Dr. Broken Stuff or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Customer Service

[samiksha]

http://www.dermadoctor.com/product_D...nser_1994.html

I think it worked for me because it's soap free -- but even the medicated BS I would get from the dermatologist as a tween/teen didn't help like this did. I saw results after using this for a month solid; it's really repaired my skin as well. Doesn't dry it out, lasts for a while considering the price. I only get zits when I forget to wash my face and leave grimy makeup gunk on for too long (12+ hrs) or before that time of the month (but even then, it's only one or two...)

Same thing happened to me when I started using their moisturizer. It is so worth the price.

[Courtney]

I wrote Seventh Generation saying that I like their eucalyptus and lavender laundry detergent. They said thanks and enclosed $4 worth of coupons in their reply letter.

[Hannahrain]

What an effective visual extension of their corporate identity.

[Courtney]

I sent Nine West a letter expressing my disappointment that my favorite pair of black leather wedge sandals broke in a rainstorm less than a year after purchase. I also sent along the actual shoes, asking if it was possible to repair them, or if not then to send me a replacement pair. They sent me back an apology letter and a gift certificate for the value of the shoes.

[faxman75]

OOh that's a solid victory. Keep it up, I enjoy this a lot.

[Courtney]

Yes, I'm very pleased with the outcome. Good job with customer service Nine West.

[casey]

That's one of the ones you said you wanted to hear back from, too! I think this experiment has been a success

[HowToDisappear]

The North Face has a limited lifetime warranty on all their gear (manufacturers defect excluding normal wear and tear). We have a much used (and dearly loved) 20 year-old, 5+ person, 4-season tent that finally gave up the ghost: broken zippers; bent pole; floor no longer waterproof and with pinholes here and there. So I sent it to warranty with a very nice note detailing the issues and politely asked if they could repair it, if the cost was in reason (I fully expected to be charged since I considered it normal wear and tear).


I just called them to get a status report: it has been evaluated and will be repaired for FREE under warranty and will be returned in two weeks. This is fantastic. We've got a winter trip planned to Yosemite, and we will once again be snug as little bugs in rugs.

THANK YOU NORTH FACE

[algunz]

That's awesome. You'll have to let us know if the repairs are effective. I couldn't imagine North Face would go through the motions and do a half-ass job.

[HowToDisappear]

Can't wait to get it back and see what they've done.

[Timestretch]

I can't believe there is a thread for this! I use to do this all the time. Totino's will send you out coupons for any free Totino's product. So take it Price/Sams club and get the giant box of pizza rolls or the multi-pack of pizzas. Little Debbie once sent me a check for 99 cents for some Zebra cakes. Lunchables basically told me to fuck off. El Monterrey hooked up a free giant bag of Taquitos!

[JustSteve]

yay, a bunch of shitty processed foods :/

[J~$$$$]

The North Face has a limited lifetime warranty on all their gear (manufacturers defect excluding normal wear and tear). We have a much used (and dearly loved) 20 year-old, 5+ person, 4-season tent that finally gave up the ghost: broken zippers; bent pole; floor no longer waterproof and with pinholes here and there. So I sent it to warranty with a very nice note detailing the issues and politely asked if they could repair it, if the cost was in reason (I fully expected to be charged since I considered it normal wear and tear).


I just called them to get a status report: it has been evaluated and will be repaired for FREE under warranty and will be returned in two weeks. This is fantastic. We've got a winter trip planned to Yosemite, and we will once again be snug as little bugs in rugs.

THANK YOU NORTH FACE

I love northface so much for this reason. 90% of my outdoor gear from tent, sleeping bags, jackets, backpacks are all from North Face because of this reason. Some of it is more than 15 + years old. More companies should stand behind their products like northface does. Most of my fly fishing gear is lifetime warranty. I have a sgae rod and a g.loomis rod that I have broken by getting them caught in the car door and broken all repaired/replaced for free.

[TomAz]

ok so this doesn't exactly fit here but I didn't know where else to put it. This exchange occurred yesterday.

Dear Mr. Az,

I am contacting you to apologize for the grief we may have caused you. I am needing to process your refund but I do not have your card number to do so. We do not keep record of this. When you get the chance please give me a call so I can process this for and get your money back to you in as soon as possible.

Thank you,
C**** G***
Lead Image Consultant, 20/20 ******

Grief is hardly the word. I am livid. I am a professional and meet with clients regularly, my appearance is very important. I called your store on Monday to see about getting replacement frames when mine broke. And it took until THURSDAY AFTERNOON for you idiots to tell me you couldn't get them for me. That's 3 full days when I could have been pursuing frames from another vendor. Never once did you all call me to give me an update; I had to keep calling you guys to get any feedback. Even today, I called at 11:20, talked to some woman who told me they would call the manufacturer and find out where the order was and that she would call me back.. AND THEN SHE NEVER DID. I had to call back to find out what the hell was going on. This is, I swear to God, the rudest, least caring, most inept customer service that I have experienced in years. You all should go home tonight and be ashamed of your ability to do any kind of customer work and all of you consider tendering your resignations.

I am posting negative reviews on every website I can find, and I intend to call Dr C**** and telling him what I think of the retail operations. I have enjoyed being a patient of Dr C****'s for a number of years but now I am looking for a new optometrist -- I have no intention of ever doing business with you hapless retards ever again.

In case you are still in denial, let's review the chronology, shall we?

1. I call your office about 5:15 Monday afternoon to say that my glasses are broken and that I need replacement frames ASAP. I said I was unconcerned about the warranty or about the money, but that time was of paramount importance. 20-20s response was "we'll have to put the order in in the morning" because it was after 5.

2. I heard nothing from 20-20 and finally called to ask what was going on on Tuesday afternoon. I was told "we're still waiting for the rep to call us back". I re-emphasized, again, the urgent nature of my request -- and that I was willing to pay whatever it would take to get this taken care of -- just get it done. I also said that I could find the frames on the internet, order them myself, and just bring them in to get the lenses swapped out if that would be faster. Instead, I was told that you all would speak with the manufacturer directly and get this taken care of.

3. Later Tuesday I got a call saying the order was being placed and that you needed my credit card number before you would make the order. I gave it to you even though the price was quite a bit higher than what I saw on the internet. I just wanted to get this done and fast. However, by this time it was so late in the day on Tuesday, you said you may not get the glasses on Wednesday and it might slip til Thursday morning (keep in mind that I initially tried to get this done on Monday, so it's not my fault that it was "too late in the day" on Tuesday).

4. I hear nothing from you on Wednesday.

5. I hear nothing from you on Thursday. Finally, at 11:20, I call on my own initiative to ask what the hell is going on. At this point I am expecting to come into your offices to get my lenses swapped out any minute. Instead, I talked to some woman who said "let us call you back in a little bit, we are pursuing this with the manufacturer right now." I then went on to inform the woman that the incompentent bumbling of your office was making me one very upset customer and that I really was counting on them to rectify my problem for me rather than making it worse.

6. More than two hours pass and, incredibly, would you believe it -- no one calls me back! Finally I call you guys, again, and am immediately told that I can get a refund. GET A REFUND? what the hell?!?!? the whole week I have been telling you people that time was of the essence and then you people fart around for days and then tell me you can't help me? On what planet is that acceptable? It's slipshod, incompetent, bumbling, idiotic customer service is what it is. And I'm gonna shout it to the world brother.

To top this all off, now, apparently you monkeys have ALREADY CHARGED MY CREDIT CARD for the frames you were never able to provide to me, and you need me to CALL YOU BACK so I can get a refund? What a bunch of retards you people are. It's a wonder you can even brush your own teeth.

My family and I have been regular clients of your offices for years. My daughters' contacts, my glasses and eye exams. We are all going to find another provider. It's a real shame, because I was a satisfied customer until this week. I was willing and able to pay higher prices for your services. I liked doing business with a F****** operation. If only the respect I showed you would have been returned.

Tom Az

[HowToDisappear]

Wow. That letter is harsh.

In my experience, unless the optometrist has your specific frames in stock, it takes a week or two for them to get from the manufacturer. And they do charge for them first. This also holds true for orders from internet discounters (even if they claim they're in stock, they're not - they do the same thing as the B&M stores). We have expensive frames that we found at a considerably less cost on the internet, and we had to wait weeks for them.

Granted, your optometrist should have explained from the get-go that they were unable to fulfill your request. That was wrong of them, and sloppy customer service on their part. But bellowing that they're all retards and need to tender their resignations is completely uncalled for.

Hope you find the glasses you like and look all handsome for the clients again soon.

[miscorrections]

I don't think I would ever call a customer service rep a retard.

[TomAz]

TomAzhole.

But if they had told me on Tuesday, "we don't have these in stock, we need to order and that will take time" that would have been totally fine. It's the jerking me around for 3 days, taking my credit card number, charging my card, and THEN telling me they couldn't fulfill the order that set me off.

And they're totally retards. They couldn't focus on a thought for more than 30 seconds without slobbering into their drool bib.

[miscorrections]

The funny thing is that letter sounds exactly like something my dad would bellow into the phone if he were really pissed off at customer service.

[miscorrections]

Middle-aged white guys. Just can't tell you apart.

[TomAz]

You just wait.

[JustSteve]

until she's a middle aged white man?

[mountmccabe]

Tom, this likely does little good now and would've helped in this specific case (they don't do rush shipping) and you may know about them but try Zenni Optical. I do not plan on ever buying glasses at an Optometrist again.

Their glasses start at $6.95, frames and lenses. I ordered from them and got two pairs, one with polycarbonate lenses and anti-reflective coating (which would've been a $70 add-on at Nationwide Vision) and another as sunglasses (with an 80% Grey tint) for about $50.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

because I am basically blind, in the those siutations where my frames have broken (which is way too often) I seriously can't wait and have bought new glasses from lenscrafters multiple times because the 1-hour turnaround really is worth the expensive glasses in an emergency.

i really need to start having backup pairs. i can walk out of Costco with glasses for under $100, but holy shit looks liuke I need to check out john's site there.

[miscorrections]

That site is making me want to buy alllllllll the crazy frames.

[TomAz]

We have expensive frames that we found at a considerably less cost on the internet, and we had to wait weeks for them.

I ordered the frames I need yesterday, after the optometrist office told me they couldn't do it, from some place I found on the internet (99.6% approval rating on eBay!). Frames supposed to arrive Monday or Tuesday. And of course if I'd known I needed to do this earlier this week, they'd be arriving yesterday or today and I'd be all set. Instead I have to go around with my superglued frames hanging catawampus on my face for a few more days.

[TomAz]

So I just got a call from the Director at the corporate office in Tempe of 20-20. I got (1) an apology for their having mishandled all this (2) a recognition that they should have understood that I was facing a "911" with the broken glasses (3) an offer to make me a pair of glasses for free, no charge. I accepted the offer, but what was the biggest relief was the notion that someone in charge saw my email and took my side. She even said it (this example, though I doubt not the actual email) was going to go into their training program now.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

It would be amazing though if they had your letter up on a big screen and told people, "these are the kinds of letters we hope to avoid."

Also, how is replacing broken eyeglasses NOT a "911," ever? I can barely walk in a straight line without mine on, let alone drive to work or complete important tasks.

[HowToDisappear]

Happy now, Tom?

[jackstraw94086]

The funny thing is that letter sounds exactly like something my dad would bellow into the phone if he were really pissed off at customer service.

I've saved myself literally thousands of dollars simply by being a jerk on the phone. Once you realize it's these people's jobs to handle this stuff then it's very easy to rationalize. Plus it's the main reason the guy on the other end of the phone even has a job.

Or you could be very sweet and pleasant and actually pay for things like out of warranty replacements and HBO.

[mountmccabe]

That site is making me want to buy alllllllll the crazy frames.

DO IT



I am considering getting a third pair. I could use a winter pair of glasses!