We write about a lot of online shops and services on Domestic Sluttery, but we've never really talked about the customer service side of things and who's giving us the best experience for our money. And what about who's giving us the worst customer service? With so many shops online vying for our attention (and our cash), here's a little roundup of our personal experiences with the places we choose to spend our money online.Sian: I wish I had better service from Urban Outfitters. I've learnt the hard way that if I see something I want on their website, it's always better to go to the shop. I don't like 'ordering' something only to get an email cancelling my order for me and telling me that what I wanted no longer exists. It's such a waste of my time. But I always get excellent service from Tatty Devine. AND sometimes you get lollipops. I also really like ASOS' Here to Help Twitter account. Mistakes happen sometimes, it's nice to see that they've set up a dedicated channel to get things sorted.
Frances: My main frustration with online shopping tends to be due to the delivery. Sian's already mentioned them, but ASOS' service is excellent. I love that you can now get purchases delivered to your local shop, saving a lot of time spent waiting around for couriers. I recently had a bad experience getting something delivered from House of Fraser, just thanks to really poor communication from their appointed courier company. After several attempts, and despite intervention from a nice HoF customer services lady, they ended up returning it to the warehouse. More hassle than it was worth for what was a £3.50 whim purchase.
Caleigh: Rather predictably, most of my online shopping involves food. I adore Drossa, where I buy gluten free pasta, bread and baking mixes. Not only is their delivery incredibly fast, they always include a lovely free sample of something exciting along with your order. The Asian Cookshop offer free express delivery when you spend more than £24.99 and you can choose which day of the week suits you best. I also love boohoo and Schuh for quick delivery and helpful customer service people. I've been disappointed by Dorothy Perkins a couple of times, nothing big - little details - like not informing me is an item is missing from my order until it's delivered. I'd rather shop in store now, it's less hassle.
Elizabeth: I have found the best online customer service to be from small indie shops. Sian mentioned Tatty Devine, but also Bonbi Forest and The Blackbird Sings, all thoughtfully spent time on the packaging so that when I opened my order it felt like Christmas. It makes online shopping special and I like that. The worst service I received was from H&M who took an order for a dress that was not available. They kept pushing the dates back and only with serious complaining I received the dress 2 months after the order date.
Hazel: Like Caleigh the vast majority of my online shopping is food and drink and I definitely agree with Elizabeth about the best customer service coming from small independent producers. Beautiful packaging goes a long way in my book and suddenly I become really excited about whats inside. Mr Truffle sends everything out in the most gorgeous packaging, in fact I never throw it away! When people take the time to beautifully package something they are not only showing how much pride they take in their product but how greatly they value your custom. On the flipside I have had nothing but trouble with Very and their choice of courier company. They damaged £1000 worth of camera equipment and it took about 6 months to sort it out. They made every step in the procedure really difficult.
Laura: The worst online customer service I've had is predictably from the biggest, probably most profit-driven stores. Countless fails with Dorothy Perkins led me to give up on them, including making me trek to Oxford Street to pick up my 21st birthday party dress because they lost my delivery and refused to replace it in time. I also cancelled a big furniture order with Marks and Spencer because of the crazy amount they wanted to charge to change my delivery date. It's not all bad though: Lakeland's packaging is lovely and they're uber-helpful and always on time. And when things go wrong, I love it when they're put right nicely: Amazon always respond to issues mega-fast, and John Lewis sent me sexy free gloves when my order didn't arrive on time because of the snow.
Kat (updated): Like Elizabeth, small indie shops (particularly on Etsy and Folksy) have been wonderful. Butterscotch & Beesting were amazing when I bought my god daughter's christening present. On the bad side, ChristmasJumper.co.uk have been utterly abysmal. I called them a few days after I'd made an order, only to find that they had taken the money, but hadn't placed the order. They promised to send out my order on next day delivery so it would arrive by midday. By 4pm, it still hadn't arrived. They're completely useless and if you ever want to buy a Christmas jumper, avoid them like the plague.
Who's giving you the best (or worst) customer service online?
Important legal gubbins: Any personal attacks in comments will be deleted. Customer service across a faceless internet connection isn't easy to get right and we'd love to see improve without slinging mud at anyone. And do make sure you tell us of your best customer service experiences as well, we like those. Especially if you get free lollipops with your shopping.
Flickr image of little LEGO delivery man from Lydia_ShiningBrightly.
I don't do an awful amount of shopping online (being one of life's 'shopping ditherers'), but Emma Bridgewater were excellent when I ordered with them recently - delivered within a day (when they'd said up to five) and a free mug to make my order up to six to fill the box. Can't say fairer than that!
ReplyDeleteI'm now only going to place orders for five of things.
DeleteThe best: Asos, John Lewis, Lakeland, Goodness Direct, To Dry For, Fab, HQ Hair, LoveLula. The not -so-good: H&M, Debenhams and M&S furniture - you'd better be sure to like it, because they charge £100 (sic!) to return any piece of furniture to the warehouse, and you cannot return it to store yourself - terrible.
ReplyDeleteA HUNDRED ACTUAL POUNDS? Bloody hell!
DeleteYep, it does say so in the small print - they don't make it obvious or easy to find, it is buried in the lengthy list of T&Cs.
DeleteI've had the same issue as Sian with Urban Outfitters and I've not actually bothered to go back on the website at all since.
ReplyDeleteThe best customer service I've had was with Coggles.com, where a dress I'd ordered had arrived with a button missing. I contacted them and they were so apologetic, refunding me both the postage for the new dress and the postage for returning the faulty one back to them. They'd even wrapped the new order in their usual tissue paper, which just proved that they treat every order carefully.
Mimi Holliday did something similar actually - I returned a pair of pants as I'd ordered the wrong size and they still came in the exact packaging they would have if I'd bought them - lovely box, tissue paper. Granted I had to pay for the delivery as it was my fault I ordered the wrong thing, but I liked the attention to detail over something as tiny as pants.
DeleteBest - Stylist Pick are always brilliant, things arrive next day, packaged beautifully. Cocosa are also great, as are My Wardrobe.
ReplyDeleteWorst - I agree with Frances about House of Fraser. My beautiful £125 silk dress (bought for a lot less in the sale, obviously) came screwed up, on a cheapo plastic hanger in a polythene bag. I expect one of the biggest department stores to at least *think* about packaging.
I also had an absolutely nightmare with Expedia's customer service people. A friend had to pull out of a trip and since I made the booking, I called to cancel her flight. A few days later I went to check flight times with the airline and they had no booking in my name. Turns out MY flight had been cancelled instead of my friend's. Fair enough, mistakes happen, but when I called up to sort it out they weren't exactly keen to help. They were so defensive! They explained they'd have to 'review the tapes' of my call to make sure it was an error their end and not mine. This took 4 days. Whether they meant to be or not they were very accusatory - I really felt like they thought I was lying.
It did eventually get sorted out (at great cost to them) but not until a lot of stressful moments on my part!
Next Home delivery is bar far the WORST customer service i have ever dealt with, Ordered my sofas for a 5 day delivery back in mid June - im currently still sitting on the floor! Boooo!
ReplyDeleteBenefit have been the best for me, their email replies and super speedy and very personal - you can tell they care about you and your problem and don't get all jargony with you.
ReplyDeleteH&M was the worst experience I had, took me a month to get a straight answer out of them, kept telling me to wait a certain amount of time until I just gave up and asked for my money back
I've been really impressed with the Blue Banana shop on ebay for clothes - they come all wrapped up in lovely shades of tissue paper and ribbon, with at least one lollipop attached! It's the little things that keep me amused... (oh, and speedy arrival of parcels, along with cheap prices - not bad at all!)
ReplyDeleteThat's brilliant for eBay! I never expect any fancy packaging from outlets on there.
DeleteBest customer service always seems to come from small independent stores - I love Hepburn & Leigh, Kiss Me Deadly, and Joanna's Wardrobe for lingerie shopping - never a problem with returns, lovely packaging, any question however silly or small gets an answer. And Lyme Bay Winery - lovely service every time.
ReplyDeleteVery definately have the worst customer service - I opted for picking up my delivery from a local convenience store, after having bad experiences with their courier service. The store refused to accept the ID which Very had listed as suitable, and pretty much accused me of nicking someone's identity, in a shop full of crowded people, and refused to let me collect the parcel. Trying to sort it out with Very was a nightmare - it took 5 MONTHS for them to remove the items from my account, and a threat of involving the ombudsman. Still arguing with them over interest charges for items that I didn't ever receive.
I've not had any truly terrible experiences online shopping, the odd Amazon on Etsy/Ebay thing that has taken a while to get to me but good communication from the seller is the key. Best experience lately is Liz Earle as they sent me a lovely gift set for reccommending friends and are very helpful and attentive.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think I'm the only person never to have had any trouble with H&M - everything's always arrived when they've said. The only issue was when a random courier chucked my package in through my open upstairs window. But then I was kinda impressed at his aim and the fact I didn't have to wait for a re-delivery for me to mind too much!
ReplyDeleteA courier with initiative - I love that!
DeleteYou do have to wonder if most of the issues we have are with couriers rather than the companies themselves, but then if they're not handled properly at that end it gets really frustrating.
DeleteGet Knitted are amazing for yarn and patterns. They send free sweeties and stuff too. If I'm buying yarn to make something pretty for someone else it is always nice to get something for me.
ReplyDeleteI had an issue with House of Fraser as the delivery company decided my address was not real and returned the order to the depot and the first I heard was when I got a refund. They were very nice and apologetic though once I got in touch.
H&M the worst for me - I've never even bought anything from them, but when a friend had something shipped to my house I started to get duplicate catalogues (in her name and my name) and it took 18 months of phone calls, tweets and returning to sender before they stopped sending them.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy ordering from All Saints - they offer free delivery and I usually get things about two days after ordering, which is nice. They also offer a 'premium delivery service' which gets you a next day delivery for a fiver but I've never felt the need to do this! They also have lovely packaging. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso excellent are Vivien of Holloway, Illamasqua, Villainess, Janine Basil, Boden and there's another vote here for Tatty Devine, Schuh and Emma Bridgewater.
I've also been astounded by how super fast Think Geek get things to me from America - I usually get my orders in about two working days. How the chuffing hell do they do it?!
Worst experience I've had has been the one and only time I ordered with H&M. Took forever to get my order, a simple pillowcase, and then the return took forever too. I ended up having to ring up over a month later asking where my refund was and she said "It's just gone through". WHA?!?
ReplyDeleteI always find Boden are excellent with quick delivery and easy returns. I have to say though I do object to their almost £5 delivery charge. When I'm paying £70 for a bloomin' cardi or whatever, I sort of hope the delivery will be free! I tend to stay away from companies that charge delivery now as so many don't, I consider free delivery to be part of good customer service.
Worst service ever was from River Island - you can only email their online service, so when my order got lost, I had to wait 24hrs between each email, and couldn't speak to anyone. Eventually I bought the jacket I wanted in a shop, and the next day the delivery turned up. I was also very unimpressed at having to spend £35 for an Ikea furniture delivery which had a 12hr delivery slot. I don't mind paying, but making me pay AND sit at home all day is just cheeky.
ReplyDeleteI had great service from Notonthehightstreet recently though - when a frame arrived chipped, they sent me a new one instantly and didn't even ask for the old one back.
Pavlova and Fox are BRILLIANT, everything arrives looking so beautiful! As for bad experiences, I can't think of anyone who hasn't redeemed themselves, but if things get delivered by Yodel, I know it won't end well!
ReplyDeleteTo be fair to Yodel, I've only ever had good delivery service from them. But then, I often work from home so I've always answered the door...
DeleteMy bad experiences pretty much tally with everyone else's - Dorothy Perkins being the worst (same story with item not turning up and them not bothering to tell me it wasn't in stock, and then VERY rude on the telephone when I rang to complain)
ReplyDeleteAmazon are always pretty good - sent me a whole new set of books to replace the ones that had gone astray in the post, with (almost) no questions asked.
But I have had the additional problem of living in Oxford for 10 years, where the post is diabolically bad. Things send to other people take at least a week to arrive even with 1st class stamps, and things other people send to me sometimes don't show up. My mother once posted me 2 birthday cards (1 from someone else, obviously) in the same post box, on the same day, and they arrived 3 weeks apart!! (And of course, neither in time for my actual birthday)
So I do have some sympathies with the "maybe it's the postage/ courier service at fault" school of thought.
Thank heaven we're moving...
Never order from la redoute, absolutely worst customer service, and I've heard other people have had similar experiences. I have to buy a lot of stuff online for work and having orders cancelled for no reason and no notification is not helpful. John Lewis are the best for a great delivery service.
ReplyDeleteI don't like la redoute's service, either. I once ordered three items and only one arrived. I was then told that they had stopped selling one of the items, and that it would take FOUR MONTHS for the other to arrive! Needless to say, I cancelled it.
DeleteWonderful customer service from John Lewis, Frugi (kids clothes) and of course the ubiquitous Amazon.
ReplyDeleteThe worst for me is Long Tall Sally. I ordered 5 dresses to try on for a black tie do, and paid express delivery (8 fricking 95!) for next day delivery. One dress turned up five days later. I complained, only to be told that a website issue meant that the express delivery hadn't registered with them (even though it said I had paid for it on my order confirmation email). To compensate me they offered me free returns! Truly appalling service and I will never buy from them again - even if it means having to wear trousers half mast for the rest of my days.
Contrary to what everyone else is saying, my worst online shopping experience was with Asos, who I used to shop with regularly. I was going to a wedding and realised a week beforehand that I had nothing to wear, so I placed an order for over £300 worth of clothes to be delivered the next day. It didn't arrive until four days AFTER the wedding, despite several emails begging them to sort it out. This, of course, could have been a courier issue, but I found Asos incredibly rude and unhelpful, and their lack of interest in my complaint was appalling. When the order arrived, I sent it straight back without even opening the parcel and I haven't shopped with them since.
ReplyDeleteThe best customer service in my experience is Liz Earle. When you order from them directly you get a free sample with every order — I received one today and it would've cost me around £7 if I'd bought it. They're always quick to resolve any queries, too.
I've also been impressed with Bravissimo's customer service every time I've shopped with them — both online and in store. It's handy that they can access your account in the shop so if you need to return something but can't find the receipt, you're able to without any problems.
I'm lucky that I haven't had anything awful happen to me (touch wood!_ but La Redoute did take an age to get to me and then they bombarded me with catalogues. I've had great service from Liz Earle (lovely freebies), Boden, John Lewis (made a massive error but sorted it out and gave us a partial refund), ASOS, Amazon and every single order I've placed on Etsy and Folksy.
ReplyDeleteAlso should give a thumbs up to Miss Selfridge. Their delivery is expensive (£4 or so), but when you're paying for standard delivery and often get your order despatched the very same day it's worth it.
ReplyDeleteI need to mention the amazing thing John Lewis did recently. We got married and then immediately moved house (not advisable) and for some reason John Lewis waited 5 days to take my payment. In this time my card was cancelled as it had been reissued with my married name. This meant that the order got stopped. I rang my bank and John Lewis who delivered our bed anyway in good faith.
ReplyDeleteIt took three weeks to get a new card (due to the bank messing up, but when I called to complain they fixed it within 48 hours) and as soon as I had a new card I paid for the bed.
In addition to this, the bed arrived on time, they rang first and the delivery slot was a reasonable length. The delivery guys were cool and professional and it was just lovely.
Ironically given the picture you've chosen and in complete contradiction to what most people have said, the best customer service I have received is from Lego, which is a massive multinational company. Everything is brilliant. The worst was John greed. I bought an important, expensive piece of jewellery from them which was nothing like they'd promised and they just could not care less. I'd never buy anything else from them.
ReplyDeleteI have my own (very small, very new) jewellery hobby/business - I've made a mental note of all the pretty packaging comments for future sales!!
Awww, well done LEGO. (You should know that this image is exactly how I picture their deliveries, please don't ruin it for me.)
DeleteI've forgotten to praise My Wardrobe and Astley Clarke. Not sure if anyone mentioned Boots, I usually buy in store, and when I ordered online, it was one of the worst experiences. Plus, I hears they no longer pay any tax in the UK, which is not right, so I will be taking my business elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteBoots delivery is just the worst. I never, ever order online with them. I didn't know about the tax thing.
DeleteWaitrose online (not Ocado) has been pretty dire for me too. I'll never use them again. I'm still waiting over a month later for a refund for an item that never arrived, and (allegedly) some gift vouchers in apology. I'm not holding my breath.
Oh Dorothy Perkins, you have let me down so many times. When I no time to go clothes shopping, their 'nominated day delivery' is too handy. But there have been times when i have not received my item for over a week, even though I'd paid over £7 for next day delivery (NOMINATED) Grr... Also BrewDog Brewery's ability to update their 'item availability' is shocking, getting an email saying it's out of stock after you spend AGES filling in their payment/account nonsense is not good for my rage! For the prices they charge for some of their beers, it should be better!
ReplyDeleteMost professional and pleasant experiences come from: Not On The High Street, John Lewis, Amazon and Tiffany&Co (how the beautiful shiny goodness arrive so quickly, I'll never know!)
I live on a small island off the North coast of Scotland, so I always have to wait ages for items to be delivered. However, the one time I shopped with BooHoo (which at that time you didnt have the option but pay for next day delivery)it actually arrived THE VERY NEXT DAY. Which is astounding. Which also makes me question why other companies can't get my orders to me as quickly...it CAN be done!
ReplyDeleteThe worst experience I had was ordering a treadmill off a website, which I'd specifically chosen because it advertised free delivery, with no exceptions (even remote scottish isles were included!) So I duly paid for and ordered my treadmill. 4 weeks later, the treadmill hadn't arrived, so I phoned them. Turns out, my free delivery came with a charge of £90, but someone had forgotten to phone and check to see if the charge was ok, so my order was never processed. Free delivery for £90? They promptly got reported to Trading Standards for false advertising!
Caleigh: Thank you so much for recommending The Asian Cookshop. It's 50 miles to my nearest Asian food store so I feel a big online order coming on!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure!
DeleteYou should try Seasoned Pioneers and Japan Centre as well - both very good indeed.
DeleteAlison, I can second Caleigh's Asian Cookshop recommendation. I've ordered from them several times and have been very happy.
ReplyDeleteNext is awful, my courier just chucks things over my back gate. Still getting bits and bobs of things about 2 months after the sale, when they quoted 7-10 days.
ReplyDeleteLa Redoute also awful.
Origins are wonderful and lovely brand appropriate packaging.
Am surprised no-one has mentioned Ocado - great and always quickly refund damaged or missing products, plus a free bottle of wine every anniversary. Worst Abel and Cole, just for the quality, or lack of it, in their box schemes!
The online Office sale is a bit awkward. I've tried to buy shoes in their sale three times online. It always seems like my size is in stock but then I inevitably get an email about a week later saying they can't complete the order. Disappointing. Other websites seem to be able to match their online availability to actual stock, why don't Office :( I've given up on them now.
ReplyDeleteLaura B xx
I highly rate John Lewis. A few years ago i ordered an oven which had to come direct from neff. neff's courier was terrible and it just became some bizarre comedy of errors where at one point the driver insisted my house wasn't where i said it was and he drove off for the third time with my oven! john lewis dealt with it all, gave me half of my money back and sent me a hamper and a bouquet of flowers.
ReplyDeletethe worst has to be dorothy perkins which i used for the first time last week. everything was screwed up and creased and the courier had insisted on shoving it through my cat flap when it obviously wouldn't fit and i got home to find a parcel on the hall floor and a smashed cat flap!!
I have now remembered more...
ReplyDeleteBoots - their website it really clunky to navigate but when I was house-bound with illness I spent nearly an hour making a big toiletries order, filled in the billing details and then bam! the whole cart was lost. Gone. Needless to say I never bothered again.
Next - tried to charge me 4 quid for a catalogue I didn't want.
Play - took an order for an item and after two weeks of waiting for delivery I emailed their customer service who informed me it was no longer in stock.
I like that ASOS remembers your saved items. That is very useful.
Oh my, what a timely post. I have been cooped up in my flat all day waiting for an Argos furniture delivery that never came. When I called at 6pm they tried to say delivery was attempted at 3, but then said that my property couldn't be found. Weird, seeing as my last Argos delivery was on Monday. They have a bizarre system whereby it's 'illegal' for the driver to have my phone number. And they had no way of contacting the driver to give him more directions so they could deliver later this eve. It's a completely crap system almost designed to fail. And that's a day of my life I'm never getting back ;(. Argos - you have lost a customer today.
ReplyDeleteI had a terrible experience with Laura Ashley recently - ordering furniture. I was told I'd have the item in 2 weeks. 2 weeks passed and I called to find out where it was, turns out it actually would take 4 months. I was FURIOUS and their customer service was awful. It was only when I threatened to email their CEO with all of their names and a hefty complaint that something got done.
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me with a lot of companies that they take your money immediately and then take an inappropriate amount of time to send you the item. Let's be honest, its all probably coming from China in a shipment, how long can it take?!
My favourite for customer service is First Direct. Best bank ever, they are amazing.
Best - Amazon, The Book People and Hobbs are all consistently brilliant.
ReplyDeleteBest service - Reiss, MiH, Lascivious all came in lovely packaging and delivered either on time or before the due date.
ReplyDeleteAmazon have always been fantastic, and really easy to get refunds.
I don't think i've ever had awful service, but i had to wait several weeks for a refund from Diesel once, because their online ordering is all based in Italy.
I had brilliant, personalised customer service from Capital Cycles, which almost made up for the absolutely dreadful service from the courier delivering my bike, Yodel.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of couriers, I've heard bad things about Hermes, who deliver for Dorothy Perkins et al, but the Hermes chap who delivers to my area is very helpful.
You know who's awesome? Shutl. They're couriers used by same-day companies - Oasis and Argos use them. You can track your order as it's being delivered (way more fun than it should be) but you also know if you've got time to pop to the shops for a pint of milk or go for a wee without missing your order. Very handy.
DeleteCaleigh - WOW thanks for recommending Drossa, it looks so yummy! Gluten free priest-strangler pasta here I come! Which products would you recommend most?
ReplyDeleteHere's a tip from my fiance that gets great results in the face of the worst customer service - tell the customer service representative that you'll be individually writing to the CEO and every member of the board of directors with the details of your complaint and every person you've dealt with. Also, Tweet about it, mentioning the company account, as that often goes to a different team. Two great ways to get a complaint escalated without resorting to shouting down the phone. :)
I've had bad experiences with H&M. I ordered 3 things and heard nothing for ages so I checked my account and each had a different dispatch date marked - fair enough I thought until I realised there was a fortnight between each. I ended up getting the last item 7 weeks after I'd ordered it. Having said that it's not difficult to get through to their customer service people on the phone and they were really nice, just their system is ridiculously clunky.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best has been Chemical Records who do shoes and clothes as well as music and equipment. I ordered at 3.30, beautifully packed shoes arrived the next morning on normal delivery.
I've just remembered another gripe I had with Next. I had a gift card and, living fairly rurally, I wanted to order online. I tried to place an order but their system wouldn't recognise my address, so I phoned their customer service team, who said they had to run a credit check in order for me to open an account with them. I didn't want credit! I think it's a stupid system to have when they run an online shop, though I understand them having it for the catalogue side of things. I ended up selling my gift card and shopping elsewhere, and I virtually never visit their website any more.
ReplyDeleteI've also found Orange to be very helpful and quick to deliver.
I think Facebook and Twitter do help improve a company's customer service. It's amazing how quickly they can deal with your problem if you post it online!
I'm a little late to the party now but couldn't let the opportunity to praise the wonderful customer service at Temporary Secretary pass me by. Their Twitter account is responsive, friendly and helpful. Their parcels are beautifully wrapped and usually come with a hand-written thank you note! And the jewellery is fab of course! Really impressed me the last few times I've bought things
ReplyDeleteI too couldn't resist the chance to chime in! Great service from Triodos, with very friendly and lovely staff.
ReplyDeleteEtsy online support is great. I've only had one problem in three years of purchasing, and they were so helpful.
TERRIBLE service from Great Little Trading Co. The bookcase I ordered arrived yesterday. I ordered it eight weeks ago. They said it would have a turnaround of 2-3 days. The rest of the order arrived two weeks ago, again with the same turnaround. It's taken four e-mails and a lengthy complaint letter to get my entire order filled. And they still haven't bothered replying to the letter.
Oooh, and Japan Centre is excellent. Great website, great range of products, great delivery and great packaging. Consistently impressive.
ReplyDeleteI recently bought some fabric from ClothSpot - beautiful fabric, beautifully wrapped in tissue paper and delivered on the day requested. Excellent communication via email and superb service.
ReplyDeleteAlso bought some great plants from the Victorian Nursery - good, strong healthy and well.
I absolutely hate bad customer service, it's a real pet peeve of mine, either online shopping or otherwise.
ReplyDeleteWe're setting up an online shop at the moment,so this post has been really useful to help us see exactly what is important for customers shopping online, so thank you for that! It's great for us to be able to read everyone's comments too :).
Asos are always brilliant I have to say, but generally bigger companies seem to be worse for customer service, but it actually shouldn't be like that- like Asos, they have the budget to be able to offer customers free delivery, returns and time slot deliveries, but they choose not to! I do feel sorry for smaller companies though who get a bad rep through their courier company making mistakes, it only ends up reflecting badly on them when it wasn't really their fault. Though I guess it's all down to how the company try to rectify it I suppose!
Zara and Mango are both pretty awful - nearest branches are quite far from my office so I ordered bits online. Delivery took weeks and weeks with no email updates, no notification of shipment, nothing. Considering I'm used to shopping with companies like ASOS and Topshop who inform you of every step of your parcel's progress, it was a bit of a shocker. Expensive too, if I recall. I do think Zara do ship to store though, which might be one to investigate.
ReplyDeleteThumbs up to Topshop, ASOS, John Lewis, My Wardrobe and Matches - who package everything incredibly, even if it's just a tshirt in the sale. Net-a-Porter are fantastic too, which I suppose goes to show that if you're spending an arm and a leg they take care of you!
Finally, Liz Earle - always!
Zara were rather arsey when I wanted to return some shoes (the studded pumps I saw on here and had to have actually, wanted to wear them to a wedding in Oct). They fell straight off my feet though they were supposedly a size 5, and when I asked for a collection for a return because I can’t drive and would have to get a metro and a train, or a metro and a bus to get to my nearest store, they were really awkward about it and said I should return to store. I emailed because I couldn’t get the online returns form to go through. They picked up my item about two weeks after I originally wanted to return it.
ReplyDeleteI emailed DP yesterday as some jeans I had my eye on and were waiting for payday for were suddenly out of stock in my size in all the colours I liked, and they said I should just phone my local store, even though I told them my local store didn’t have them. I sent a really friendly email and got a super-flat unhelpful response.
M&S delivered an expensive china set with two smashed mugs and said that their packaging should guarantee that doesn’t happen, and I had to return to store. They also haven’t yet despatched an order I placed last Friday and paid delivery for.
Good places - ASOS packed jewellery in their boxes even though they were heavily discounted in the sale, and delivered super quickly, (on two separate occasions) which was nice. Scarlett Hearts always packs their jewellery nicely and are so friendly when you order, and when I bought a cheap necklace for my OH for Christmas as she was on the Isle of Wight and I was up north, Scarlett Hearts not only included my note, they gift wrapped it for me for free too! Finally, White Stuff replied to a tweet that I was excited about my gilet arriving, and we had a nice convo, and it arrived very promptly indeed though I used a 15% discount voucher and a free delivery voucher (I tend to find discounted orders are treated with a laissez-faire attitude with other companies, to say the least) and followed up the order asking if I wanted to review it, and be entered into a draw for £250 of vouchers. Yes I do! Brill topic.
Oh I wish I didn't feel the need to come back here, but a glitch in the system made my delivery address my billing address and vice versa on Toms. I emailed them straight away to rectify, which they said they did, but today my shoes have not only gone to the wrong address, they've sent the wrong blooming size too. Siiiiiigh.
ReplyDelete