How Amazon India Won Me Over: A Lesson in Customer Care

Delightful experience keeps the shopaholic’s loyalty and weighs much more than data driven insights.

Ever since the e-commerce bug bit me,it made me an impulsive shopaholic.Them starting the premium priority plan I was the first to jump in.Although,I research much and buy impulsively,Amazon has been a frequent stop for all my needs and wants.More than a decade,Amazon had shape shifted from making me buy expensive goods to whatever jots and trinkets I find interesting /when I get bored.

This time,while ordering the kitchen and grocery supplies through Amazon Fresh,I ordered milk.My previous experiences of receving items in a neatly packed thick cardboard cartons prompted me to make this choice.

(Milk shop is just 200 m away from my house.Convenience is a Laziness!!)

Unfortunately,during transit,the milk’s tetrapack was torned out as they had packed the entire shipment in a plastic cover.The delivery guy knows my house due to frequent visits and kept the same at the door and left.When I opened the package,I was shocked to see that the entire shipment was leaking and the sour and rancid smell was making me vomit.More than all this, I could not accept that in my entire shopping career such a mishap had occured.It was only once before and was many years back.

Immediately,I pressed the refund button and uploaded the images of the damaged shipment.More infuriatingly,refund was rejected except for milk.

The angry young man rose to action.

In my previous experience with a water filter company, I had to write to the CEO of the Private Equity in London whose Indian Subsidiary owns the firm in scathing Sashi Tharoorish language to get things done.Another Chimney company made me write to its Swiss HQ.Nonetheless,I know as a customer service professsional an informed customer can ruin any company’s day and night on and on.

Thanks : Chatgpt

I requested a call back from the customer care and was determined to have a heated conversation.But to my surprise more so relief,the executive’s tone as empathetic from the first Hello.I explained entire fiasco.He listened to me carefully and patiently.I could feel a sense of reassurance.Then he provided a link to upload detailed images of the spoiled products.Upon on doing that,the rapid quality and authenticity checks were conducted while I was on call and my refund was approved in no time.He also apologised and assured that no such mishaps will occur in future.

My experience may be directed to the AI agents that learns how to pack more efficiently.

Now, this may be regular day for a customer service professional but as a customer,a little empaty,assuring the high standards of service and most importantly taking ownership and winning my trust ensures my loyalty.I am sure,on that 10 min call with customer they must deep dived into my order history and vintage.The development of a customer service executive to have strong presence of mind and keeping temperement is definitely as a result of employee training and development.This has definitely set the standards high in my mind space.

As I had been a mortgage banker at the erstwhile HDFC Limited, when a customer’s loan account is typed on the welcome screen, we get the complete horoscope if he is an existing customer and his relationship with the lender.This is way helpful since the customer could be from any part of the country or may not even be a customer.That 20 second walk from reception to our table gave only a little time,but a bigger picture and trust me,you won’t be able to handle on Day 1.It requires sense,sensibility,sensitivity and continued trainings.

This outlines the need for training and honing customer service’s humans and humanoids so that smile at the customer’s face will amaze you on and on from a to z…