Responding to customer complaints

Earlier this week I had an email exchange with Banana Republic's customer service department. I'm so impressed with their responsiveness that I'm sharing the exchange with you. Of course the next step is to see whether my next BR clothing purchase falls apart on me...What do you think, is BR being sincere in its response or just giving me lip service? Either way, the valuable lesson here is that if BR can respond to a complaint within 12 hours you can too.

My email to BR:
------------------------
I'm a long time Banana Republic shopper, with the brand composing at least 50% of my wardrobe. It's among my favorite brands because of the fresh styles, reasonable prices, fit and quality. However, the quality seems to be taking a turn for the worse which is what is prompting this email. Over the past 4 months I've bought a dress, tank top and skirt all of which have had to be taken to the tailor to have the hems re-sewed after one washing, a jacket with a sleeve seam that came apart after one wearing and a silk shirt which is starting to fray at the seams of both sleeves after two trips to the dry cleaner. This on top of a handful of dresses with colors that fade and fabrics that loose their smoothness after a few washings. I've never encountered worse quality in clothing than I have from BR over the previous 4 months. Normally I would just stop shopping at your store, but because I have shopped BR for years and have never had quality issues (I have a dress that I bought 8 years ago, worn and washed more times than I can count that still looks brand new) I'm giving BR the benefit of the doubt by sending this email and encouraging that the quality be examined. Please respond and let me know how you will address these concerns.

BR's Response
-------------------------
Dear Ms. Conyngham,

Thank you for your e-mail. We are sorry to learn of your disappointment with the current merchandise quality at Banana Republic. However, we definitely appreciate feedback from our customers - both positive and negative - and your message will be shared with our Merchandising team. Customer feedback is the most important consideration when our merchants are planning what our merchandise quality will be like in the future.

As a note, you can take merchandise to your local Banana Republic store for evaluation, and we will be happy to offer you a return or replacement once the merchandise has been deemed defective by a manager at any Banana Republic store.

If we may be of further assistance, please contact us via e-mail at custserv@bananarepublic.com or by calling 1-888-BR-STYLE. Our Customer Service Consultants are available 24 hours a day for your convenience.

Sincerely,

Ed
Customer Service Consultant

Responding to customer complaints is one of the most important things a company can do. It shows that you're listening and that you care. And your customers' complaints can turn into your best asset, they show you where the holes in your brand are and where your efforts for improvement should be concentrated. Remember, most people will just drop your brand. If someone takes the time to contact you about their problem you can be pretty confident that there are hundreds more in the wings that have just given up on you.

Image by: John Weise

Birthday wishes from my retailers

A few years ago I was the marketing chair for a private club in Boston. During my tenure I tried repeatedly to get a birthday program started. The design was simple; keep track of members' birthdays and send each member a card on their birthday with a special gift, such as a complimentary glass of champagne during any club dinner service. The initiative was designed to serve two purposes - reiterate how appreciated each member was by the club and remind members that the main dining room provided the perfect atmosphere for special occasions. Every time I proposed the idea it was met with resistance, primarily because there was no centralized location to store the data and an unwillingness to make funds available to create one. I still think it's a great idea, but I'm no longer as heavily invested in the club as I once was and so I let the idea die long ago. It's only the past two weeks that have brought the idea back into consciousness. And that's thanks to the retailers that appreciate my business enough (and want more of it) to wish me a happy birthday. So in recognition of smart birthday marketing programs I'd like to thank: Sephora for the free body butter, Sel de la Terre (one of my top three favorite restaurants) for the 20% off certificate and Banana Republic for the $15 gift card.