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Zappos.com
When a customer-service rep goes above and beyond to try to solve your problem, that's welcome. When they spend 10-and-a-half hours on the phone giving you advice about relocating to Las Vegas, that's Zappos.com.
Unlike many other online retailers (including parent company Amazon.com), Zappos plasters its site with its toll-free customer service number, which is staffed 24/7. When a Midwestern college student called the site's Nevada headquarters two weeks ago to buy a pair of Uggs boots, the transaction turned into a chat marathon about the city, where the student was considering moving. The rep was able to take some breaks during the call; the customer agreed to hold the line.
Zappos spokesman Jeff Lewis said providing good customer service is a top priority. "We feel that allowing our team members the ability to stay on the phone with a customer for as long as they need is a crucial means of fulfilling this value," he said via email.
By assuring management that it wouldn’t interfere with Zappos’ free-spirited corporate culture when it acquired the shoe retailer in 2009, Amazon benefits from the customer-service elements that make Zappos customers so loyal.
“Amazon has purposely allowed that culture to continue to proliferate,” said Bryan Pearson, president of LoyaltyOne, a loyalty marketing and strategy company. “I’m sure they’re bringing some of the key lessons from the Zappos experience into Amazon."
Jordy Leiser, CEO of Stella Service, a customer service measurement and ratings business, said this is the case. In a study conducted a few months ago, Zappos tied with L.L. Bean for the best customer service on Twitter. Leiser said that when Amazon saw how much customers liked being able to solve customer service issues over the microblogging site, it started offering customer support via tweet, too. Zappos had been using Twitter to field customer queries since 2008.
"They are starting to integrate and rub off on each other," he said.
Amazon didn't have poor customer service beforehand, according to Stella's research; it just wasn't the focus of the shopper experience. "In online, it's about fulfillment and a smooth shopping experience," Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst with Forrester Research, said via email.
In this regard, Amazon delivers, Leiser said. "They please customers with their shipping and logistics experience," Leiser said. Earlier this year, Amazon took over some of Zappos' back-end inventory-management processes, letting Zappos benefit from one of its strong spots.
And both Amazon and Zappos ranked highly in Stella's survey of phone service responsiveness, with mystery shoppers able to reach live agents in about a minute, on average.
"Each of them has the things that are most important to their customer base. For Zappos, it’s all about the phone customer service," Leiser said. Apparently that service even includes a lengthy discussion about moving advice.
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This article brought to you by..... Zappos!
I went looking for some sneakers the other day and found that Zappos did not have very good prices. They retailed for $90 and Zappos had them for $89.98, a savings of two cents.
Frankly, I think there is price-fixing in the shoe business, as no matter where I went, these shoes were right around $90.
I finally found one pair in size 8 on Amazon for $70 and another pair in size 13 for $80. Still no huge savings. (and frankly, I was surprised, as Amazon has pretty high prices these days).
But Zappos? No bargains there. And frankly, who cares about "customer service" by phone. You either get the shoes or you don't, and if you send them back, it can all be done with a click of a mouse.
Spending hours on hold for customer service doesn't strike me as a selling point. Sounds like torture to me.
i agree when i go online i expect a big discount because you never know how the product is really made so if you go to the store you can look at how its made and what its made of and decide if you want it but online you have to wait for the big suprise and then you say thats not what i wanted and send it back if its the same price at the store i would rather go to the store
If you ever call customer support of Dell you also can get free advice on relocating to Hiderabad, India.
"Hello and welcome to Dell customer service. My name is Bob, how can I help you" . In my best Indian accent
If you call any customer support and reach India, Philippines,Canada etc- Ask to be transferred to someone in the United States they will transfer your call to someone here. I reached India call center for American Express and Dell sorry I need to speak to someone who speaks English, I'm having a problem understanding you, could be my hearing sorry, it works every time! All you have to do is tell the call center you reach you want to be transferred to someone in the U.S.A. It really works every time, try it if everyone did this we would have more jobs here...
...Fantastic, so what they talked about or perhaps a little more detail on why exactly the call lasted ten hours is of no importance apparently. Instead we get an article just crying out about how good the customer service is. Magnificent.
Far as I remember a chat about moving to a new city doesn't take ten hours, did one of them have nothing better to do? Was the caller having an existential crisis? Making an incredibly important life decision? Did they hit it off and feel they met a soul mate? Details. DETAILS!
If I wanted an advertisement I'd turn on my television...or go on youtube...or go to sleep where advertisements are streamed directly into the brain, or was that last one just on Futurama?
I don't believe leaving your desk and having the customer hold while you go on break is helping the customer. I believe the rep did this intentionally so he wouldn't have to take anymore calls throughout the day and used this as an excuse to chat with one person about things unrelated to their business. This is not only unethical and unprofessional but should not be allowed to happen. For the call to last 10 hours the rep would have had to take the call in the very start of the shift and then have every intention to keep talking to this customer as a way to avoid doing other work such as taking other people's calls. This is not good customer service but a spin on what lazy customer service people do when they know they can get away with it. No where in this free world of ours is any kind of 10 hour call justified or called for. It shows lack of efficiency and the highly unproductive behavior by CSR's who should by all accounts be fired and the very behavior condemned and anyone who thinks this kind of behavior to be praised are themselves confused and ignorant of the truths and of the facts.
You don't, "chat," with someone for over ten hours unless there's some sort of mutual interest. I wonder if it was female/male and if they stayed in touch afterwards?
After having monumentally horrible experiences with Verizon, On Star, and Quest, having a place that actually cares about customer service would be a welcome change. Having said that, 10 hours just chit chatting is nonsensical.
While I sit on hold. . .
After talking for 10 hours, someone must have been all talked out.
amazon.com has always been helpful, too. I have had a pixel out on a 40 inch TV I had received. I called early enough in the day and a new one was there the next day, plus they picked up the defective one at the time of delivery. I have many positive things to say about Amazon and I have never had a bad experience with them.
Amazon is always too high in their prices over other internet retailers. Guess that corporate CEO paycheck is getting fatter.
10.5 hours is a long time to talk to anyone on the phone. Let alone talking to someone at Zappo's about relocating. Geesh
ounds like a motor mouth
i wish more companys understood this ! if you spent 10 hours on the phone with microsoft or hp or dell it would be because they wont connect you with a person who speaks english or their supervisor and they wont help you either even if you pay the money for the service you still get a idiot who tells you to turn off your computer then unhook the battery then do a system restore even after you tell them you have allready done that before you called then they have the nerve to call you and ask how you feel about customer service if you want your company to do well dont out source customer service
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Oh, look at the free publicity Zappos got! Personally, I think it was stupid. Is that rep qualified to give advice on living in Las Vegas. Would she/he be held reponsible if I moved into a bad apt or neighborhood on her suggestions??
I will be dumping Bank of America very soon just because of their poor customer service reps. One hung up on me because she could not comprehend my problem. Another one transferred me and the guy nastily asked if I am claiming fraud on my account! He couldn't understand either, so he had to get rude. My explanation was clear, but they are not programmed to deal with unusual questions!