We get nice stories about Zappos’ customer service all the time, but this one seems to have touched a lot of our readers.
Zaz Lamarr meant to return some shoes to Zappos, but her mom passed away and, naturally, she just didn’t have time. Zappos arranged to have UPS come pick up the shoes—and then sent her flowers:
When I came home this last time, I had an email from Zappos asking about the shoes, since they hadn’t received them. I was just back and not ready to deal with that, so I replied that my mom had died but that I’d send the shoes as soon as I could. They emailed back that they had arranged with UPS to pick up the shoes, so I wouldn’t have to take the time to do it myself. I was so touched. That’s going against corporate policy.
Yesterday, when I came home from town, a florist delivery man was just leaving. It was a beautiful arrangement in a basket with white lilies and roses and carnations. Big and lush and fragrant. I opened the card, and it was from Zappos. I burst into tears. I’m a sucker for kindness, and if that isn’t one of the nicest things I’ve ever had happen to me, I don’t know what is.
By all accounts, Zappos seems to be staffed by nice human beings.
I Heart Zappos [ZazLaMarr] (Thanks, Spencer, Nicole, Tab, Kim, Karen, Michael, and Cheryl!)
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Love Zappos -
PS – When I get the free regular ground shipping they usually upgrade me to 2 day anyway – yipee!
Yes I just have to chime in too — Zappos is unbeatable. Great customer service, huge selection, free shipping, great prices, and it’s so damn easy to shop / search / checkout.
They’re the best.
So many companies fail to realize that when they go and do something simple like this, word gets around. It is the little things that make a company a success.
Great story!
@Franklin Comes Alive!: Ha! You totally knew what I meant.
i have to look away from sketchers and nikes towards zappos now.
WOW. Although Zappos doesn’t have much in the way of inexpensive shoes, their total commitment to customer service has made me a dedicated customer (so much for my credit card debt). Although I’ve never gotten flowers, I did have a CSR send me out replacement shoes at no charge right before a business trip (the original ones were defective), and I had another rep give me a $20 gift certificate for notifying them about a different pair of defective shoes.
Oh, and when I recently mailed back a pair of boots that did not fit, I accidentally included one of my OWN boots in the box. I called Zappos and they found it and sent it back to me in 3 days!
They rock.
I went to Zappos, looking for a deal. Too bad there isn’t exactly one, but for those shoes that I.MUST.HAVE. I tend to go to Zappos because they’re competitively priced when it comes to full-priced items. That is to say, if Macy’s is selling it for $150, Zappos might be selling it for $150 as well, but not charge me shipping. Macy’s might.
I’ve done well with Zappos in the past but have shopped around for better deals.
That said: I’m a sucker for decent customer service, which is becoming more and more rare. Not only will Zappos get my next shoe order (though they’re few and far between) but I’ll let them know that this article is the reason they’ve got it.
In fact, I should drop them a note now.
Zappos is one of the best companies I have ever dealt with. At first I figured they were compensating for the inherent trickiness of selling shoes you can’t try on first, but then I found that they are just that awesome. They always bump my shipping speed up for free. I have actually returned a wrong-size pair and had the right size in my hands two days after getting the first pair. Their returns are almost too easy to be believed.
Customer service is something Zappos won’t skimp on. I just got hired and I will have to do four weeks of “customer loyalty training” (including one week on the phones) before I can start my actual responsibilities in another department. No matter what position one gets hired for, be it accounting, legal, executive, or a customer service rep, all new hires have to do this training in order to understand what it’s like to be on the customer’s end. I spoke more with the recruiter than my department’s hiring manager to make sure I would fit well with the company and their core values. Taking it straight from their mouths, they’d rather hire someone that is a good person with decent skills than a grouch with top-notch skills.
During the interview, everyone I passed in the office smiled and said hi. They all seemed proud and happy to work there–I’ve never experienced an environment quite like it. So not only does the company treat its customers incredibly well, but they also pass the good vibes down to their employees.
Zappos.com rocks! I bought a pair of shoes from them and ordered it in 3 different sizes. Then I just returned the 2 that didn’t fit. The credit was on my credit card website within 2 days. They pay for the return shipping, so I’m not out anything more than originally known. Shoes + shipping = cute new shoes. (Or for the guys… Shoes + shipping = handsome new shoes.)
wow.
really. wow.
WOW.
I have been planning to buy several pairs of shoes. I’m leery of shopping online for shoes, but after this incident, I’m going there first.
They have a few customers for life on this board.
Zappos is great. Both my mother and I have ordered from them and have had positive experiences. They will price match for you as long as you provide them with the site and price. I ended up getting $10 off my sandals. They also will order your size for you if it is out of stock and inform you when it’s in.
What a great customer service experience to share. So great, that I shared it back with them, so they would know what is being said about them on the blogosphere. They replied that they would forward the link to their PR department, and sent me a $20 off coupon. What great customer service, and I can’t wait to use the coupon!
Zappos does have good customer service. Unfortunately, I got hosed on a huge order that I returned to them because I ordered from Canada, and the American dollar went from CAD $1.10 to $0.95 between the time I paid and got my refund. So I lost like $100 on the transaction.
This is a nice story. A company acting — gasp — like humans.
holy crap…I think I’ll just try on shoes for size at Macys and buy them here from now on. I wish some of my favorite brands were a little more consistent in sizing so I wouldn’t have to do this.
Hey, maybe Zappos can open mini-storefront stores in major cities, where they have a limited number of styles for different brands that you just try on for size, along with computers in-store where you place the order. OR, you can think about it and place the order later?
My zappos story. Went to New Balance in Seattle. They didn’t have my size or color of the trail running shoe I wanted. I went to 3 different Nordstrom’s – same story! I remembered my exact fit and logged into zappos.com. The very next day my new New Balance arrived and I am so happy! Sad when you can’t even get what you want at the actual company store. Thanks Zappos!
Manolo says, oh noes! Amazon is buying Zappos. Amazon.com is trying the shoe retailer Zappos.com on for size. The companies announced on Wednesday that Amazon was acquiring Zappos, based in Henderson, Nev., for 10 million shares of Amazon stock worth more than $800 million.