When Customer Service at Luxury Retailers Disappoints
Delta picked up the author in a Porsche to catch a connecting flight.
Simply put, companies create loyal customers by helping them solve their problems quickly and effortlessly or acting proactively before a problem happens. I’ve had what I consider to be truly superior service at Chick-Fil-A restaurants (you probably won’t hear someone say that about a McDonald’s experience), Amazon (which recently has sent more damaged or broken items than I would like, but has dealt with the problems in an exemplary manner), while the New York-based online grocer FreshDirect also sends more damaged or broken items than should be the case but is hit or miss on the customer service aspect.
On the travel front, Delta Air Lines, which is one of my regular U.S.-based carriers, resembles a modern-day Jekyll and Hyde when it comes to customer service on the baggage-claim side. Chat with the lovely Diamond and Platinum Medallion reps about an in-flight issue and your concerns will be resolved and they will make you feel good about wanting to fly Delta again. Try and address a baggage-claim issue, however, and it seems that Mr. Hyde is in control, with rudeness and incompetence overshadowing all considerations.
One would presume that purveyors of higher-end goods would operate in an entirely different strata – and one would be wrong, at least partially.
Entrance to Virgin Atlantic’s ultra-private Upper Class Wing
Luxury goods buyers typically expect a retail experience befitting their purchase. Walk into Wempe, a purveyor of fine watches and jewelry founded in Hamburg in 1878 with locations all over the world, and you will be invited to sit down and enjoy a sparkling water or glass of Sekt or cappuccino while contemplating the purchase of a new watch or necklace. We’ve wandered into Tiffany & Co. with a question about an inherited item and were cosseted while waiting for assistance, offered coffee and sparkling water, and generally made to feel like a guest, not a customer. Fly in the haughtily named “Upper Class” business-class cabin on Virgin Atlantic and be picked up at your hotel in London and dropped off at a private entrance at London Heathrow where you’ll most likely be the only person going through the private security channel. Or fly Delta with a tight connection and the Atlanta-based airline – at least for those it considers to be its high-value customers – will meet you getting off the first flight with a Porsche and driver and deliver you across the tarmac to your connecting flight.
While many retailers – from Louis Vuitton to Saks Fifth Avenue to Cartier – spend seemingly endless amounts of money on creating the aura of exclusivity in their midst, when they fail, they can and do fail spectacularly.
At least 10% of luxury goods consumers will simply refuse to do business with a company where they experience poor customer service and almost half would require an apology as well as some other kind of incentive to return to the brand.
Here are three case studies on how not to succeed at luxury goods sales.
Click here to continue to Page 3 – Saks, Tiffany & Co., and Louis Vuitton
