Amazon cracks their customer support
Published by on December 19th, 2006
Big internet/mail order company + order is late on delivery + it’s the week leading up to Christmas = get a cuppa, this Customer Service call is going to take a while.
Amazon’s Customer Service number is tough to find. I couldn’t see it immediately so it took jEN’s honed search skills tolocate, tucked away on their website. Not always the best sign but I prepared for some telephone waiting time, and the usual obstructive or disinterested Customer Service rep.
Once dialled, I was immediately connected to a coherent human after just one menu keypress. That person dealt with my query thoroughly. He described the nature of the problem - by tracking the delivery with the courier company - and gave a full description on what they (Amazon) would do about it and what to expect as a result. This was one of the best Customer Services experiences I have had in a long while and Amazon get full marks for getting that part rgith. Now, we just have to wait an see if their actions bear fruit.
Amazon’s UK customer service line is: 0800 279 6620
UPDATE:
The original call did not have the desired effect as the item still hasn’t arrived this morning. But the subsequent calling of Customer Services resulted in the same excellent level of response and communication. What I was impressed with above all was that the rep told me what she was about to do at each step, how long it would take, was I OK about being on hold for a minute, what she had discovered on doing what she did, etc. It’s not Amazon’s fault that the delivery company they used this time failed, but Amazon’s handling of me as a customer and giving me the confidence that I was being listened to and had my complaint recorded, was simply excellent. Turns out the item is on the delivery van this morning, so we should have it today. Now, for the othe item - from a third party store - who delivered a clearly second-hand PS2 game in place of a brand new one (can you get any more finger prints onto a CD..?), that’s a matter for DVD.co.uk.
[tags]Amazon, customer service[/tags]
3 Responses to “Amazon cracks their customer support”
December 22nd, 2006 at 12:07 pm
Is it just me, or are Amazon farming out a lot more of their items to third parties than they did in the past?
I put together an order with items from the wishlists of various of my family this Christmas and it turned up from four different sources.
December 22nd, 2006 at 5:53 pm
I used to work as a Client Experience Officer for Barclays Stockbrokers. Basically I dealt with the customers no one else had been able to help. My job was to turn their experience with the company from a poor one to a great one…Easy. Ahem.
Anway, the key to customer restoring customer satisfaction is ‘ownership’ and ‘empathy’.
I can’t stand it when a CSR blames third parties, other deptartments etc. Take ownership of the problem!
Today, for example, I spent over an hour on the phone to ntl, much of that time was on hold. I wanted a better package from them or I was going to leave them. The first two people I spoke to took no ownership of my call, passing me onto other departments, even blaming me for coming through to the wrong dept. when it was one of their colleagues who’s transfered my call…The 3rd person i spoke to put me right back into the queue again, which led to another 25 minute wait…Eventually I spoke to someone who took ownership, showed empathy, put £20 credit onto my account, halfed my line rental and broadband bill for life and then transfered me onto the correct dept. for digital tv.
I’m still an ntl customer thanks to that one guy.
December 24th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
Richard: I agree, more and more of their extended items are third party. In fact some switch between the two - one item I ordered recently was iitially from a third party when it entered my wish list, but by ordering it was direct from Amazon. Odd.
My parents have been caught out with the third party items thing as a couple of th Xmas prezzies they wanted have not yet turned up (not related to this post).
Mark: I see what you mean. But there’s only so much they can do if a third party IS at fault. At least the level of communication aboucurrent status, what is happening and what to expect have been clear and concise at all times and that is a rare thing these days.
In this case, the item never arrived, so another is being dispatched. It’s a new iPod, so not a cheap item to go missing. Thankfully it was not essential to have this before Christmas.