I don't feel like I shop a whole lot more than the next girl. I just feel like I get bad customer service a lot more. Now I am not talking about Wal-Mart or Target or other brick and mortar stores. While I have had my share of undesirable experiences in these stores, there seems to be some sort of established grievance process one can go through to achieve desired results. Side note: Target has awful return policies and you should avoid buying anything you think you might have to return there. Seriously.
Back to the main point...I have recently had tons of problems with customer service online. That sentence sounds so simple but represents such complicated, ridiculous issues. I recently read an article in Real Simple magazine (which I love, btw) about evaluating shopping websites. There was tons of great info in the article that sort of seems like common sense but I had never really thought of before. One of their tips was to never make purchases at a website that does not list a customer service phone number, in addition to an e-mail address.
To make a long story short, I disregarded the advice about the phone number on a certain shopping website. I ordered something, it broke immediately and they refuse to return my e-mails. Booooo! And here is the idea I came up with during the restless, insomniac shopping rage (ok maybe rage is a bit strong but still) I experienced in the middle of the night last night.
I am thinking about starting a new blog...yes, another new blog. The Shopping Vigilante. You see, websites like Yelp, Angie's list, etc. include listings on all sorts of stores and services. They have a super broad scope. The Shopping Vigilante (TSV) would focus only on customer service and have an emphasis on online shopping. I thought people could contribute their own stories to me either via e-mail or the comments section of the blog. And then the entires would be searchable and it could become like a database of sorts.
I have a few experiences I can share to start off...but would love to hear your experiences with customer service- both good and bad. I can post them on TSV and the little guys (yeah, that's us) can start to fight back, dang it! 1 part therapy, 1 part revenge, 1 part community service.
So, what do you think? Does it sound like a good idea? Could people use such a resource? Or has my anger taken me to a dark, dark blogging place?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
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2 comments:
Ronq! I am so glad you started a blog. BEAUTIFUL wedding! You are gorgeous!
Hey Jenna,
Working for an internet retailer, I know all about online customer service. We get comments all the time about how great ours is, because everyone else pretty much sucks. When I order online, and something isn't right, I will flat out yell through email that I know how this works, so I know what they can and cannot do. So if you ever become a rocket fanatic, know you can shop with me without an issue! =-)
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