Customer Service in Retail

Retailers all over the country often define their business as having a top notch customer service practice: but do they?

Let’s start with one of the experiences I had this winter shopping season. I wanted to buy a hat that was on 50% sale, and asked the salesperson at the counter to order it for me and have it sent to my home.

When I received it, I found I had been charged full price. I called the company and they were closed (admittedly it was New Year’s eve around 4 PM, what did I expect.) But they returned my call and left a message saying that I needed to contact the salesperson. It was unclear if they had done that too.

When the store opened a couple of days later after the holidays, I called them, and the salesperson wasn’t there. I spoke to the manager  who said the original salesperson would have to be the one to change it.

Days passed, I called again, he wasn’t there again. I left a message. Finally I tried to contact customer service using the contact form on their website: It didn’t work, no matter how many times I tried. Then I tried to fax them: the fax machine didn’t pick up on their end. Frustrated to no end, I sent the letter to the head of customer service.

Days later, I still had not received a reply. Finally about 14 days later, I called again, and was told that the adjustment was being made.

This is not the way to make loyal customers.

To give you a sense of how large this company is without revealing who they are, they have been outfitting men for nearly two centuries, and are one of America’s oldest retailers, specializing in men’s suits and outerwear. (Abe Lincoln was wearing one of their suits and overcoat when he was assassinated, according to Hoovers.com.)

The company also sells women’s and children’s apparel, and recently has been running a superb advertising campaign featuring interesting (and also extremely good-looking) normal people wearing their clothing. They have also spent a great deal of time and money revamping their women’s clothing line which is more upbeat and less dowdy than in the past, and features many of the updated fit elements that women expect, such as lower cut pants. And this fall they launched one of their best women’s fall lines ever.

They make the best fitting, modern cut khakis in the industry, hands down. No one company now can boast the same fit for women in this category. And, better still, their prices are incredibly reasonable.

The company operates about 180 upscale retail stores and outlets nationwide, and a total of 325 stores worldwide according to Hoovers.com and Yahoo Finance.

Through partnerships, the clothier boasts 100-plus stores in about 15 countries, including Chile, China, Italy, and Japan, among others. They are owned by a large retail consortium and led by its colorful CEO, an Italian billionaire.

Well the secret is out. But somewhere, somehow, the broken link in their sales system, and their customer service response system, needs to be fixed.