Now THAT’S Customer Service
I recently ordered some woodworking materials from Woodcraft. When I went to check the shipping tracking information from FedEx, this is what I saw:
Obviously, there was something wrong with this shipping information. My package travelled from Cambridge, OH to Phoenix, AZ to Willington, CT. Given that I live pretty close to Phoenix, it was a little unusual that the package was sent from Phoenix to CT.
So, I sent a quick email to Woodcraft Customer Service:
“What is going on with this shipment?
The tracking information on Fedex’s site shows that it was in Phoenix, AZ on January 10th, but was sent to Willington, CT?”
The next morning, I received this response from customer service:
“Looks like the package was put on the wrong truck after it got to AZ.
I have emailed my Fed Ex contact about this.
The ETA is the 20th and I asked Fed Ex if that is a good date or not?
When I get an answer from them I will email you.
The only thing that troubles me about the world tour your package is taking - it may be damaged by the time it gets to you.
Are you needing the slides by this weekend for a project?
As a backup plan I can always send a Next Day Air package today to arrive on Friday.
I have sent a credit to your credit card for $XX.XX (the shipping). Your return number is XXXXXX.
Thank you,
Xxxxxx X Xxxxxxxx
Woodcraft Customer Service”
Awesome response! There are a few things which really stand out to me about this:
I was a little busy, and was not able to respond to the email right away. A couple of hours later, she called my house and spoke to my wife. My wife indicated that I had hoped the slides would arrive before the weekend so I could use them on my project. Shortly after the conversation with my wife, I received this email:
“Okay - now [FedEx] is telling me it will be the 23rd before it will be delivered - I have sent a no charge replacement next day air via Fed Ex today — will arrive tomorrow. I am going to ask Fed Ex to return the original package before delivery but if it gets delivered please just let me know and I will have a pickup done.
Thanks,
Xxxxxx”
I do A LOT of online shopping, and I know that shipping problems like this are very common. This was obviously a problem with FedEx, not Woodcraft. Really, I would have been satisfied with an acknowledgement of the problem, an apology, and an estimate of when the item would arrive. In this case, Woodcraft went above and beyond in their customer service and proved to me, as a customer, that they truly value my business. I have NEVER received this level of customer service from an online retailer before.
Kudos to Woodcraft Customer Service.
…
Hi Anthony,
I had my own bag of grief with FedEx. The latest was described here…
http://ulanoff.com/blogs/mediacenter/2008/02/15/fedex-blues/
As a matter of fact I’m too a regular customer of Woodcraft, thou I do all my shopping at a local store which is only 5 min from my home. Lucky!
Unfortunately I cannot share your satisfaction with their customer service - yes, they are friendly, but not very helpful (or maybe it’s just our store). The last time I was hunting down a specific model of Accuride slides (which were not in their stock) first they tried to push me a different model that didn’t really work for my project and then they had sent me to a distributor in another city which (as I found out only when I got there) was a wholeseller selling only in bulk. And all I needed was a pair of slides, not hundred. Oh well.
BTW, I got a much better service directly from Accuride.
Cheers,
Russell Ulanoff(.com)
Comment by Russell — February 25, 2008 @ 5:01 pm