The customer is dead: long life to the new kings of profit, the delivery companies

Whilst many organisations would claim that they live and breathe for their customers, current reality shows that they have become trapped in pleasing their own interests, in particular they have been bending to the demands of delivery companies.

The use of information technologies in the 1990s and 2000s brought the promise that it was possible for organisations to serve customers who were almost anywhere and any time.  Fast forward now to this current year and the reality is more complex that that.  

Customers from Amazon for instance have lost the option of paying very little or nothing to get their deliveries.  Now and in order to to be delivered their products they have to pay a considerable amount.  The so called free delivery is in fact a delivery that would probably cost Amazon next to nothing.  Customers are not assured when they are going to get their products.  It is up to the transport systems and the companies that operate within those systems.  With hefty fees to pay for short time deliveries, it is no wonder that Amazon and Royal Mail are showing sustained profits. They can dictate the terms of their services to us customers.  And who are we to complain? We are just sand grains on the beach. 

Pick now Ocado, the online grocery store.  They are increasing the price of their anytime delivery monthly membership fee to £9.99 from £6.99.  You can pick anytime you want for the delivery.  Except for the fact that if you pick a time which is too soon (for instance 7am next day when you are ordering at 5pm), you will probably will not have any slot available, or some of your products will not be available either.  Ok, you can say it is about the supply chain of products, but it is also their transport system, how they organise deliveries.  It cannot accommodate overnight demand.  But you still pay the montly fee. So I am opting out.  

IKEA offers home delivery with a standard delivery option.  It takes about a week.  IKEA work together with Parcelforce, a delivery company associated with Royal Mail.  They update you with an exact date of delivery.  So you need to be there to receive the items.  You also pay a fee.  But you do not get to choose what date to receive the items.  It is Parcelforce's decision.  Based on what? Availability or their convenience to deliver in bulk in your area? Again, this is driven by the delivery company not invididual customers.  

When did premium delivery become so expensive? 

We might be victims of our own demise.  With more customers demanding the same thing (fast delivery at almost no price), we now have to put up with the realities of electronic commerce and etailing. First class letters cost more than second class.  But when did second class become subject to what the mail service wanted it to be? It is not us customers who are driving this anymore. 

I am wondering if those deciding how the transport systems that serve our deliveries are thinking beyond their own economies of scale and their profit.  They have a social responsibility to fulfil. 

USC or passing the buck: How etailers cannot deal with simple things

I am currently in the library of my hometown.  After buying a pair of trainers at USC, an etailer of fashion clothes and shoes.

Popped in last Sunday to try the trainers, I liked them so I came back today.  Wanted to wear them straight away, so I was directed to the cashier who could also lend me a pair of scissors to cut the labels.

So before I was given the price (these trainers were on a discount) I was asked if I wanted to buy a bag for the shoes.  I was offered different types.  All I remember is that one type of bags would cost 80 pence. 

I was also put in front of me the box for the shoes.  I said I did not want it, all I wanted was a bag to put the old shoes.

The cashier said that I HAD to take the box.  Because they did not have anywhere to put it.  

So I paid and I said again, I do not need the box.  She said I must take it with me.  What if I do not need it? 

Here comes the fantastic suggestion:  Then throw it away!!

So what appears to be a somehow (but not fully) responsible business when it comes to generate waste (in the form of plastic bags) comes out as a totally careless one.  How come don't they have a way to dispose of their own packing?  Why should the customer do so?

I can understand why they want to charge people for bags (sadly, this is a policy that is now gaining acceptance among businesses in the UK to 'stop' waste).  But should not the problem be resolved in a more sensible and common-sense oriented way? 

So I went to the homepage of USC.  Given my experience with Fatface (you can read it all in my previous post), I now want to raise a complain with customer service.  In this Link they offer a generic form for contact.  There is NO option for the type of query I want to raise.  It seems this business does not have an option that allows them to lean from the customer.  They only want to hear what they want to hear. Complete deafness.  

So I will write to their email address and will give them a link to this blogpost. 

Am I asking for a very complicated thing to be sorted out?  For sure not!  If I was to order my trainers online I would have been the one having to deal with the waste (box, shoes, etc).  But this time I wanted to save me and this company the hassle.  

It was supposed to be a green day, that is why I am cycling.  But reality has hit me in the face.  Etailers like USC only care about their supply chains, they do not seem to care about their environment, even if they encounter 'responsible' customers like me.  I am not a saint when it comes to recycling, but this time I tried, and I failed.  

Ps:  The city council has installed different bins.  One of them is for paper.  But the box did not fit in it, so I had to throw the box in the 'general waste' one.  The council has also its own view of what constitutes 'paper'.

Fatface or flat in your face: how abuse of email and bad customer service damages relationships

Fatface, a clothing company, one of my favourites in the UK until now.  

For my birthday, I go online and buy a nice garment.  Decided to collec them in a store.  It is Sunday, and I get an email confirmation of the order,  the email says I should wait for another email telling me when the garment is in the store.  

I get another email on Monday, telling me it has been dispatched to the store.  I cannot wait.  My birthday is on Thursday, so I decide I will go there on that day.  Three more days...

Thursday comes, I drive to Fatface store in Weybridge, in the middle of a traffic jam. It is 11am.  I am anxious as I have little time to spare.  I show my reference number to the salesman, and I get the following: 

"Your order has not arrived yet.  I know it is confusing, but you should wait for another email telling them that the order has been received.  Sorry about this,  we can keep the item for as long as you need us to here.  When can you come back to collect it? "

I feel like falling flat in my face...

First I replied, I cannot drive to this store anytime I want,  I have a family and a job to look after.  

Secondly, why did I get an email telling me that the order was dispatched?  What is the value of doing this?

Third, you guys have a lousy transport system, it takes more than 3 days for items to arrive on store from wherever they have been stored.

Fourth, can I cancel the order now? 

To this last thing he then replies: 

"I am sorry but you have to wait for the item to arrive, collect it and then claim a refund"

That was the icing on the cake really..

Ok, I may have misread the email on Monday, but why did I need confirmation of dispatch? Many companies email you when they are about to deliver the item to you.  This email did not add anything. It confused me.   

Many companies misuse information systems.  As a customer, they get you involved in the mess of their supply chains through badly conceived emails.  And they top their inefficiency with a lousy customer service. All because they think that a supply chain is about saving money in transport and doing so by inundating customers with emails.  

This week I got another email reminding me that the item is in store, and that at the end of the week it will be returned to the warehouse and I will be refunded if I do not collect it.  It is still my fault, not theirs. 

On the day of my birthday, I told the clerk that I teach a course on e-business, and the apologised again but did not allow me to explain that a key idea is to think of the customer journey, the things we do online and offline to get what we want as a product.  There are customers who can afford to get to a store, and in my case I was also thinking of saving a bit of money in the delivery (£4.95 for a delivery whose delivery day is uncertain, so we still pay for Fatface inefficiencies in transport!). 

Understanding the customer journey means looking at me as a human being, what I do, what I expect.  Then we can design email and service systems together as a 'whole'.  As customers we do not need things that do not add value to our journey and our busy life in general.  We need convenience, opportunity, a helping hand, a shoulder to cry and a professional response from companies.  

You can re-read the above paragraphs and make up your mind as to what I got from Fatface. On the day of my birthday. 

A more careful consideration of this journey for people like me (even if I am in the minority of Fatface customer segmentation) would have made my birthday mor enjoyable.  So after falling flat in my face I decided to enjoy the rest of my birthday without Fatface. And perhaps I will enjoy the rest of my life without them.  

I have also learned that it is good to teach, it gives you ideas to check every day.