Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog

My mom purchased three J.Crew gift cards, for two of her nephews and one niece. We were supposed to see them Christmas Day, but my mom was sick. So she mailed the gift cards, which were in three separate greeting cards, together in one puffy envelop. Somewhere in transit the puffy envelop was opened, the gift cards removed from the greeting cards, and everything resealed and sent on to their final destination.

Upon receipt, my cousin immediately called my mom to say that the gift cards were stolen. My mom phoned J.Crew right away. The customer service representative (CSR) not only canceled the stolen cards (my mom had saved her receipt, which had the necessary information to do so), but she also offered to issue new gift cards via email on the spot. My mom didn't know my cousin's email address offhand. No problem. The CSR gave my mom her direct line so she could phone the agent back with the missing information. Yes, you read correctly. The CSR was able to provide a direct number, so my mom wouldn't have to start a new transaction with a new agent. It's a rare service moment when that happens. And it most certainly saved a sale (actually, three sales). If the agent hadn't made that offer in that moment, my mom would have opted to mail checks instead.

My mom got my cousin's email address, phoned the CSR back with it, and the agent completed the transaction and emailed the gift cards to my cousin for her three kids. Everyone was pleased: the gang got their gifts, my mom was thrilled with the fabulous service and glad that she could replace the stolen gifts, and J.Crew now has four satisfied customers. Everyone, that is, except the thief, who has three empty gift cards. And perhaps J.Crew's competitors. The retailer has set the bar high for responsiveness and service excellence with its customers, and that raises customers' expectations for their interactions with other retailers.