Customer satisfaction is more than a tagline

I remember when I went to business graduate school back in the 80ies (yes, I am dating myself) that FedEx was heralded as one of the best companies for their efficiency and customer service.?I am sorry to say that these days seem long gone.?I have not been impressed with their service in the past few years but this last interaction with them led me to write this article.?As a former director of customer service myself (now retired), nothing pains me more than a company not caring for their customers or taking them for granted.?How can a company be so short-sighted that, in order to save $90 from their bottomline, they are willing to alienate a customer and possibly by extension all of their connections??

Bad things happen.?It is how you handle them that makes all the difference.

FedEx is in the business of delivering packages.?Clearly the content of those packages is important enough that you pay extra to have tracking and expected delivery dates.?When the expected delivery date is not met and your package lingers at Charles De Gaulle airport instead of continuing its merry way to Italy you want to know what is happening.

We called FedEx every day for 3 days in a row once the scheduled delivery date had passed and tracking was no longer updated on their website.?A case was opened to track our package.?On each of the 3 days that we called (no update was ever provided proactively) we were given different and clearly erroneous information.?The first day “the package was already in Italy but the website had not been updated”, the second day “the package was on a truck somewhere between Charles De Gaulle airport and Italy” and the third day “the package was still at the airport in Paris but not considered officially lost”.?Then, after 5 days being stuck in Paris, the package miraculously started moving again and was delivered 8 full days past its scheduled delivery date.

I cannot fathom how the support reps came up with the answers they did.?Clearly they did not themselves have access to the right information and made false assumptions.?When a customer is experiencing a problem, the worst thing you can do is effectively “lie” to them, knowingly or not.?From there on, you’ve lost all credibility.?If you truly care about your customers, train your reps to say they will look in the matter and make sure they actually do follow up.?Simple and basic stuff.

Don’t build policies with no useful purpose.?Trust your support reps and empower them to do the right thing.

I remember being so impressed when Amazon proactively reached out and offered us a full refund on a delivery that had been mishandled.?What a wonderful way to create good will.

Compare that to FedEx.?Our package which contained critical legal documents arrived 8 days late.?We were billed after the package was delivered and immediately called to request a refund.?Here comes policy #1.?You have to wait 5 days to request a refund.?Clearly the thought is that in 5 days you will have forgotten how upset you were.

The 5 days passed and we called again explaining our whole story.?The rep diligently listened and said he was sorry which I truly believe he was.?Unfortunately he could not issue the refund himself or even ask a manager to do so.?Instead, he had to write an email to a different group to request the refund but felt confident that, considering the circumstances, it would be issued.?He said we would be contacted via email or phone. ?

A week later, nothing.?I finally called again and was told our request for a refund had been immediately denied.?Clearly, it would have been nice if we had been notified but lack of follow up seems to be a persistent issue with FedEx.?Here comes policy #2.?When the delay is due, as is now apparent, to some issues with air traffic controllers in Paris, there is no refund.?It is interesting how detailed the information is when you request a refund but not when you call to ask where your package is. ?

Let your actions show you care, not a tagline.

At the end of the day, we simply wanted FedEx to show that they cared and understood our frustration as their delay had a real impact on our lives.?The refund, whether processed or denied, would not have undone the harm done but would have been be a token of their appreciation for our business. ?

I can only smile when I look at the “fedex.com/we listen” mention at the bottom of our receipt.?Please prove it to me!