I was out and about doing some last-minute Christmas shopping at a local mall. Not to my surprise, the mall was full of last-minute shoppers trying their best to finish up their “to do lists” and head home to enjoy the holiday break.
As with many of us, all my purchases go on my credit card in the hopes that I will collect enough travel points to get out of Winnipeg before the temperature drops to -30 in the New Year.
Looking at my list, I had found everything except for one special gift for my wife. In and out of several stores, my good fortune had run out. Everyone was out of stock and were not expecting any new product until the New Year.
I left the mall a bit disappointed and wondered what would be under the tree Christmas morning for my wife? Before leaving the parking lot mall, I thought that maybe if I went online, I could find the missing gift. Searching the internet, I found a couple of online stores that still had stock of the gift in question. So, I ordered it, it arrived on the 24th, my wife was happy and so surprised Christmas morning.
In the new year, the dreaded credit card statement arrived and with some hesitation I opened the envelope. At a quick glance, there seemed to be a problem. The owing balance seemed a bit too high. After pulling my receipts and ticking them back to the statement, I noticed that my online purchase, for my wife, had been charged to my credit card 5 times. I was not impressed.
The next day, I called the company to explain what had happened. I ordered one item, received one item but was charged for 5. The customer service agent collected my information and requested that I send copies of my receipts, packing slip and credit card statement to her as soon as possible to ensure she had enough information on file to have a clearer picture of the situation. As soon as I hung up with her, I scanned the documents in question and sent them to her.
Early the next morning and to my surprise, I had an email waiting in my inbox. It was from the online company that had over charged me. The error was corrected and a very nice message noting their oversight was received. The email highlighted their companies’ goals for great customer service – communication, accountability, responsiveness and empathy.
Communication – they clearly communicated the process and set expectations for resolution.
Accountability – they took responsibility for fixing the problem and getting an answer back to me.
Responsiveness – they were pretty darn quick in communicating a solution.
Empathy – they acknowledged the impact that the situation had on me.
Happy Customer – LOYAL Customer!
