No Use Hiding It Anymore
I realize that by saying this, our blog is going to lose readers left and right but there’s really no use hiding it anymore. I’m a Taylor Swift fan. Wow, it really feels good to finally say that. My wife calls Taylor Swift her guilty pleasure which means I really have no excuse at all.
About a week and a half ago I purchased her new “Red” album on Amazon for $13.99. For a 16 song album I was happy with that price and am actually really liking the new album. So I went about my business until last Saturday when I received this email from Amazon. Check it out:
Hello,
We’re contacting you about order you placed for Taylor Swift’s album “Red.” We see that you purchased the album at a price higher than the current price of $7.99. We’re very sorry about this.
As a result, we’ve automatically applied a $6 credit to your Amazon account for each album you purchased at a higher price.
We’ll apply this amount to your next qualifying order automatically (you don’t have to enter a claim code). The credit is good for any qualifying Amazon purchase, including MP3s. You can verify that the credit was applied by reviewing the Order Confirmation e-mail for your new order, or by going to Your Account at: https://www.amazon.com/your-account
We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Sincerely,
Customer Service
Amazon.com
So without interacting with their customer service at all, Amazon made my day. I have no idea if the price I purchased the album at was a mistake and wouldn’t have thought twice if I saw the lower price a week later. I may have been a little bummed but would have understood. In this instance, Amazon took an already satisfied customer and made me happier. What a terrific display of customer care!
One major take away I have from this experience is that if you ever make a mistake, especially when it affects multiple customers, be proactive in fixing the issue and be proactive in communicating the fix. By being proactive, you are saving the customer from the potential frustration and inconvenience of having to contact support to get their issue fixed. Happy listening everyone!
I was just talking to a coworker in the office about my latest blog post and he said “Oh yeah I love it when Amazon does that.” Such a cool customer service practice.
No shame in admitting that you love Taylor Swift!!!
I am SO impressed with Amazon. I actually had no clue they did this. It gives you that “I got your back” feeling and you can trust them. Amazon is in business to do business but they are also in business to really help their customer get the best deals. I like that!
This really makes me think about how we can give our customers that same feeling of security. You brought up billing issues in our Daily Communication meeting earlier today. How can we work toward being better at this?
Thanks for your comment Jenny! The fact of the matter is we are human, we make mistakes and always will. The key is that ALWAYS if we do make mistakes, we need to fix them for EVERYONE, even the ones that didn’t notice or didn’t have the time to call. I think my big takeaway here is that any time you can be proactive in customer service, customers will notice and appreciate it. REACTIVE support happens but it’s never fun.
Pingback: Customer Experience Lessons From Taylor Swift | Communicate Better Blog