Last week, I placed an order on Amazon. I have a Prime membership, so my package was to be delivered on Saturday by FedEx. The driver came by just as I was "indisposed" in the washroom, but instead of leaving the package at my door, he left a note saying that I had to sign for the package or I could leave a note for the driver the next time they attempted delivery. I found Amazon's customer service chat and initiated a talk with one of their CSRs. She seemed genuinely concerned about my issue and didn't know why FedEx requested a signature, but would make sure that they dropped that requirement when they tried delivery on Tuesday. I was totally surprised when she said, "FedEx does not deliver to homes on Mondays." My jaw dropped at that. (Btw, I am still shocked that a major carrier doesn't provide service to residences on a week day.) The CSR, in order to make up for all the hassle, gave me a $20 promotional credit on my account. I thought that was great, especially since my order was only forty dollars. Hooray to Amazon and their nice employee for doing everything possible to make things right. Boo on FedEx for not making residential deliveries on Mondays.
It seems like companies that associate with outside companies in day-to-day practices, in order to keep the peace, have to sacrifice their profits to make up for the other company mistakes. It seems to be a cost of business if you want to have a good business. While they may have lost that $20 of credit they bought your loyalty. They look like the good guys and you will bring your business back to them.
Amazon always does a great job with anything related to purchases. Although shipping companies always give you a hard time, or don't do as you think they should. All their doing is just following orders, and procedures. There is nothing that you can really do about it.
Amazon is really great customer service wise. I've had two very recent issues with Fed Ex. I'm not sure if anything has changed with them, or what. I didn't have these issues before. The first time, I called Amazon, and they were very cooperative and helpful. To be fair, this last time I called Fed Ex directly, and they were pretty helpful too. They've just been inconsistent with their service recently.
Amazon really have the best customer service. I once got faulty soccer cleat where they rip on the first game and they gave me a free pair right away. I didn't even have to send my faulty ones back. They were really nice about it and quick.
Here's what Amazon got for their $20, you are now on an online forum telling everybody how well Amazon treated you when you ran into trouble. Spreading the word that Amazon will take care of their customers even when a problem occurs that they weren't even responsible for. That's some pretty good advertising. Way to go Amazon.
Smart of Amazon. The way I see it, everybody wins here. Except FedEx. They definitely end up coming across as suckers here.
I've always been very impressed with Amazon's customer service...they tend to go above and beyond in my experience and that can be unusual these days.
