I ordered something online (specialty company) for my husband for Christmas. It came late (that’s expected, and totally understandable). One of the items that I had paid for wasn’t in the box (also understandable, no issues with that).
I emailed them to let them know and asked if/when they would be sending it out (not an aggressive email, we LOVE their product and order somewhat regularly). Heard nothing for a full week (ok, that seems like a long time, but I’ll try again). Emailed again and three days later I received a response asking if I wanted the item sent out to me complimentarily, for not being in the box (complimentarily usually means free, right?). So, I asked if I was getting the one I paid for or an extra one (to fulfill the complimentarily part).
They said I was getting the one I paid for (so I was getting the one I paid for, not a complimentarily one, and I know the word is complimentary, but they said complimentarily, so I’m using it here just in case it’s different).
I am not going to name and shame the company because that’s not the point. They fulfilled the order and I’m sure we’ll order again (again, specialty company and we LOVE their products), but this is a case where one of a few things needed to happen:
☝️ Have a second set of eyes look over correspondence if you’re sending out generic responses
☝️ Educate your employees to the correct phrasing on words since this correspondence could probably be considered some type of contract
☝️ Don’t try to be a big company in presenting yourself as bot-like. Embrace the small company that you are and connect with your customers.
I just received notification that it should be delivered today (resent last week, so again, understandable on the timeline) so this is obviously on my mind. It’s food and I’m hungry, so I’m going to go wait for my Amazon guy. 🙂