I’m a huge fan of Amazon.com, as I think readers of this site already know. My primary credit card is an Amazon.com rewards card because at this point, you can buy just about anything at Amazon.com.
Over the past two weeks, I have had two reasons to contact Amazon.com’s customer service and I could not be happier. Both times, Amazon.com fixed a problem that they hadn’t created in the first place, which is a great way to keep a long time customer happy.
The first time I contacted customer service, it was because I’m an idiot. Sort of. I purchased a gift for a friend, not realizing that I didn’t have her most recent address. I should have put two and two together, but somehow, after her last move, I didn’t get her new address copied into my address book. I tracked the package and when she didn’t say anything after it had been delivered, I bugged her about it, thus ruining the surprise. And then I discovered my mistake. I had shipped it to her old address!
I contacted UPS about this to see if the package could be picked up and redelivered, and they said that it was absolutely possible, but that I had to contact Amazon.com to do that. I contacted Amazon.com and their response was that if the package was delivered, they couldn’t have it picked up, but once it was returned, they would credit my account. My concern was what happened if the people who received the package didn’t return it? It was a pretty sweet gift, if I do say so myself. I was willing to pay an extra delivery fee to have the package retrieved and re-delivered, as I had made a mistake, so the extra steps were my fault. Amazon.com quickly responded that they believed the package would be returned, but they immediately credited my account so I could place a second order, this time using my friend’s correct address.
The second contact with Amazon.com’s customer service was in regards to an Amazon Grocery item. At the beginning of the month, I ordered two boxes of ClifBar Mini’s. Each box has 18 bars in 3 flavors. Unfortunately, ClifBar voluntarily recalled a number of products, including their Crunchy Peanut Butter bars, one of the three flavors. That meant that a third of my order had to be trashed. I contacted Amazon.com in the hopes that perhaps I could get 1/3 of my money refunded. Sure, it wasn’t their fault that the recall happened, but I figured it didn’t hurt to ask.
While that message was processing, I got an e-mail from Amazon.com notifying me that my order contained items that were recalled, a good move on Amazon’s part. An hour or so later, I got an e-mail saying that they were refunding my money – not just 1/3 of the amount but the entire purchase price, even though after contacting ClifBar, I know that the other two flavors are safe to eat.
Very impressive service. I couldn’t be happier. In both cases, Amazon.com fixed a problem that they hadn’t caused, and in one instance, the problem was completely my fault. I will definitely continue as a happy Amazon.com customer.
Megan is a 30-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
I have also had very good experiences with Amazon’s customer service. Any time I’ve had a question or a problem,they’ve been prompt in resolving it.
I too love amazon and since you are talking about great customer service, I want to tell you about another company with outstanding customer service: Farberware.
As a wedding gift, we were given a two knife set with a 7-inch Santoku knife and a 5-inch version. We have only been married three years. A couple of months ago I noticed a crack in the blade of the knife. It was about 3/4 inch long near the handle on the 7-inch blade. We only handwash our knives as putting them in the dishwasher can damage them. I contacted Farberware by email and they asked me to send the knife to their warranty department. I sent the knife and literally forgot about instantly. About 4-weeks later, I came home to find my DH on the couch with a large package.
“It’s for you.”
“Did you open it?”
“No, it has your name on it. And, it’s heavy.”
“I didnt order anything. Open it.”
“I can’t, it has your name on it.”
“Fine, I’ll open it.”
Low and behold, we open the box and there is a BRAND-NEW 22-piece knife set with Butcher Block holder. I think they sent us their largest knife set when we sent in the cracked knife. I am totally and completely blown away by Farberware and I am trying to tell as many people as possible about their terrific customer service!
(Sorry for the long story but I think the exchange between my DH and I is pretty cute.)
Gypsie, that’s a great story! I especially enjoyed the exchange between you and your husband! Very cute. And what great service.
There’s been a lot of talk about Circuit City packing it in, but I gotta tell you….. they really did deserve to go under. Trying to get them to fix a mistake they made was worse than pulling teeth; you’d just give up after awhile, which is what I think their intent was all along. The last time I talked to one of their CS reps, I told her that I didn’t know how they managed to stay in business.
Well, as it turns out….
I have had really fabulous customer service with Amazon too! I am not a huge online shopper as I prefer shopping in stores but I always know I can trust Amazon! Thanks for the great story.
when running a business, the first thing you should do is always establish a good customer service*”