Wednesday 12 December 2012

When Online Shops Get It Wrong

Now, I must start by mentioning that this post has been prompted by a bad experience that happened to someone I've got to know through blogging. Although it didn't happen to me, it has niggled at me sufficiently that I wanted to write about it. I won't be mentioning any names, the purpose isn't to point the finger, it's more of a ramble about how some online retailers get customer service just right and some get it very wrong, without even realising it.

My nameless friend placed an order with a shop that stocks lots of very nice and relatively niche beauty brands. I asked her if she wouldn't mind telling me how she rated the experience, as it was a shop I was planning to order from in future. So, I was dismayed to hear that her order had arrived minus the main item she had been shopping for. She contacted the shop to find out what had happened and if the item would follow in due course. What happened next is where it all goes wrong.

The online shop emailed her back to say that their system involved two tiers of checks so it was unlikely that they had made a mistake and she would have to wait 48 hours for a stock inventory to confirm whether there had indeed been an error. Now, I don't know about you, but I believe the implication here is that my friend was lying about the missing item which is a frankly shocking way to deal with your customers. My friend was obviously not very happy about this and honestly, who would be? No apology, no 'we'll send it out immediately' and a lengthy wait at her expense to see what would happen. They have since come back to her after she emailed a photograph of the parcel contents and have said they will send out the missing item, but still there was no real apology, no admission of error or, heaven forbid, a discount code for a future purchase to apologise for accusing her of lying!

I think the shop made a really serious error in they way they handled this. Mistakes do happen, everyone understands that but how you deal with mistakes is what sets you apart. If you're a regular online shopper, you probably already have a mental tally of good and bad retailers based on previous experience and customer services is a very important aspect of it, not just their wares and prices. In many cases, there are no bricks and mortar shops to visit to speak to someone in person, so the trust and relationship has to be built in other ways.  I am loyal to particular online shops because experience has taught me I can trust them to give me excellent service. I've seen them deal with the rough and the smooth on Twitter and respect that they don't ignore criticisms or complaints.

Good service is really important to me to the point where I would avoid a particular shop with a bad reputation, even if they did stock excellent products at reasonable prices. Which brings me on to my final point. When I buy from an online shop that I haven't used before, I will always search for reviews or ask for opinions on Twitter first. It is a bad retailer that doesn't realise that people communicate with each other in this way. Just because you don't have a physical shop, doesn't mean your customers aren't talking to one another. My friend's bad experience has put not just me off using them but other people that she talks to on Twitter and elsewhere. They have tarnished their reputation without even realising it and it will likely cost them more than the missing £26 cleanser...

16 comments:

  1. Wow spectacular fail! I imagine your friend was profoundly hacked off - I'd have been tempted to return the entire order and demand a refund. Then named and shamed on twitter!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know she's unlikely to be paying a return visit. I've honestly never hear anything like it, I'm not sure if it's because they're a small shop but even so. I still can't believe their 'it can't possibly be our mistake' stance.

      Delete
  2. happened to me before when shopping with the MUA boutique buying a palette - missing stuff, instead I get a oh-we'll-ask-RM-first-then-send-out-your-replacement. really very distasteful. but tbh, I find that many online stores (UK-based) are rather horrid with CS. beautybay was shite as well, for ex. others are fantastic but the crap ones are truly truly crappier than many online stores I encountered in the US.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now I'm curious to know what the store was :) I hate, hate, hate bad customer service! And I think that online shops especially should have their CS perfected because you can't see the products you're buying in person and you have to wait for a while to receive the ordered items so there must be something to make the online shopping worthwhile. I generally love shopping online because of the good deals, variety of different brands and (most of the time) much better CS than in brick&mortar stores. So if an online shop has terrible CS I just will not bother with it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had a really bad service at Beautyexpert not long ago, they sent me a skincare item that was off, we emailed them and had to send a photo of it and they said to send it back (no apology)then the replacement item was another one that was off (and the box had the same scuff marks on it as the first one we sent back) we emailed again this time asking for them to give the money back, they said to send it back (no apology) then we heard nothing and had to email them proof of posting (as they claimed they never go the second one back) and it took the threat of opening a paypal dispute to get the money back, needless to say I will never every order from them again and would advise others not to. Its so silly to have such poor service these days as there is pretty much always somewhere else online to buy the same brands from. I'll stop now as I am sounding ranty :)
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. I would love to know which online retailer that is now! There is no excuse for shocking customer service like that, and a bad move in the current economic climate.

    I've had a terrible experience with Kiss and Makeup NY online store- my $150+ order never arrived and after many emails back and forth, they just told me I should have gotten insurance, and it was my own fault that I didn't.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautybay is bad. They didn't send the order and they wanted my passport information to issue a refund.

    Imomoko is terrible. They didn't have stock and they made me wait over a month to respond. I got my refund from PayPal and they tried to sucker me out of the dispute with a discount. Very rude and dodgy!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I hope you don't mind a comment from the "other" side of the retailer/consumer relationship. I don't work for a cosmetics company or own a small retail shop, but have a lot of experience working with consumers in general. I wonder if shops like that set up such customer-negative policies due to experiences where they felt their business were taken advantage of? Especially for small businesses, a small loss of inventory could be a meaningful loss for them in terms of their profits. Doesn't excuse the fact that as businesses, they need to maintain long-term relationships with their clients and such behavior certainly does not help.

    When I worked in a corporate office of a big retailer, I used to be shocked at the returns, refunds and adjustments we used to make for customers (in the name of good service), when it was clearly products that were used and abused. I know we weren't talking about returns but I just wanted to make a related point that some small portion of customers abuse lax policies.

    Shoutout for Beauty Habit based in California, where I buy some niche products. I once received a lipstick that came loose in the case and broke in half. They responded to my email within minutes saying they were sending a replacement (packed in a cold pack) express mail and sent me a return label for me to ship at my leisure so that they could address it with their vendor. Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi,
    Name and shame, please, for all of us who indulge in online beauty shopping!
    Thankfully, I haven't had any terrible experiences with online retail, although I buy a lot online. The best customer service has to Space NK, and Zuneta-excellent all the way!
    Sorry to post anonymously, but I don't fit any of the other profiles; love your blog, btw.
    Sabrina

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you 'name and shame', then you should also praise the good. Good for me have been (1) Zuneta, always brilliant customer service, whatever the issue; and (2) Selfridges - a Giorgio Armani eyeshadow palette arrived smashed and they replaced it with no problems and without wanting any proof of my story.

      I don't re-shop with shops who mess me around. If they can't be decent in how they deal with a customer, then I can't be bothered.

      Delete
  9. So the item turned up in the post today I am pleased to say. No apology, money off code or even a sample to make amends for their error.

    As Jane says in her post it is understandable that mistakes happen. I am an understanding and forgiving person. It is how you deal with the mistakes that makes the difference. So yes do a quick inventory check but don't tell me that you are doing so to check my honesty! It is just bad manners.

    What can I say other than I won't be using them again which is sad because they have lovely things on their website.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yes please name and shame so I will not buy from them either customer service matters!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I've recently ordered from lovemakeup.com and had great service. I'd ordered several brushes - my order was quickly delivered but a brush was missing. I emailed customer services that night, had a polite reply and apology the next morning and my missing brush by the end of the week.

    For me, how problems are dealt with far superceeds having a problem in the first place. I think we're far more likely to spread the word about a well resolved issue than the absence of one!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have recently shop from lovelula and an item from my package was missing.They have great customer service and sent the item immediately.I had a problem with salonskincare, they sent me an expensive supersize product with a recent expiring date and when i asked for a replacement they answered that i could use it after the expiring date because the date is advisable.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Good customer service is so important, especially given the fact that we cannot see the products we're buying online. Essentially we are trusting the store to provide us with the best service possible by packing the correct items, making sure they'll ship to us in one piece. etc and solve any issues when problems arise without any hassle. Otherwise, bad customer service will sour the experience and always deter me from reordering because I don't think it'll be worth the effort!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I ordered a foundation once from Bergdof Goodman and waited patiently for my package to come. After a about 3 weeks I saw that I had been charged but I never received the package I contacted their customer service. They insisted the the package had been delivered and I let them know that I had never had never received it. They didn't accuse me of lying however they talked about having to do an investigation. They came back later to say that according to Google Earth they could see my house and that I had a front porch and the package had been left there. I did get a credit to my account grudgingly with no apology for the incident The experience was unsettling and I cant say I would order from them again.

    ReplyDelete

I love receiving comments and read each and every one. I always do my best to reply too. If you have a question and need a quick response, please feel free to email me.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails