Customer Service?

I don’t mean to trigger negativity; lots of things are going wrong these days.  You, me, and Roger?  Well, we have a choice: 

If things go wrong, don’t go with them. 

Roger Babson 

My wife is a seller on Amazon Handmade.  If you buy on Amazon you might not know that Amazon controls all correspondence between buyers and sellers.  The seller cannot directly contact a buyer – all emails and phone calls flow through Amazon’s computers; text is not available.  Soo, if there is a problem with a customer’s order AND if there’s a problem with the seller’s account on Amazon, that combination creates a real problem. 

Now this particular problem was miniscule when compared to the words “Southwest Airlines” but to my wife who has maintained a perfect, on time shipping record with Amazon for the past four years and received exclusively 5-star reviews from her customers, the problem was anything but miniscule. 

On December 17^th, due to suspected credit card fraud on her account, Amazon locked her out of her seller’s log-in plunging my wife into Amazon’s technology abyss.  To get through to Amazon Seller Customer Service she first had to log into her account; Amazon had locked her out of her account; no other Amazon Customer Service department could help her. 

Every single day for the next 12 days she received an email from Amazon’s computers  instructing her to log into her account and rectify the discrepancy.  Every single day for the next 12 days she replied to Amazon’s computers plus called Amazon’s Customer Service department re-informing them that first they had to unlock her account access.  

Every           single            day… 

But one thing for sure; when you wrestle with a 500-pound gorilla, you rest when the gorilla wants to. 

Unknown Sage 

Meanwhile… she had this personalized horse halter order for a new customer in Georgia.  She had sent the finished halter prior to December 17^th, but the customer (emailing through Amazon’s computers) said she didn’t receive it.  (The package was probably sitting among the airline baggage we all saw pictures of.) 

My wife decided to make a replacement but; she didn’t have the customer’s contact information or order details (all that was stored in the Amazon computer she was locked out of).  She did have a copy of the customer’s delivery address. 

Googling the customer’s name and address amazingly a phone number and email appeared.  Unfortunately, that contact information must have been outdated; her call wouldn’t go through and her email bounced.  However, Google listed neighbors of her customer and their phone numbers.  My wife started calling.  Undaunted, she called until reaching someone. 

To that someone, my wife explained why she was trying to contact this person’s neighbor.  She was convincing enough that this good Samaritan gave my wife her neighbor’s number and said she would text her neighbor to let her know my wife would be calling.  When my wife called; her customer answered.  My wife explained why she was going around Amazon’s computers; and the customer provided the specifics of the horse halter she originally ordered. 

My wife manufactured the replacement halter and drove it directly to the post office for delivery within two hours of that call.  The customer’s horse halter (a Christmas gift for her 16-year-old daughter) was now in USPS’ (and God’s) hands. 

On December 23^rd the customer informed my wife she received her daughter’s gift and all was well. 

Now THAT’s what I call Customer Service! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.