Textbook Service Recovery by Crate & Barrel

It’s not often you have a customer service experience that is SO GOOD you feel compelled to tell people about it, but I had one recently with Crate & Barrel. What they did to recover from a service issue was perfect, and I am one impressed customer (and customer service consultant). Here’s what happened:

I ordered a rug for my vacation home, paying extra for expedited, 2-day delivery. I needed the rug to arrive before I left town to return to my primary residence. I was assured that the 2-day delivery was “guaranteed”. Unfortunately, the rug did not arrive as scheduled.

I called Crate & Barrel Customer service from the airport, on my way home. The agent (I’ll call her Nancy), immediately apologized. She told me she was sure the rug would arrive today. When I explained that I wouldn’t be there, she said, “Oh no!”. (Points given for immediate apology, and for the genuine expression of dismay.)

I explained that my 60-year old neighbor lady planned to watch for the rug to arrive, and get it into the house herself, and expressed concern about her trying to wrestle with a very heavy 8’ X 10’ wool rug. Nancy blurted out another “Oh no!”, and offered to “send someone” to my home to meet my neighbor to move the rug into my house. She also explained that Crate & Barrel takes “full responsibility” for UPS’s failure to deliver as guaranteed. (Points given for the second “Oh no!”, the offer of help for my neighbor, and for taking responsibility for something beyond C & B’s immediate control.)

As it turns out, the rug did show up the next day and my neighbor managed somehow to get it into my house. Nancy from C & B made a follow-up call to me to check up on whether they needed to send help. She also assured me that C & B would refund all delivery charges to me (before I asked). (Points given for follow up call and for doing the right thing regarding delivery charges.)

Now for the icing on the cake, in terms of service recovery… When I explained that my biggest disappointment was inconveniencing my neighbor, Nancy asked if I would provide her with contact information. C & B is sending my neighbor a note of thanks and apology, along with a gift card. (Major points accrued for this!!)

Would I order from Crate & Barrel again? Already have – to the tune of several thousand dollars. This is a company that hires good people for customer service, trains them well, and empowers them to do the right thing. I was so wow’ed, that I had to spread the story around. Thank you, Crate & Barrel.