Folks, we don't know about you, but when someone advertises a guarantee that they have exceptional customer service, that's the expectation we have. Don't put up with bad service - escalate until you are heard. Service companies these days need to understand that customer service is what differentiates them from their competition, and more effort needs to be expended to make a difference.
We'd thought we'd share with you the only debacle behind our online ordering of the holiday gifts for members of our family. Keep in mind we do this every year, and every year some major company screws up - for the second year in a row, it's Teleflora out of Los Angeles, CA.
We ordered other gifts online from Crutchfield (our Sirius satellite radio kit - delivered in record time) , FTD (a snowman tree which is adorable; the person who rec'd it turned around and ordered a few to send to her friends), WalMart ( a FlyPen, again record time) , Musician's Friend (Ibanez guitar and Pocket Rock IT promptly and professionally shipped) and Enfora (where we ordered a TickTalk phone, with a superb note from the rep there when it shipped as scheduled). All provided prompt service and delivery, and an excellent customer experience. However, Teleflora is another story entirely. See contents of our escalation to them below:
Dear Teleflora People:
Your lack of response is so bad I am trying every way possible to get
communication from you.
Your website states the following:
"At Teleflora we are committed to exceptional service and products. If, for
any reason, you are not completely satisfied with your gift or its delivery,
please do not hesitate to contact us."
That guarantee is a joke, as is your service in my opinion and based on the
details below.What an absolute lack of customer service it is, too. I have
tonight canceled the order and wish to provide you the absolutely
unacceptable experience I've had dealing with your company.
I have spent almost 2 hours on the phone and email over 4 days trying to get
the order below delivered (3226492); the order was placed by me on
12/14/2005 with an expected delivery of 12/15/2005. Throughout this ordeal,
I have not had any contact from your company, email or otherwise, either to
respond to my inquiries via email, or to proactively call me as your staff
said they would.
I was transferred to a supervisor last night (the name was Bev) who agreed
to transfer my order from a florist in the delivery area who was not
responding to voicemails left from your staff after my inquiries. She also
offered to remove the service charges as I agreed to not cancel the order at
that time, and that customer service would call me to confirm the delivery
the next morning (12/20/2005). After no proactive customer-friendly contact
this morning, I called this evening. Apparently, it was known last evening
that you're out of stock on this item and to compound an already bad
experience, the service charges that the supervisor offered to wave when I
agreed to keep the order there apparently never happened. I promptly
canceled the order, which I would have readily done the night or even days
before had I known this.
I spoke with May this evening (she refused to give me her last name) who
informed me that when I asked to speak to a supervisor, no one was there. I
canceled the order with her, and then she informed me that it would take
7-10 days to credit my account: THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE given what I have been
thru with your company. I told her that and she insisted that was the case
and again refused to escalate the matter. My husband called back and spoke
with Amanda who stated it should be credited in 2-3 days, but some
transactions take as long as 7-10 days, which was far more palatable than
the person who spoke with me prior.
At this point, I have no level of comfort that the credit is actually being
processed - why should I since you haven't deemed it important enough to
even try to respond to me? I am expecting a response to this note to advise
me the confirmation in writing of my cancellation and credit. If I do not
receive communication, I will find a way to escalate it until I am heard,
and you can bet your bottom dollar and my credit for this order I'll find
someone who will respond to me.
Mind you, the arrangement in question was about $80 bucks. It won't kills us to wait for the credit, it's actually the misrepresentation and utter lack of service and response which is infuriating.
We didn't stop with our email to Teleflora, oh no. Seeing as we know they won't proactively phone or respond to the service@teleflora.com email address they bandy about, we've also submitted notes to the Better Business Bureau of Los Angeles, the Society of American Florists, and the American Institute of Floral Designers as Teleflora is a member of all of them and in hopes that they will forward to a contact at Teleflora. The note is posted on ConsumerComplaints.com and the Rip Off Report We've gotten the fax number for the Teleflora headquarters and we'll fax a copy of the note there too.
We can tell you this: we'll never order from Teleflora again.
