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What American Express did about my lost gift cards.

by Lois Geller

A few weeks before Christmas, I ordered eight American Express Gift Cards and was disappointed when they didn’t arrive in time for the big day.
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Later, I asked Amex about the cards in an email and back came an automatic answer that they’d reply in a day. They did, which was good. Even better, they said they’d invalidated the cards and reinstated my points (and added some more to my account … for my troubles).
I loved that response. Amex tends to be like that; they usually do the right thing.
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This reminded me of my friend David Hochberg who was a frequent guest lecturer at the Direct Marketing courses I taught at NYU. David worked at the Lillian Vernon Catalog.
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He told us that people who bought a gift through Lillian Vernon catalog but returned it were always happy. Why?
“Because we take everything back, even personalized merchandise, unconditionally” he said. They also tracked everything and learned to their surprise that people who return merchandise purchase more items over a long period of time than any other group.
That makes sense. Obviously, I’m going to be more loyal to American Express now and have already been using their card a lot more often lately. So consider:

1. Make everything “right” for your customers.

2. Give them a little something “extra” for their trouble.

3. It will make you memorable, because the customer is expecting “push-back” from you.

Good Luck

7 comments

1 Roberta Rosenberg { 01.05.10 at 2:28 pm }

Under-promise, over-deliver works every time, no matter what the business or industry.

2 loisgeller { 01.05.10 at 11:23 pm }

You’re so right, Roberta! Thanks for your comment.

3 Roberta Balder { 01.06.10 at 3:18 pm }

So true. Nearly 20 years ago Lillian Vernon promised they would deliver my daughter’s wooden doll house in time for Christmas. Two days before Christmas we still hadn’t received it . They handled it so poorly I vowed I would never shop there again. And guess what, I haven’t. Yet, I still remember what a horrible experience it was. My daughter, however, still remembers her Plastic Playskool dollhouse we bought her instead. Never, never, never underestimate the importance of good customer service!

4 Lois Geller { 01.06.10 at 3:53 pm }

It is amazing how we remember the awful customer service (like you did from 20 years ago), and the great things like American Express handled my lost cards.

5 Dorri Olds { 01.18.10 at 7:10 pm }

American Express is such a great company. Somebody got hold of my AmEx number and charged up hundreds of dollars. When i called AmEx they immediately canceled my card, sent me a new that arrived in a day or 2 and removed the charges from my bill. It probably helps that I pay my bills the day they come in. They’re also always very pleasant and helpful on the phone. Kindness and courtesy goes a long way.

6 Al Ferretti { 01.18.10 at 7:22 pm }

Hey Lois,
Great post~ You are so on when it comes to providing legendary service. I still say we clone you.
You’re the best. Thank you for sharing this post.

-Your pal Al-a proud American Express Cardholder~
@alferretti

7 Terri Seymour { 01.26.10 at 4:03 pm }

Customer service is definitely very important. I always make it a point to give my customers a little extra when something goes wrong of things don’t go as they should. Unfortunately a lot of companies seem to have forgotten this so if you find one that hasn’t, stick with it! Thanks for sharing!

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