company, your product, at every opportunity, or they can become walking testimonials of your commitment to the client. It's your decision.
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