In previous posts I wrote about etailers that get it wrong. It's time to turn the table and give credits to those that are doing it right.
Some of you know that I'm active on Twitter (@EtailQueen). I love tweeting with like-minded people; there is a real sense of community there. Increasingly Twitter is also a channel to get in touch with companies.
A key strength of Twitter is speed. If you ask a question on Twitter you often get an answer straight away. This is fantastic for customer service. I don't have to be placed on hold waiting for "the next available customer service operator", or refresh my inbox every 5 minutes hoping for a reply. One 140-character message is all I need to get the ball rolling.
There are some positive customer service I experienced on Twitter.
- Sometime last year I went to withdraw money from a Westpac ATM. The transaction appeared to process as normal but no cash came out. I called my bank (not Westpac) but they were unable to help. Frustrated, I tweeted about it referencing @Westpac. To my pleasant surprise Westpac tweeted back asking for more details so they can investigate on my behalf. I don't remember what they did exactly (I think they hold me that they had no record of the transaction) but they were proactive and I have fond memory of their service to this day.
- I ordered this Too Faced eyeshadow pallet from ASOS.
After waiting over 2 weeks for the parcel I received an e-mail from ASOS saying that the parcel was returned to sender due to non-delivery. It didn't sound right to me (it was meant to be delivered to my work address). At first I e-mailed ASOS and received the pro-forma reply about being in touch within the next 24 hours. I was impatent so I tweeted @ASOS_HereToHelp* and I received a reply soon after. The customer service rep was able to identify the issue quickly (error by the courier). Unfortuantely the item was sold out by then so they offered me a full refund. As an apology they gave me a 10% discount code for my next purchase with free express shipping. Even though it wasn't the outcome I wanted they did the best they could given the situation, and overall it was a positive experience for me.
*It's a smart idea for companies to set up a dedicated Twitter account for customer service, so they can distinguish regular twitter reference to the company from tweets sent by people who needs help.
As an aside, I stalked the ASOS product page for the palette hoping for the returned palette to show up and it did! I bought it with the 10% discount and it arrived quickly this time around. And I love it. The colours are great, and Shadow Insurance is da bomb.
- Before I launched The Etail Queen I sent early drafts to a few tweeps for feedback. The lovely Jade left a comment on the blog before I installed Disqus. I sent Jade a tweet asking her to repost the comment, and in a flash @disqus tweeted me the instruction to export the comment. Problem solved! I was impressed by their service - and I'm not even a paying customer!
- A while ago someone tweeted about poor customer service she received from her credit card company. I replied saying that I had a great experience with American Express' call centre. A little while later I received a tweet from @AmericanExpress thanking me for the positive feedback. Such a simple thing to do (well not that simple on their part I'm sure) and it reinforced my happy sentiments with the company.
Did you have any good Twitter customer service stories to share?