CX Failures: The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

I’ve been a marketing leader for decades, and as an exec – and a consumer – I’m sometimes shocked by what companies do out there. Case in point…

This weekend, one of the most ubiquitous brands for single-serve, at-home coffee makers and pods gave me one of the worst customer experiences ever.

A life-long coffee drinker, this weekend I finally decided to buy one, and I was really excited!

But within an hour of trying to buy on the company’s website, my excitement turned to frustration, and ultimately, fury.

I was ready to spend $270 and become a lifelong customer, buying a coffee maker and then committing to the monthly coffee pod subscription.

I put the items in my cart and was ready to check out when I was served a pop-up promo to get 15% off my first purchase if I gave them my email. Even more excitement and delight!

But of course, restrictions applied. Knowing how the LARGE print GIVETH and the small print TAKETH away, I actually read the fine print. Happily, the items in my cart were NOT excluded, so I signed up.

… and then I waited, and waited, and waited for the email with the promo code to arrive, but after 10 minutes, it didn’t, not even in junk.

So I navigated from my shopping cart to the customer service link with phone number, and I gave them a call.

Explaining the problem to the #CustomerSupport person, they said they had to set me up with an account … so I gave them more personal information.

30 minutes later and ready to complete the transaction, the customer support person says the promotion doesn’t apply to my items.

I read back to her the EXACT words of the promotion from their website (of course I took a screenshot), and she still insists it didn’t apply and that their website (or their customer service portal) didn’t have the latest information.

I asked to speak to a manager, saying this felt like a “bait and switch” tactic, and was informed no manager was available and that they would say the same thing to me.

So I told her, I’m abandoning my cart, I’m not following through on this order, and if someone at the company wanted to call me about this experience (they, of course, had my phone number, as well as my email, at this point), that I’d welcome the call to tell them about my experience.

Two days later … no call, no email, no promo code … and I now think the worst about this company – and they’ve forever lost me as a customer.

The human experience is important, but hey, I’m resilient and can get over it. However, my work is all about customer experience, so it’s hard to let this slide without sharing the story.

But, let’s break down the numbers alongside the Customer Experience:

1. This company didn’t HAVE to serve me a pop-up promo when I was already in my shopping cart ready to check out. If they hadn’t, their Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) would have been $0 because I was direct traffic.
2. Because they served me a 15% pop-up promotion, their CAC would have been $40.
3. Had they resolved the transaction as promised, my Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) would have been $14,400 (industry benchmark data)
4. My LTV-to-CAC ratio would have been 360:1. Let that sink in for a moment that optimal LTV:CAC ratios are 3:1 or higher.
5. If I were served a #CustomerSatisfaction / #NPS survey, I’d rate them a 0 out of 10 – not only am I not a promoter, I’m a detractor.

During the entire experience, I was never served: 1) a chat widget to #GetFeedback 2) a survey for feedback, 3) a pop-up e-commerce intervention when I abandoned my cart, 4) an email response to my request to the customer service rep to speak with a manager, or 5) a phone call to my request.

All this data on my digital experience, aborted transaction, and call center communication is available to companies who care enough about their customers to make Customer Experience or Experience Management a priority – and who use the myriad applications available to them.

As someone who cares a LOT about customer experience, I’ll continue spreading the word about companies who deliver the CX tools and data to prevent companies from making such blunders in the future.

And as a consumer, I’ll instead buy from this company’s competitor who wisely considers #CX a differentiator and who actually cares about – and invests in – the customer experience.

If you’re looking down the barrel of huge goals for 2023 and you’re not thinking about #customerexperience – and what you can do to be better at acquiring and retaining customers – I wish you luck … because you’re going to need it.

Final Thought: ?This happened in the fever of Christmas / Holiday shopping! Given holiday gift traffic, you could assume this is multiplied exponentially.