Listen To “When Only A Human …”
Technology, schmecknology. Sometimes only a human will do.
Let me explain.
I've moved house last week and in the process I've spent a lot of cash on Amazon acquiring various bits and pieces for the new residence.
Or 'Boy's Toys' as my wife calls them.
Now, I'm a big fan of Amazon and never had a problem with any purchase.
So I needed a new Cordless Drill (my wife thinks the word 'needed' in that sentence is open to debate) and there's a great offer on Amazon UK for a DeWalt Drill Kit at a saving of nearly £200. With 5 star reviews.
What man could resist?
Not this one.
It arrived on Saturday but there were parts missing. No problem with what was delivered, but there should have been additional components.
Have you tried phoning Amazon? There is a number, but it's well buried within the website. Clearly they'd much rather you didn't.
So before I found the number I'd posted off an email and printed a returns label.
And then I had to order (and pay for) a replacement. Apparently because I'd deleted an address from my file the day before they couldn't automatically replace the goods. I had to pay out for a second time.
All together now: "The computer says No"
So the replacement arrived this morning.
WITH THE SAME PARTS MISSING!
Clearly a coding or picking error here. Something not right in the land named Amazon Database.
But this time I knew the phone number, and knew they would call me back immediately.
I've just spent 20 minutes on the phone to a very helpful man in the Phillipines who couldn't have been nicer.
He apologised, made a note of the repeated problem and fed it back to the product team whilst I was on the phone.
Then he offered me several alternative remedies to the situation.
Which included advancing me a refund on the duplicated purchase on trust that I return one set of the goods, allowing me to order the additional, missing parts from the website, and then intercepting my order and zeroing the cost whilst I was still on the phone to him.
So all looks as though it will end well tomorrow morning, when the courier (who I'm now on first name terms with after 4 consecutive morning visits) delivers the last part of the order.
What's the message here?
When things go wrong make it easy to contact a human being who has authority to solve the problem there and then. Sometimes only a human will do.
Don't hide away. Put an employee (or maybe you?) out there on the front line and get it sorted … fast.
Sure, we are much better at this now than in the 70's and 80's when I was cutting my business teeth.
But there's still a way to go.
And how come it's the big corporations who continue to be the worst at this?
However on this occasion my faith in Amazon is restored.
Now, does anyone need any holes drilling?
