Despite Promise of Net Customer Service, You’ll Still Be Waiting
Imagine standing in a store, hunting for a clerk, and all of a sudden one bounds in front of you with this: “Robert has arrived to help you!”
That’s the greeting at Nordstrom.com from Robert, a customer-service staffer who answers questions in real time through text messaging over the Internet. Many other e-tail sites have their own Roberts ready to help you through the online shopping experience. The most cutting-edge e-tailers, such as Jcrew.com, even enable you to talk with a staffer through your computer’s microphone and speakers.
But don’t start cheering just yet. E-tail customer-service departments still have a ways to go to prove that the customer is always right.
On half of the sites where I tried “live” customer service, it was like waiting at a register for a no-show clerk. Nothing happened.
A couple of times--with Landsend.com and Deananddeluca.com--my system froze, requiring me to reboot and reconnect to the Internet. At Rei.com, my sales help directed me to a URL to see some gifts I’d asked about. But after quitting online help, I lost the page and never was able to get it back.
As for actually talking with a sales rep, it’s still a technology that needs a little work. Although I could hear Pamela, the service representative from Jcrew.com, loud and clear, for some reason she couldn’t hear me, so she politely disconnected me.
When everything worked, my questions were answered efficiently, though not always quickly. The minutes can tick by, and you don’t know whether it’s because of a slow Internet or a slow helper.
Thank goodness sites such as 800.com quickly followed up on my online questions with e-mail transcripts. During the 30 or so minutes it took to e-mail the conversation, I might have forgotten what was said.
Robert at Nordstrom was able to get me the kind of information I sometimes seek in a store but don’t always get. I wanted a fleece pullover in a certain color, but it wasn’t listed in a medium. Would they be getting more, I asked?
First, he brought up a URL on my screen. I clicked on it and saw the pullover to make sure it was the right one. Robert then said: “I’m sorry. I’m afraid we’re out of the medium, and it doesn’t look like the buyer is able to get any more from the vendor.” I went with an alternate color.
At 800.com, Rshiraishi landed on the scene quickly and dispatched my question almost as fast.
“Where can I find shipping charges?” I asked.
Agent Rshiraishi: “They are added in the shopping cart.”
Me: “So there’s no way to know them before adding an item to my cart?”
Agent Rshiraishi: “Correct.”
It was a short transcript.
Some of the sites’ customer-service procedures are confusing at first. Alfred F. might think I’m a little daffy because the first thing I asked him at Sportchalet.com was whether he saw my question. That’s because at this site and others, you type in your name and question as you enter that part of the site, then are told you’re in line. But when help arrives, you are asked for your question again.
Alfred did see my question but ultimately wasn’t able to help. Apparently the racket I was asking about--which I had seen in the store--was not the same as the one on the Web site. “Unfortunately, I am not able to check if it is the same racket that is in the store. I apologize for the inconvenience this may cause,” Alfred said. What a gentleman.
Most of my live conversations followed a similar script, starting with “How may I help you?” and ending with “Can I be of any more help?”
Eddiebauer.com even went the extra step by trying to call me when I had repeated trouble connecting.
Many e-tailers offer customer-service options beyond live online help--you can call, of course, or e-mail. You can also ask some sites, such as Landsend.com, to call you.
But sometimes it might be best to forget all this technology and just call. After my first failed attempt to use Jcrew.com’s voice chat--before I got as far as hearing Pamela over my speakers--I sent an e-mail asking why I got a message saying my speakers and microphone “couldn’t be detected.”
Two days later, Melissa from customer service sent back a simple reply telling me to be sure to click on a certain button in the customer-service area.
The instructions didn’t help, and I never got to chat with Pamela.
Well, so much for customer service. On to technical support.
*
Jennifer Lowe is deputy food editor of The Times.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
THE SKINNY
Shopping for: Helpful online customer service
Sites visited: Deananddeluca.com, Eddiebauer.com, 800.com, Jcrew.com, Landsend.com, Nordstrom.com, Rei.com, Sportchalet.com
The good: It was nice to know someone was there to assist. Answers were usually helpful.
The bad: Getting connected. Whether it was my computer, the Internet or me, sometimes I just couldn’t get help.
Bottom line: By all means, give online customer service a try, but it might be just as easy to call.
