My Amazon failed Christmas delivery apologies
3Amazon failed to deliver 7 out of 9 "it will arrive Dec 24th" items that I paid for overnight delivery on.
So yes, I ordered late and my family is entirely tolerant of ecommerce failures (hey, they were used to Woot's crappy service levels), but hey, I gotta email and complain, right?
I'll post Amazon Apologies received here as separate messages (and you can post any apologies you get, if you were a horrible shopper like me), then we can comment on style and good shows of empathy using the note feature.
TL:DR - I'm impressed they aren't doing stock template things to make sure they don't screw things up on the fly.
- 14 comments, 13 replies
- Comment
CSR: Arun b
Original Message:
12/26/13 10:09:09
Your Name: Matt Rutledge
Order Id: xxxx
Selected Order Items:
Amazon.com Snowflake Gift Card Box
Comments: item has failed to arrive, may be in transit but missed christmas
--
Hello,
I'm sorry to hear your order didn't arrive by the guaranteed delivery date of December 24, 2013. We didn't expect this would happen. We regret the inconvenience caused.
In my experience, late packages arrive not long after the date listed. Please wait a little longer, until December 27, 2013, before requesting a refund or replacement. Otherwise, you might have to return a package.
In an effort to compensate for this delay, I've issued a $5 promotional certificate to your Amazon.com account, which will automatically apply the next time you order an eligible item sold and shipped by Amazon.com. The promotional certificate doesn't apply to items offered by other sellers on the Amazon.com website and won't cover the shipping costs of an order.
When using a promotion to buy eligible Kindle books or other digital products sold by Amazon Digital Services, the promotional funds will apply to your order automatically before another payment method is charged.
I've also forwarded your feedback about the carrier to our shipping department--I know they'll want to hear about your experience.
If you haven't received it by December 27, 2013, please let us know through the link below and we'll be happy to get a refund or replacement for you:
http://www.amazon.com/contact-us
I hope this helps. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Best regards,
Arun b
Arun gets points for repeating back that the delivery date was guaranteed. $5 credit level sucks though.
You mean you can't be bought off for 5 bucks?
Does the $5 even cover the extra ship charges ? I'm thinking not.
Would you accept $5.25 and a brand new ice scraper?
Six dollars?
CSR: Ashok R.
12/26/13 10:08:30
Your Name: Matt Rutledge
Order Id: xxxx
Selected Order Items:
[Redacted Dad's Yet to Arrive Christmas Present!]
Comments: item has failed to arrive, may be in transit but missed christmas
Hello,
I'm sorry for the delay in the delivery of your order. I can understand how you must be feeling and also know the importance of the item for you. I completely understand your disappointment. That's definitely not what we want our customers to experience.
I understand that, as a member of Amazon Prime, you expected 2-day delivery for the order you placed while being a part of the membership.
It is always important for us to hear how customers react to all aspects of shopping at Amazon.com. Strong customer feedback like yours helps us continue to improve the selection and service we provide.
Because this is a holiday season on United States, we're received numerous orders and we're working hard to fulfill orders as soon as possible.
I've contacted the carrier regarding your order so that they will deliver your order sooner. I'd like to ask you to wait until end of business day of December 27, 2013 in case the shipment does arrive.
As an online retailer, we rely heavily on the postal system to deliver our orders to our customers and sometimes, despite all our efforts, there can really be unforeseen incidents that are beyond our control.
I understand that waiting for additional days can be frustrating but based on our historical knowledge of delivery times; majority of the packages will reach before a replacement order would
To help compensate for any inconvenience, I've issued a $10.00 promotional certificate to your Amazon.com account, which will automatically apply the next time you order an eligible item sold and shipped by Amazon.com.
When your order does arrive, there's no need to contact us. However, if you haven't received it by end of business day of December 27, 2013 , please let us know through the link below and we'll be happy to get a replacement or refund for you:
http://www.amazon.com/contact-us
I've forwarded this experience of yours to the appropriate department on priority and they'll surely look into this and make things right so that it won't repeat to your future orders.
In addition to our large selection, one of the benefits we try very hard to offer our customers is convenience. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience you experienced in this case.
We value your business and we look forward to seeing you again soon
Best regards,
Ashok R.
Grading Notes: Ashok failed to note that I paid for overnight delivery and did not refund my shipping.
I think it's hilarious that Ashok has "contacted the carrier regarding your order so that they will delivery your order sooner." ha!
Ashok is at least more generous than Arun re: the Amazon coupon. meh.
CSR: Suraj J
Original Message
12/26/13 10:11:02
Your Name: Matt Rutledge
Order Id: 106-7611533-8710637
Selected Order Items:
[Redacted Brother's Yet to Arrive Christmas Present!]
[Redacted Sister-in-law's Yet to Arrive Christmas Present!]
Comments:items have failed to arrive, may be in transit but missed christmas
Hello,
I’m really sorry that your order won’t make it in time for the holidays because of a failure in the UPS transportation network. I know Christmas is an important day.
I hope you'll understand that our fulfillment centers and carriers are working hard to ensure packages are delivered as quickly as possible to meet the guaranteed delivery date listed in Your Account. Unfortunately, in spite of all of our efforts, there will be some unforeseen delays which are beyond our control.
I've checked the tracking of your order and verified that this package is delayed from the UPS end. There was a failure in the UPS transportation network due to which the package will be delivered on December 26, 2013.
To compensate for the delay, I've immediately refunded the shipping charges $7.98 (3.99 +3.99) You'll see the refund on your credit card statement in the next 2-3 business days. Once processed, you'll also be able to see the refund request here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/css/summary/edit.html?orderID=xxx
Further, I've also extended your Amazon Prime membership by one month. The membership will now renew on December 10, 2014
Rest assured if you haven't received it by December 26, 2013, please let us know through the link below and we'll be happy to immediately create a replacement or process a full refund as per your wish.
Please visit the following link to provide the information we requested:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-mi?c=xxx
Your cooperation, patience and understanding are greatly appreciated in this matter. In addition to our large selection, one of the benefits we try very hard to offer our customers is convenience. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience you experienced in this case.
We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Best regards,
Suraj J
Suraj pro-actively refunded my overnight fees, offers extension of prime membership, but no credit. Blame of UPS is weak imo.
Passing the buck to UPS was definitely lame. First to refund ship. Extension of Prime for 1 month ? Yippee rolls eyes
Pretty impressive, actually, to get 3 different apologies, each worded with a fair amount of genuine empathy. I wonder how many different apologies they've spun up as a result of the what, 10's of thousands(?) of CSR requests they are getting?
I have always thought highly of them using honest real people's names in their CSR dealings, particularly when outsourced to India - good to see that continue here. And wow, it is really damn impressive that they had response capability to handle this 1-2 hour turn-around time -- I was totally expecting to wait days for a response. I wonder what it feels like to be in India, working your butt off to keep up with whiney American's bitching about not getting their robotic kitchen appliances within 24 hours after ordering them.
Gizmodo says Amazon is handing out $20 gift cards: http://gizmodo.com/ups-botch-your-christmas-deliveries-amazon-has-20-for-1489993200
If anyone gets one and wants to send in a last minute #seligman, our address is:
3200 Belmeade Drive
Suite 100
Carrollton, TX 75006
@shawn, haha that's funny. I wonder when folks realize they aren't actually handing out those gift cards. maybe I'm supposed to "escalate" my CSR responses to get them?
Send link to article back to CS
It's not just Gizmodo saying Amazon is handing out $20 gift cards - it's WJS, quoting an Amazon spokesperson.
I do wonder if/how Amazon will come down on the carriers for their failure to deliver on that cocky guarantee.
My question now is, while the personal answer is best; why isn't there an SOP in place for this already? I'm a fan of having your CSR's being able to act within their own discretion - if you've hired them, they are capable, one would assume - but when there is a large part of your customer base affected by an issue, why not take the guesswork out of it and just put out a plan for them to follow? One that doesn't leave customers comparing their resolution to another and feeling more cheated by the situation?
@Thumperchick, That would require some thought, and would cost them some money. The bean counters that run monster sized corporations would never put their personal bonuses at stake like that. I'm sure their mistresses are demanding a new 25,000 square foot fully furnished mansion for their "late" christmas present...;)
@Thumperchick, I'm sort of assuming that they did get a unified plan put together but perhaps I was too quick on the trigger. It's easy to imagine them thinking that anyone who hasn't complained about less credit is fine and just to let sleeping dogs lie.
It's not really important to me to get treated fairly - I never expected to actually live in a world where overnighting all of my christmas gifts was even plausible. I actually was quite entertained by testing/watching their crisis management. Maybe it's worth another follow up on that basis of participation.
@snapster, I would like to see that as well.
@snapster, Being treated fairly is overrated. I like being treated to something slightly higher than what would be my satisfaction. I also like treating others this way.
In context, if I see everyone else getting $20, now I'm not satisfied until I've got $20 and a little more.
Pardon this, my brain is now endlessly curious about many things and I'm going to ramble.
I don't generally apply "fair" to mean that everyone got "equal." For me it's about whether or not the customer is satisfied with the resolution, which is more difficult to achieve when everyone is talking about the same issue, with wildly varying resolutions. For some, a simple refund of the shipping charges is what they want. However, if they see someone else posting about getting more, they become less happy with their, previously acceptable, resolution.
Is there an effective way to combat that scenario that doesn't leave you with a cookie cutter scripted response?
-If you do have a planned/scripted response:
-Do you have tiers built in? For example, you just move up the tiers of resolution options if needed. Satisfaction can be achieved at the Apology Level > Refunded shipping > Coupon Offer > Prime Benefits.
-Would that tiered plan be cost effective?
-What would it cost in bad press/social media chatter?
-If you don't have a planned/scripted response:
-What is the range of resolution you know your CSR's are equipped to offer?
-Is it enough?
-Is it more effective to use your built in SOPs to handle a larger than normal crisis? If so, holy crap you've planned well and hired good people.
Those are the things that catch my curiosity, I love watching a well prepared group of people tackle something difficult. On the other side of the coin, watching a company fumble (which is not what happened here) a situation drives me batty.
Their speed in answering is impressive. Especially with possible resolutions and compassion. When things get tough and CSRs resort to throwing out canned responses without thought to a situation, it makes it so much worse.
On another point - this was a great marketing ploy, had it gone well.
What's worse -
Take the risk and gain a historically unavailable market of last minute shoppers and fail to deliver on the marketing promise.
OR
Don't take the risk and risk someone else being successful?
To be fair, Christmas DOES last 12 days... So in reality, you should be thanking them for spreading holiday cheer throughout the Christmas season. In fact, you should be apologizing to them...
In reality, it seems both UPS and FedEx had issues this season. This is the time for DHL to mount a serious comeback.
On the bright side, stamps go up to 49¢... So there's that.
Logistics.... Heh.