Lorna at Vicenza

I bought Chloe a pair of shoes from a UK website shop in May. They arrived on the 28th and broke today. The very thick, rubber sole just cracked wide open and split apart when she was walking home.

I took 2 photos and emailed them to the company with a polite email. I didn't demand anything. I just said how very disappointed we are and if they've had other problems with this particular model.

Their reply within one hour .....



Hi there

Thank you for your image.
We are really sorry about this, please accept our sincere apologies.

I can confirm that we would like to offer you a replacement item, if in stock, or a refund. Please let us know how you wish to proceed so that we may assist you further.

Please note that we do not require the faulty item back and you may dispose of this.

Kind Regards,


I replied and asked for the same shoes again. Chloe really loved them and they are not a big trend here so practically impossible to find in the shops around us.

Less than one hour later another email from them ....

Hi


Thank you for your reply.
I can confirm that a replacement is being processed and will be despatched shortly. Please note that deliver will be within 3-18 working days.


Thank you for your patience and understanding.


Kind Regards

Now THIS is customer service! Fast, quick, apologetic and brilliant.

Isakat

Absolutely, something unheard of here.

I remember buying Clarks school shoes for DS and when he put them on we noticed a fault in the toes.
The shoes were bought in May and we noticed in September, so out of the normal time for returns.

Needless to say, they told us we can have a new pair, after we told them it was impossible to send a picture of the inside of the shoe.

And OH bought an expensive pair of shoes here that lasted 1 month. The soles came off. I never bothered complaining-took them to be repaired at our cost as I did not want agro....together with the Geox shoes that also split( but at least lasted 1 year)

Lorna at Vicenza

Like I said - brillant service and all done by internet. Years ago I bought a pair of leather sandals for me from a boutique shop in town. I decided to keep them on and walk home. On the way home, one of the straps broke out from the sole. I took the sandals right back the next day, there is no way that the woman didn't remember me. She just told me "that I must have a wonky walk". Not joking, she said "ma è lei signora che cammina storta."

ononno

It was your sexy wiggle to blame Lorna.

duffer

So you were twerping in those sandals!!

gioppino

Not really a paradox. Friendliness and politeness are not synonyms. Being treated in a professional and courteous way is politeness.

Friendliness is in my view something that applies to human relationships. Italians (and this is deliberate generalisation) can be very friendly, but only after they've got to know you well, and this is particularly true in the South.

As an Italian who has lived abroad for many years, I've noticed that the standard of customer service in Italian shops (and I'm talking of Tuscany now) has fallen miserably. I haven't noticed a particular rudeness, rather a "can't be bothered" attitude.

And by the way a certain "roughness" of shopkeepers in Italy is appreciated by the Iocals because, in the eye of the buyer, it is associated to spontaneity.

MarkRD

Also in the North.. especially in the "provincial" ie. smaller towns. In fact you may even be treated with suspicion, especially if you try to be friendly.

Lorna at Vicenza

You twerp. It's called twerKing .............. and I do it very well

duffer

3 recent examples of customer service I have experienced -

1. Natuzzi armchair that cost €1000 on sale developed a fault 2 weeks after being delivered. Took 4 months to resolve, including an attempt to repair it at home that lasted 30 mins before the fault came back and having just the bottom half of the chair, without the backrest, in my living room for 2 weeks.

2. My internet provider and Hello Bank both refusing to admit to anything. I have been paying by monthly direct debit without problems for about 2 years and I recently changed banks to Hello Bank. Somehow, the direct debit doesn't go through anymore with Hello Bank and my internet provider charged me €4,50 for missing the payment. It has happened 3 times now: Aug, Sept and now this month. The problem is the provider says the problem is not theirs and the bank tells me that the provider has not set up the request correctly and advises me to ask the provider to try again. So far, nothing has been resolved, I'm stuck in the middle and the only way this will get resolved is by me paying the bill manually every time. Any chance of a refund? Fat chance!

3. A Crocs rucksack bought on sale for £10 in UK during the summer. In the first week of school, the rubber zip-pull snapped. I wrote to the UK customer services and they replied same day, asking for photos. I sent photos and the next day they replied saying they do not have the spare part in their warehouse so I can choose any bag from their website and they'll ship it out to me in Italy. The OH choose a £30 Tote.

I also phoned the Crocs store where I got the rucksack from, and without asking they just told me to bring it in and they'll replace it for a new one. I told them we cannot make it to the UK until after Xmas and they said no problem, they'll put one aside for us. Great!! They don't even need the receipt, which I don't have anyway!

37100

I was on the phone every day for about 20 days to Natuzzi and OH went to the shop several times until they sent someone round. That was after a previous bad experience taught me a lesson.

You can't transfer direct debits anymore. You have to set up a new one. If you filled in the form correctly, surely its the banks fault.

I order some things from the UK. The parcel came minus a bit. Obviously, I can't prove it was missing. Phoned and they said they'd refund me.

Isakat

I have a Natuzzi leather sofa that cost a fair amount a couple of years ago and it seems collapsed on one side. I am thinking of asking someone I know to come and have a look at it, rather than loose my nerves with them.

Oh, regarding direct debit. The bank changed OH's card and we forgot to set up a new direct debit with Telepass. Imagine our surprise when we drove through the Telepass toll and the ramp did not open.............because they could not take the direct debit from the new card? Thank got for the good breaks.
It would have been good of them to at least let us know beforehand that there was no payment.

duffer

I received a call today from Fastweb about a 'practica' I opened with them and they wanted to know if everything has now been resolved. I remember writing to them last year to know if they have plans to lay their fibre optic network down my street but apart from that didn't know what the call could've been about. I asked them what it was about and they said it was an issue with the internet speed I contacted them about in 2011.

Yes, in 2011.

About speed.

The company's name is FAST web.

Garbatellamike

I think a name change to gentle medium pace web may be in order then

MarkRD

I think it's appropriate they get together for a special promotion with Sky.
They're both rubbish.

Patty

I had a right to do this summer (cant remember if I wrote about it so apologies if I repeat myself.)
One of these energy companies rang and spoke to my son. He misunderstood and bless his cotton socks, accidentally set up a new contract with them. How on earth they can do this on the phone is beyond me, but they did.
So I had a few weeks of utter frustration and e mails, faxes, letters to tell them CATEGORICALLY that I am the owner of this house ,not my son and therefore any contract they had done with him was not legal. It took months before they actually backed down and accepted my notice of cancellation. I was honestly at the end of my tether (sons strangle marks just clearing )
but it made me think how many elderly people get conned like this ? I was disgusted.