Click Here If You Shop Online

I do and do and do for you – and this past shopping season, I did a lot of it with a mouse.

To check up on how our industry is doing on the customer service front, I always make a good portion of my holiday purchases direct. And like many consumers this Christmas, I found myself doing much more buying on the Web.

Oh sure, for the sake of tradition I actually picked up the phone and called in a few of my catalog orders (to Lillian Vernon and Lands’ End, because I wanted to know immediately if any of my items were on back order).

But for the most part, I found myself placing orders online, with a print catalog at my side for reference. Overall, I’m happy to report, the highs outclicked the lows. Here’s a few highlights.

– Dreading the thought of way too many holiday cards to write, I decided to make the job a little easier by getting some preprinted address labels from Artistic Greetings. I logged onto their site (www.thepersonaltouch.com), guessing it was more likely my information would be spelled correctly if I typed it in myself rather than reading it over the phone. Ordering was quick and easy, and my chosen labels were even on sale.

Toward the end of the transaction a pop-up window appeared, asking me if I’d like to take part in a survey to rate this retailer. Sure, why not? I clicked yes, expecting two or three questions…and was linked to a third-party site – a vortex of query after query, many that had nothing to do with the retailer. Surveys like this are a great idea. Not only do they let you know what customers are thinking, they make customers feel like their opinion matters. But keep it brief. After all, most people shop online to save time, not waste it.

– Since Plow & Hearth has started putting its URL (www.plowhearth.com) on many of its print catalog pages in lieu of an 800 number, I logged onto their site. One plus was an offer of frequent flyer miles if I made a purchase. Another – for the cataloger and me both – was that seeing the total of my order on the screen made me realize I could add an extra item without having to pay higher shipping and handling charges. Of course, I was happy to do that.

My happiness ended as soon as the order arrived. The box was badly damaged and didn’t appear to have been properly taped shut. When I opened the package, I discovered everything inside was damaged – because no packing materials had been included to cushion the items.

Understandably irritated, I called the customer service number and explained my plight. The rep was a gem. He candidly told me they’d been having some problems in the warehouse, but that it was no excuse for what had happened. When I said I just wanted to return the whole mess for a refund, he didn’t try to cajole me into exchanging the items. In a friendly manner, he apologized profusely, quickly took my info and readied a return label – leaving me feeling like I’d definitely give them a second chance.

One for the Little Guy

– When my favorite local independent bookstore Brookline Booksmith didn’t have a title I was looking for, I decided to give their Web site (www.brooklinebooksmith.com) a shot. The title was available via special order, and I could either have it delivered or pick it up at the store to save on postage.

I opted for the second choice, and was pleasantly surprised to get my notification that it’d arrived in the form of a friendly phone message rather than an automated e-mail. Give a gold star to the little guy who’s found a good way to compete with the titans online- and build store traffic and customer relationships.

– Another online bookseller, Next Planet Over (www.npo.com) gets points for good e-communication skills. To attract new customers, the site – which specializes in comics-related items – ran a promotion offering $15 in merchandise free (plus shipping) on first orders. For orders over $40, in addition to the $15 discount, shipping and handling were free.

I placed my order but was unsure if the transaction went through, since the screen suddenly went back to a previous page in the site, instead of an “order complete” or “thank you” page.

I fired off an e-mail, and within an hour got a reply stating that the order was received.

More important was a follow-up e-mail, also sent within that hour. The site had a glitch, they wrote, and so some customers’ receipts didn’t show the $15 discount. Rest assured the discount would be reflected on the credit card statement, they noted.

It was a nice pre-emptive strike against customer annoyance if I ever saw one.

How were your direct experiences this holiday season? E-mail me at [email protected], and we’ll share some of the responses in a future issue.