The case of the miss-matched sandal
Here is a Yahoo Feedback from a recent customer.
I ORDER A PAIR OF SANDALS AND WAS DARKER THAN THE OTHER. SO WANTED TO EXCHANGE THE PAIR OF SANDALS. INSTAND MY MONEY WAS REFUNDED. THEN, I TURNED AROUND AND WANTED TO REORDER THE SANDAL AND THEY REFUSED TO SELL THEM TO ME. I WILL NOT ORDER NOTHING ELSE FROM THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The customer purchased a pair of sandals from our Amazon.com store. She sent an email request for a return because the top, center part of the sandals did not match. I replied to her that I was sincerely sorry that she received a pair of sandals that did not match. I asked her to send them back to Maui for a full refund. I told her I would replace them and ship them to her at our expense. When the sandals were logged in on Maui, myself and two employees, looked at the sandals to see what the concern was. The discoloration was imperceptible unless you put them in front of your face and stared at them. I could not replace them. I promised the customer I would refund 100% of her purchase and I would also pay for her shipping the shoes back to Maui. I refunded her purchase and sent her a $ 11.00 check for her return shipping costs. We do not see credit card data when an order is placed with Amazon.com. I could not refund more than she paid, hence the refund check. She called some time later and expressed further concern. My showroom assistant told her, in no uncertain terms, that all the remaining sandals were identical to the pair she returned. A couple of weeks went by and I noticed, by chance, another order from the same person placed on the Yahoo, MauiShirts.com web site. I sent her the email (below):
Aloha,
I apologize for any inconvenience.
I am unable to accept your order.
Your credit card transaction has been voided.
You placed the same order on Amazon.com May 24th.
Your transaction was refunded in full from the return of your purchase.
A check was sent to you for your return shipping costs.
You called and we explained to you that we can not improve upon the slight variation in the color of the sandal top.
All six pairs that we have in our stock are identical to the ones you returned.
I suggest you try http://www.zappos.com/
I think they offer the same sandal.
Mahalo, (Thank you),
Mickey Steinborn, President
A few weeks went by and I saw her negative remarks in the Yahoo public feedback forum.
After she published the Negative Feedback in the public forum, I sent her a response:
(I might have laid it on a bit thick here, but heck, this was one silly deal).
There was no further response from the customer.
Aloha,
What the heck is the matter with you?
Shouting too; venting your misguided frustration in the public forum is not good karma.
We told you when you called twice that all of the sandals do not match; once from the Amazon.com order and once from the Yahoo order.
We told you twice on the phone and in an email that all the size 8 sandals do not match identically.
Then you think you would be sly by placing a new order at the main web site.
You think we are crazy? Why in the world would we send you another pair only to have you send ’em back?
I even suggested you try another web site; Zappos.
I refunded 100% of your money 100% and even paid an additional $ 11.00 for your shipping back to Maui in the form of a company check.
I could not refund more than what you paid Amazon.com.
We do not see your credit card data when you place an order with Amazon.com.
Are you nuts? Why are you beating this dead horse?
You want blood from a stone?
This is one good story for my blog.
I love this sort of thing.
What great fodder you have provided for my readers.
They will get a big kick out of this story.
You can add some more of your shouting BS after I post this story.
You should be ashamed.
You are laughable.
The only thing awful is you.