The importance of good customer service and the power of LinkedIn

I have seen many recent posts from companies boasting about their customer service. The past few day have compelled to share my story.

My wife and I turned 50 this week. I know what you are thinking, crazy - you look amazing for 50! Awe thanks but this post isn't about me it’s about an unexpected experience in customer service.

Last week I did what many of us men do, I placed an order for flowers. Now before you pass judgment on the flowers, I also bought her a REAL Louis Vuitton wallet so there. The Flowers were actually an afterthought and more of a surprise. I picked up the phone and placed the order with the company I always use. So far so good what could go wrong it’s just flowers right? Wrong! The flowers arrived timely on her birthday but the arrangement was a fraction of what was pictured and expected. I hesitated to say anything to my wife but this arrangement was not cheap so I proceeded to let her know “These flowers were not what I ordered”. I shared the picture with her, she saw the price and we shared a laughed. 5 minutes later we looked at each other and at the same time said “We need to call the company and complain”.

Ugh, I hate doing this, I would rather black list this vendor and move on then to be “That guy”. But the boss spoke and I called. Here is where is begins to get fun. Customer service was amazing. They offered to replace the arrangement the very next day AND give me a $20 gift certificate. I graciously accepted and thanked them. The following day the new flowers arrived but this time a completely different arrangement appeared.  No roses, no sunflowers instead carnations and daisy’s. Again we both laugh but now I’m invested and on a mission to get what I paid for. I wanted that “wow” response from the wife and all I have received thus far are laughs.

Now I am back on the phone and the complaining starts. I explain to another customer service rep that I have received 2 arrangements that are not only unsatisfactory but the wrong items. More apologies and again, an offer the make it right. Since I have been burnt twice, I declined the replacement flowers and asked for a full refund. Obviously they cant get this right and it’s not worth my time or effort. At this point, I’m done! The customer service rep pushes back, (No doubt she has a protocol to follow and I don’t fault her). As a final resolution I am offered a 50% refund! WHAT??? 50% refund and I have two deliveries that I did not order. No way. I instantly thought of my customers and how it would be received if I shipped the wrong phones to them twice and the third time only offered a 50% discount. I would be out of business fast. That kind of customer service is flat out wrong.

Of course I escalate my request to a manager and they continued to tow the same line. Although all representatives remained calm and kept their composure, I still was not happy and now I’m pissed. I even vowed to the customer service manager that I will “Absolutely get my money back”. So what do I do? I reach out to the executive team on LinkedIn. Afterall, that’s what my customers would do. I have to say that 3 out of the 4 executives that I reached out to got back to me the next day. I was shocked. I told my story to all of them and I was assured that this would be rectified that day.

Later that afternoon I received a call from an executive assistant. She introduced herself and apologized profusely on behalf of the company and executive team. I was shocked to hear that they were resending the arrangement that day AND issuing me a FULL REFUND. I honestly was not expecting this nor did I ask for it. I was completely willing to take a full refund and put this experience, along with this company in my rear view and never look back. 

The flowers arrived bigger and better than I would have imagined. The florist must have received instruction to make it more festive as it had a beautiful Thanksgiving look and feel to it. Needless to say it was amazing. This morning I awoke to a notification that my account had been credited the full amount of the arrangement. 

I share this for a few reasons. #1 – Never give up (This is the selfish reason) #2 – LinkedIn is a VERY powerful resource – leverage it. #3 – If you get the right person on the phone, you can usually turn a negative situation into a positive one. Lastly, after seeing how much this executive team cares and their willingness to rectify a problem I will absolutely continue to do business with them. These are the kind of people I want to do business with. Yes did I have to jump through hoops, sure but they were only following predefined guidelines put in place to protect the company.

Thank you 1-800-Flowers, you have retained a customer and Happy Thanksgiving to all.