I am not afraid to write a letter to request better service (or even adequate service) from a company. In fact, I don’t think enough people do this. Most people will be treated poorly and walk away feeling dejected. Yet they’ll just stew in their own juices and let whatever company has caused them distress continue on its merry way.
No ma’am.
I recently had two run-ins with bad service and I followed up with letters written to the vice-presidents of each of the companies.
First: PUMA
I ordered a pair of shoes from PUMA.com on August 30th. After two days I hadn’t received any word from them regarding my order (no confirmation, no “order failed” or anything). So on September 1st I wrote and asked them to cancel the order, if it had gone through, since I had not heard from them. Another two days passed and, on September 3, 2011, I received an email from Kyle with PUMA Customer Service telling me that he could not cancel my order and that it was processed and shipped on September 2 (a full day after I requested that they cancel the order that they had not even confirmed had been placed). I wrote back to Kyle and explained that I had asked that the order be canceled because I had not received any word from PUMA about its status and explained that I would be sending the shoes back to fulfill my cancellation and refund request.
I received no response for ten days. On September 13, 2011 I wrote back to PUMA Customer Service to inquire about my refund. Another two days passed before Kyle replied to tell me that a refund of $31.12 was being issued to my credit card.
$31.12?? My total was $42.69. I wrote back explaining that this was unacceptable and that I expected a full refund since I had requested cancellation BEFORE the order was processed or shipped. Then Saturday night, another four days later, I received a reply from Larry with PUMA Customer Service saying that an additional $3.95 credit was being issued to my card but that the shipping fee would remain non-refundable.
As you can imagine, this has tainted my feelings toward a company that I once thoroughly enjoyed. PUMA has been my go-to shoe manufacturer for several years but I don’t think I can buy a pair of PUMA shoes again after the headache and annoyance that this single transaction has caused.
SECOND: H&M
I like H&M. The clothes are not too expensive, last long enough to be enjoyed (but don’t expect them to stay wearable for more than a year… maybe two). But when I was at their Herald Square store last week I was jolted by the incredibly offensive words of one of their cashiers.
As I approached the counter he looked at me, then turned to his co-worker, “The queens sure are out today!”
WHAT? Seriously? I am fully out and proud of who I’ve grown to be but to have someone say something like this still stings and is completely inappropriate. “Excuse me?” I said, and this ignorant individual rolled his eyes and turned to the next customer. I looked at his employee badge to get his name but all that appeared pinned on his shirt was a small square with the H&M logo on it. I was so shocked that I finished my transaction and wandered off… which is really unlike me. After I composed myself I looked for a manager but in the madhouse that is any retail store in Herald Square I couldn’t find one and couldn’t even get another employee to help me find one. So I went home and wrote a letter to:
H&M Hennes & Mauritz LP
Vice President of Customer Service
215 Park Ave. South, 15th floor
New York, N.Y. 10003
H&M did write back to me on September 14th and said that they are taking the matter serious and pride themselves on their “diverse culture” and maintain a “zero-tolerance policy when it comes to harassment and discrimination.” I applaud their efforts. They’ve asked that I follow up with a description of the employee in question so that appropriate action may be taken.
Sometimes it is just the acknowledgement of the problem that makes you feel better. Sometimes additional action (i.e. my full refund) is the solution. I firmly believe that the old adage, “The customer is always right”, is a bunch a bologna. But in these two cases I can’t help but feel slighted by the actions of their customer service staff.
I’ll follow up here with responses from both companies if anything progresses. Stay tuned.
Tommy Karr 