Reddit teaches Amazon the power of over-the-top customer service

Amazon

Good deeds are supposed to be rewarded, but all too often they simply go unnoticed. When Reddit user zambuka42 had a good experience dealing with Amazon customer service, he decided to let his friends at the social news site know about it.

Now, half a million people have read what happened and the number continues to rise.

It all started with an order for some merchandise that was sent to his parents’ house. Amazon performed their part properly and the order was received. Getting the order to zambuka42 was a little more challenging as he is currently volunteering in Tanzania. When the USPS lost the items, zambuka42 reached out to Amazon to find out if there was an easy way to place the order again without doing it manually.

After hearing the story and taking a minute to check it out, the customer service agent on chat asked a question.

“In that case, can I proceed in creating a full refund for your order, Brian?” asked the service agent named Karthikeyan.

Brian was stunned. He reiterated that it was the USPS’ fault, not Amazon’s.

The service agent replied, “I understand. However we’ll take full responsibility for this issue, Brian.”

The entire conversation was captured in a screenshot and posted on Reddit. With over 1000 Reddit points and 1000 comments, the screenshot has half a million views.

The cost to Amazon of refunding the order even when it wasn’t their fault: $25.13

The value of good customer service “exposed” through social media: “Priceless” is so overused but it really does exemplify the value in this circumstance.

A representative at Amazon is looking into the story and trying to find the customer service representative. She was unable to leave a direct quote before the press office was notified, but said that if the story checks out, she’ll be using it as an example in training.

Here’s the screenshot. Click to enlarge.

Amazon Customer Service

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Scarlett Madison
Scarlett Madison
Scarlett Madison is a mom and a friend. She blogs for a living at Social News Watch but really prefers to read more than write. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

13 COMMENTS

  1. On the plus side it may make companies more inclined to help. On the negative it could see an increase in ‘markteers’ trying to game the system with fakes.

  2. I have to say that the few times I’ve needed Amazon customer service, they’ve always been amazing. This doesn’t surprise me at all. They’re one of the few large companies that actually try to make their customers happy.

  3. I don’t think Reddit teaches Amazon in this case. Amazon already knows this, that’s why they’re doing it in the first place. Could teach the rest of the world though 🙂

    • do you want to make $85 hourly and $7000 per month like me just working on laptop for few houres!Would you like to be your own boss!Opportunities like this don’t come by often.Don’t let this one pass you by!

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