...or why I shop at Amazon....
I had a series of dental visits recently (and two more to come next month) that has convinced me to pick up an electric toothbrush. The dentist recommended a Sonicare brush, which they sold and dispensed in-house (some variant of the “Elite” that's only distributed through dental offices). I didn't get it there because I like to shop around a bit before I buy. When I got home, I did some comparing of the different Sonicare models and found the top of the line Elite 9500 Custom for a couple bucks less than what the dentist was charging. Sweet. Click, click, ordered.
We seem to get really quick delivery here in Centreville, so I pretty much always pick Super Saver shipping from Amazon. They estimate 5-9 days, but I tend to average 2-3 days for most items so there's no reason normally to pay for faster shipping. I made the order on Thursday night though, and I had a change of heart thinking that Super Saver might push the delivery to the next week, so I modified my order to ship 2nd Day instead so I'd (probably) get it on Saturday.
Not long after, I get the ship notification. I check the tracking and it looks like it went out UPS Ground, and that the estimated delivery date was Tuesday (6/6/06 by the way). That's not 2nd Day. I checked my invoice and I was charged for it. I must have changed it in time for Amazon's billing system but not in time for the shipping system.
I emailed the Customer service system this morning explaining what the expected result was, what happened instead and what I wanted (my $10 extra that I paid for faster shipping).
I got an email back a couple hours later apologizing for the mixup, informing me that a credit for the $10 is being processed (and I should see it in 2-3 days) and:
Because your business is important to us, I'd like to give you a
$5.00 promotional certificate for use toward your next
Amazon.com order.
This amount has been automatically redeemed onto your account.
You will not receive a claim code.
I expected not having any trouble getting getting my $10 in unused shipping back but was completely surprised by the $5-off on top. It was a minor problem and I really didn't consider it a big deal. To Amazon, $5 is nothing but the offer says that they're interested in doing something extra to make their customers feel appreciated.
I appreciate it. Especially in an age where most companies have dropped “customer service” in favor of “customer management”. Thank you, Amazon. Keep it up.
Technorati Tags: Amazon.com, Blogging, Customer service, Shopping
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