Zappos is amazing. I love that company.
Even more, I love twitting (twitter.com) with the Ceo of Zappos and half the staff over at zappos. (twitter.zappos.com)

One time I ordered Doc. Martens on sale, well I got them and never wore them because they fit badly. Eventually I noticed they sent me the wrong size(one size to small) well i called them, returned them and they refunded my money over a year after I ordered them. They def. have the best customer service around. Also, super fast shipping...

Very cool. Anyone know where their customer service is located? I'm gonna be in need of a job here in a couple months...

And as luck would have it, I'm in the market for several pairs of shoes at the moment. Thanks to this story, Zappos is at the top of my list for shopping now.

My wife has ordered a good half-dozen pairs of shoes from Zappos, and all orders have arrived quickly and correctly. It's nice to read (again!) that if we ever do have a problem, they'll likely take care of us.

That's such a lovely start to my morning. Thanks, Consumerist! I've never shopped at Zappos, but it looks like I may have to start.

I ordered shoes from there a couple weeks ago and they literally came the next day. I'm not sure how. But there they were, less than 24 hours later. I was really amazed.

@CountryJustice: I don't know if there are more then one, but there is a call center here in Las Vegas, NV

They did the same for me! I had a pair of Fitzwell ankle boots from them with a gel pad on the bottom for comfort. After 4 months one of the gel pads literally exploded while I was walking around in the middle of the day. I limped home in horrible pain and when I finally got my boot off, my sock and the gel had merged to become this horrible mass stuck to my foot. Once I got my sock off, there was a ridiculously huge blister on my foot. I limped for a week.

I shot them an email - not really expecting anything, more wanting to let them know that they were selling a shoddy product. I received an email back from them the next day informing me that, since they no longer sold that particular pair of shoes, they were refunding the ENTIRE purchase price.

It cost them $90, but they earned a customer for life in me.

When someone posts a really nice story about a company on consumerist, does anyone email the company in question so they know their efforts are appreciated?

@BrianDaBrain:

Me too.

Sometimes a little on the pricey side, but I guess a good pair of shoes and a great customer service experience is worth it!

I wish the Canadian website had the same customer service and shipping policies.

Zappos and Nordstrom's are living proof that people WILL pay extra for good service. Now if only this message can get to other segments other than retail. It's too bad that so many others take the "price is king" approach.

It's great to hear of such positive customer experiences. But is anyone else curious as to how a company could do things like this consistently and remain profitable?

With the 6% cash back Zappos offers on a certain site, and the gush of praise Ive always heard about them, i decided to get a pair of shoes from them just this week.

I ordered the shoes at 7pm est and they were at my house at 10am the next day, that was with the free shipping option. The shoes were too small, so I called them up, explained, and they overnighted the larger size and told me to just send back the too small pair within two weeks.

My only problem with Zappos is that they do inflate prices to cover their free shipping. I've noticed over time that their prices are usually $5 more than prices elsewhere.

@AvDub: It is simple, happy customers equal repeat customers, and they also get free word of mouth advertising from stories like this one. Just look at the comments there are at least a half-dozen who say they have never shopped there but will now. They more than make up for any losses thru good business practices.

Wow, I think I'm going to shop for shoes there when I need a new pair. Even if they're a few bucks more expensive, the customer service sounds worth it.

Dell, take notice!

Consumerist does America's worst company but do they do America's best? If so, I'd nominate Zappos. What a great ending!

Zappos also owns 6pm.com with awesome prices on name brand shoes.

@AvDub: Because only a very small percentage of their orders are screwed up. It's my understanding Zappos does a LOT of business. They're the Amazon.com of online shoe sales. Their volume is just huge.

The profit margins are probably also pretty healthy.

i've ordered several pair of shoes from zappo's and have always had an amazing experience. the first time i ordered from them was a pair of hyde authentics ($115) in which case i hit the order button on the wrong color. right after i noticed this i called their customer service and was immediately connected to a very polite lady (at about 2am) who said that the order had already been processed in their system. she took the order for the color that i meant to order and emailed me a return label for the other pair, trusting that i would send the first pair back when they arrived. both pair arrived within a couple of days. of course i sent the first pair back, but i think it's very rare to find a company who actually gives their patrons the benefit of the doubt anymore.

I've <3ed them for a long, long time. Just look at some of their job postings, they'll show you what kind of company they are -- AN AWESOME ONE.

@xPorcelinax:

Thanks, 'preciate the tip!

And this is exactly the kind of story that will get them my business -- I'm a really, really hard-to-find shoe size (when it's even manufactured, it's never sold) and so an online retailer I can trust, that will give me good service if/when I have problems, is a good thing to know about.

I've always had really good luck with them and I have had to call a couple of times and it has always been pleasant.

last night 10pm Eastern my dog ate the shoes I was approved to wear in the wedding I'm standing up in tomorrow. I called zappos in panic, at 10 at night. They mailed them with free shipping overnight and I have the shoes on my feet now. 14 hours later.

I bought a set of shoes on Saturday afternoon labor day weekend w/ standard shipping... later that day they emailed me and said they had shipped them already and used overnight shipping.

They arrived Tuesday morning... Not that I'm complaining at all, but I was dumbfounded... I've never had a company upgrade my shipping for free and for no good reason.

Hurray for them!

I'm reluctant to buy shoes on line but this kind of thing makes me change my mind...
Which is exactly why they do it.

Well played.

@CountryJustice: Henderson, NV. It's a suburb just east of Las Vegas just before Lake Mead Rec. area.

Zappos is in fact incredible. They offer the best selection on Danskins and great price/support. As an aside, anyone near the Louisville, KY area should visit their outlet store there (it's on the outskirts somewhere and is their returns center, so it's in an industrial park, no retail-space-overhead). It is super amazing awesome and I always buy 4 or 5 pairs of shoes and a few handbags when I visit family in Southern Indiana.

I adore Zappos! Last time I ordered from them, I said to my husband, "I just ordered some shoes from Zappos." and without missing a beat (or looking up from his email) he said, "Better go to the mailbox. They're probably here by now." High-larious!

I love Zappos. They've been my sole [heh ;-)] source of shoes for a few years now. My foot is wide, so online is my best option to have a large selection of shoes that fit well, and I won't go anywhere but Zappos. Their shipping is always so fast, and their customer service impeccable.

In addition, my foot seems to fit totally differently in different brands, so I've frequently had to send shoes back to get a different size, and it's always been quick and painless.

They do cost more than many other places, but it is totally worth it for their customer service.

I had a great experience with Zappos, too. I ordered a pair of shoes from them on Friday and got a free upgrade to overnight shipping, so I had them on Monday. I began wearing them, but by Thursday, I notice that the leather near my ankle was already wearing away. I called them up, and asked for a replacement pair, and got one... no hassle, and they arrived that Friday (again, overnight). I actually felt kinda bad, since I didn't send back the bad pair until Saturday (and, by the way, they paid for the shipping on them).

@AvDub: I heard a story about them (NPR I think) that said they use robots to improve productivity. The robots work in the warehouse and they are able to save tons of money on things like heating/cooling and lighting because the robots don't need these things.

@MissTicklebritches: Yeah, but they also pay for the return shipping if you need to return something, and as others have said, they will gladly refund or exchange defective shoes ... even after a year.

That "extra" $5 is well worth it, imo.

Seems to me if they are sending out replacement shoes all willy nilly, they must be making a killing on them! I know if I was ripping people off and making a living at it, I would do my best to be nice too !

I do like the Joke of the day option. I'm going to have to get that at my office.

My wife just bought from Zappos for the first time last month.

She was shocked when they came the next day! This is a business model that really hooks in your customers.

@SpdRacer: Amen. There are so many companies that think that the only road to profitability is to cut costs and screw the customer. I'm glad there's at least a few that realize the value of nurturing a relationship and spreading good word of mouth.

@310Drew: "know if I was ripping people off and making a living at it, I would do my best to be nice too !"

Uh, what are you talking about? This makes no sense. How are they "ripping people off" exactly?

@310Drew: Not following how this is ripping people off. Is it less of a customer ripoff not to replace faulty merchandise?

I've never had anything actually faulty from them myself; I'm just hard to fit and try a ton of stuff to buy a single pair. No place, brick and mortar or online, can beat them for breadth of choice in my size and for ease of service.

@floraposte: I have a hard time finding shoes that fit, too (I have small-ish, square feet and a bunion, yay!), so I LOVE Zappos. How, exactly, is it ripping me off if I buy 20 pairs of shoes, get free shipping, and return half of them because of poor fit ... for free?

Yeah, totally ripping me off, right there!

unfortunatly, zappos no longer price matches :(

@eightfifteen: OP said they CC'd the CEO.

@310Drew: Wow, someone has to complain even when companies do something right, eh? "Oh no, they're doing good for their customers and they're making money! Someone call the Socialist Agenda Police!!" :)

This is good to know. Will use them next time for my shoe shopping

Next time I need shoes, they'll have my order because of their good customer service.

After reading this I am going to order a pair or two from these guys. But and this is a huge but, I am ordering from Canada. If Zappos uses UPS to ship them then I will get royally screwed over as UPS always charges me a "brokerage" fee and nails me for absurd duties when the same item shipped via FedEx or USPS would have no additional fees on my end.
I know one person who ordered a $12 t-shirt from the US and UPS wanted $70 in brokerage fees and duties when as an American made textile it should have had none. I feel that UPS might be pocketing these duties and not passing them along to customs.
What I should do, is as a test, order the cheapest pair of flipflops from Zappos and then I can tell the delivery guy to go to hell if any fees are tagged on.

I was going to look online for new shoes..guess I know where to start.