Company Blog

The Point of No Return

by Adam Zack — May 27, 2015

reportCard Does anything say “We don’t give a crap about customer service” more than a Gestapo like return policy? When you think of great customer service, which national brands do you think of? I think Nordstrom sets the gold standard. And you know what their return policy is? They don’t even have a return policy! Check it out! Nordstrom Return Policy Maybe you have heard the tale of a man taking two tires back to a Nordstrom in Alaska and getting a refund, even though they did not even sell tires. I am sure there has been some embellishing over the years, but who wouldn’t say “Wow!!” upon hearing it. It automatically gives you confidence that if for any reason you’re not happy with what you buy, you can get a refund without going through the Spanish Inquisition to get it. And how about Costco? How great is it that if you don’t like, need or want something, you can take it back without a receipt whenever you feel like it (OK, with electronics they give you 90 days, which is extremely generous. Everything else has no time limit.) Customer focused return policies are a vital key to great service. Lucky’s Market, with 18 stores in 11 states has this return policy:

return

Now that is great customer service! I want to shop there.

So why do so many businesses take the “No shoes, no shirt, NO SERVICE” mentality when it comes to returns? Do they really think that turning a customer away with some food they didn’t like is going to break them? Do they even realize that they have the ability to turn a negative situation into a positive customer service bond? I estimate that 95% of customer returns are legitimate, but still I see customers getting grilled about how long they left the chicken unrefrigerated or why they didn’t return the whole rack of lamb and not just the uneaten portion, or just what the hell do they expect us to do without a receipt.? What if they bought that milk somewhere else and returned it to us! Oh the humanity!! Yeah, we work on a very, very small net margin, but if your return policy is not customer service focused, then those pennies that were part of that margin will now go elsewhere and add to your competitions bottom line. Yeah, there are exceptions and that 5% who just wants to rip you off will have to be dealt with, but the 95% of honest people will love you and sing your praises to their friends.

At DWG, I was very impressed with DW’s answer to a great new client that wanted to know what kind of contract would be required. DW told him that we don’t do contracts. If at any time the customer is unhappy with our work, we want them to be comfortable to pursue other options. It’s all about the customers success and we want to be part of that. Feel free to bring in your tires.