Irate Customer Part II

I finally resolved my customer service situation from last month, but - predictably - it did not end in a completely satisfactory manner. The retailer’s customer service reps never figured out that I was the giftee of the gift card and my sister was the gifter. So, the credit was kept in her account, and I ended up just purchasing an item to use up the gift card amount (an Alexander McQueen ear cuff, since it is not a sized accessory and would not involve a return).

The concerning thing is that the online retailer allowed my sister to charge the item on a credit card in my name – something that should have rung alarm bells on their end. It highlighted once again their customer service problems. And if I needed more proof, a scroll through their Instagram account revealed a multitude of comments regarding people’s poor customer service experiences and even the retailer’s questionable business practices.

While the customer reps were polite and the ear cuff arrived well wrapped inside a very pretty box, these bright spots unfortunately do not make up for multiple back-and-forth email exchanges that never satisfactorily resolved my issue and the retailer dragging things out for nearly three months. At a time when a brand’s reputation and customer experience is everything, this retailer is a significantly damaged brand that requires major rehabilitation. Until that happens, it will continue to disappoint its customers.

On a separate, but related note, remember I opened this story by talking about how I am a big online shopper? Well, it seems I’m not the only one. This month, I received a report from QRFY, a professional QR code generator company, which sites Colorado citizens as shopping online more than any other state in the U.S., with a whopping 84.8% of citizens using the internet for online shopping.

To give you an idea of just how big that number is, the US average is 74.1% (the state with the lowest population purchasing online is Mississippi at just 58.5%). While no breakdown by industry segment or store was provided, the QRFY team did analyze how Americans aged 15 and above shop by age group:

• 81.8% of people aged 25-44 shop online.

• 73.9% of people aged 45-64 shop online.

• 63.6% of those over 65 who shop online.

These are impressive numbers and prove that if you do not have a robust online presence that you are essentially invisible to potential customers. Something to think about when planning your next series of business moves.

Photo courtesy of Icon8Team / Unsplash