QUICK TIP--CUSTOMER SERVICE SURVEYS

I am tired of shopping online. Yet I do it when there isn’t an alternative. I don’t troll the internet for bargains. But with the massive number of retailer emails, I’m bound to click on a couple of sites to see what’s out there. That’s when the trouble begins. Poor Howard had to take a mountain of shipping  boxes to the trash for recycling and I've been making weekly trips to the mall to return clothes that I bought online that didn't work for me. And the shoes—they seemed like they'd be perfectly comfortable, but after wearing them for 10 minutes in the house, I lost feeling in my toes. So much for elastic banded scuffs. 

Despite my resolution to stop shopping, I found a really good sale advertisement in my email. So, I opened that Pandora’s Box.  I had bought a black dress from the same company. It's one of the most comfortable and versatile in my closet. (Happily content to take its place among my many black dresses—the perfect backdrop for jewelry that I've designed and my orange sandals). Sadly, summer is rapidly drawing to a close. Now, the drastic markdowns begin. Voila—I saw that my black dress was on deep discount in gray. I called to order. When I found that it was a final sale and not returnable, I hesitated. Even the same dress can fit differently in a different color. (For real—my tailor confirmed it.) And the color—I love gray, but it was a marled gray. Would this one look and fit as well as the black one? I wimped out and decided not to buy. 

At the end of the call, there was a customer service survey. I decided to take it, as I usually do. These surveys can guide supervisors on staff performance. Reward the good agents and deal with the not so good ones. On this last survey, there was an option to leave a comment. My comment—how can you place a final sale order when you don’t know the merchandise? If it doesn’t fit or the color isn't right, do you throw it away? Do you walk the streets, offering a dress to anyone who stops to look? That wasn’t me. So, an aborted purchase.

Surprisingly, a few days later, I received a call from a company supervisor. She understood my hesitation and offered an exception on the final sale. If I didn’t like it, I could return it. Very nice! She would note the account, but I took her name in case of a snafu. The dress arrived, and it’s a nice alternative to black. Happy customer; happy company.

DON’T IGNORE SURVEYS. THERE ARE TIMES WHEN A FEW MINUTES OF YOUR TIME CAN YIELD A GOOD OUTCOME