Dear JC Penney Customer Service,
This email is in response to a Twitter conversation we had
yesterday afternoon. It’s going to be
long, and for that I apologize, but I really feel that I need to document my entire customer service experience for
you to understand just how badly my situation was handled.
My original order, #####, for a queen bed
frame, was ordered online on Monday 10/14, shipped on Tuesday 10/15 and arrived
at my home faster than I expected on Thursday 10/17. Unfortunately, this frame arrived in a
severely damaged box and was missing parts.
There were two nuts & bolts and four “sockets” that connect the
frame to its wheels missing from the box.
I would have just gone to the hardware store for the nuts and bolts, but
there was nothing I could do without the sockets. So I called Customer Service.
My initial contact was on 10/17 with Bianca, possibly in
Kansas. Bianca and I had some trouble
because I didn’t understand why the warehouse couldn’t just open up another bed
frame box and stick the small pieces I needed into a padded envelope and mail
them to me. Instead, I was initially
told I would have to ship back the bed frame at my own cost and they would then
ship a replacement. I had ordered a
mattress to be delivered on 10/22 and needed the bed frame by then, so I said I
would rather just have them figure out a way to pick up the broken frame from
me and cancel my order. I figured I would just pay the extra money to get a
frame from the same company as the mattress.
In order to keep my business, Bianca made the following offer:
1.
A truck would be sent to pick up the broken
frame. This was needed because the
original box was too damaged to reuse.
2.
An order would be placed for a new frame, which
would be express shipped in 2-3 working days.
Imagine my surprise when I came home from work on 10/18 to
find a UPS “missed attempt” shipping label under my front door. I didn’t try to contact UPS until the morning
of 10/19, when I learned that a) they would not accept my box-less bed frame
pieces and b) the shipping was being paid for by JC Penney but that I would
need to pay extra for the pick-up. Of
course, the second point was moot because I didn’t have a box!
I also at this point looked more closely at the order Bianca
placed on 10/17, #####, and realized it included an invoice
total. I checked my credit card
statement and at this point realized that my
credit card was charged for the second frame, without my knowledge and without
my authorization. I’m not 100% sure
about this, but I’m pretty sure it’s illegal.
At the very least, I have to imagine that it was Bianca’s attempt to get
me off of the phone and make me someone else’s problem.
And so, on the morning of 10/19, I called and spent another
25 minutes on the phone with Doris in Milwaukee. Once I got Doris to understand my whole
story, she was able to start to correct the problem. Multiple times during the call, she made
comments to the extent of “I have no idea why that girl did what she did!” Doris got me scheduled for pick-up from a
trucking service for Thursday (the first available day) and told me her work
schedule and that if I had any further challenges I should contact her. I also had a phone survey after this call
where I indicated that YES I would like to speak to someone, left my phone
number, and said the best time to contact me was weekdays after 3pm. I received a call 20 minutes later – around 9am
on Saturday – and didn’t answer the call.
For some reason, your “express” shipping took longer than
the standard shipping I had on my original order. My new mattress was delivered on schedule,
which means I currently have a mattress leaning on its side in my spare bedroom
waiting for a frame to put it on.
The second bed frame didn’t arrive until yesterday,
10/23. It arrived in a box that was open
at both ends and had a giant hole (about 4”x10”) in the side. This box was missing exactly the same pieces
as the first package. At this point, I
thought I should return the call from Saturday and speak directly to JC Penney Corporate
Customer Relations, making the assumption that these were the people who would
have the power to correct my problem quickly and satisfactorily. The woman who left the voicemail on Saturday
said my reference number was #####, which I attempted to give when I called
yesterday afternoon only to be told that it wasn’t a valid case/file
number. The person who took that call
tried to give me to someone named Barbara but I was told she was not at her
desk and would call me back. I was also
told that they were “just calling back regarding the survey,” which lead me to
believe that the person returning my call wasn’t actually going to help me with
my situation.
This is the point in the story where I took to Twitter.
When I didn’t hear from Barbara within 10 minutes, I called
the regular customer service number again in an attempt to track down Doris in
Milwaukee. Instead of Doris, the representative
who took my call blind-transferred me to Theresa in Ohio. Theresa seemed as surprised as I was that we
had been connected, but truly did the best she could with the situation. She told me that the Milwaukee call center
was having computer problems, but she managed to reach them and then call me
back within 10 minutes with the following resolutions:
·
She refunded my credit card for the possibly illegal charge made without my
permission for bed frame #2.
·
She ordered bed frame #3 for me, offered me a
discount, and arranged for special handling – that the box would be opened and
inspected at the warehouse and then double-boxed and securely taped before
being express shipped to me. She explained the handling would add a day, so I
should have it in 3-4 working days.
·
The only thing Theresa really wasn’t able to
solve was how I would return frame #2. The
shipping company is already coming this afternoon to pick up frame #1, but she
didn’t have a way to contact that company.
She gave me the phone number direct to Milwaukee and asked me to try
them in the morning. Hopefully both
frames will leave my home this afternoon.
Aside from the complete ineptitude of Bianca, the lack of
actual service has been the most
disappointing aspect of this entire process.
Every time I started over with a new representative, I had to tell my
story from the beginning. Either your
system doesn’t accept customer notes, your call centers can’t read each other’s
notes, or no one was taking notes.
Theresa was the first person to actually use the words “I’m sorry.” She was also the only person willing to make
an extra phone call, resolve my issue, and offer me any sort of discount for my
troubles. Doris was professional, and
didn’t add to my problem, but Theresa was empathetic and proactive.
So here we are. It
has been ten days since I ordered my bed frame.
I received an email around 1 am saying that the third frame has
shipped. That order number is
#####. The notes on the
order explicitly include the inspection and overbox requests, so I am hopeful
that this frame will arrive intact.
At this point, I am tentatively hopeful that the issue has
been resolved, even though the following concerns are still outstanding:
1.
I still haven’t received an intact version of
the product I ordered.
2.
Though I have been promised an immediate refund
for frame #2 (to be posted in 3-4 days), I still have payments for frames 1 and
3 charged to my card.
3.
Returns! I’m at this point not sure that the
truck coming today will accept both frames.
At the very least, I’m going to need to call Milwaukee again this
morning and tell my story to yet another representative. If the truck can’t accept both today, I will
have to spend more time at home waiting for another 2-hour pick-up window.
I am not writing to have you address my original issue. I am really only writing to explain to you in
detail how you lost a customer of many years and many orders, and so that maybe
my story can be used to coach those involved, and maybe others, on how not to handle a simple broken item
return. I genuinely believe that, had I
spoken with Doris or Theresa on my first call, that I would have a complete
frame at this point, and would be significantly less frustrated.
Though I may return to a JC Penney store in the future, I don’t
foresee any circumstance where I would order another item from your website. I will also be giving the frame a one-star
review, if I ever get a complete
frame, and will attribute the review to poor shipping & handling and
abhorrent customer service.
Thank you for your prompt response on Twitter. And please also pass along my thanks to
Theresa. The rest of your organization,
however, obviously has some lessons to learn.
Sincerely,
Jamie
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