We all make mistakes. It’s part of being human.
Customers won’t be happy that something has gone wrong with their valued order but the main thing they will remember is how well you rectify the situation. Back in February 2013 I ordered a significant quantity of upholstery fabric from an on-line retailer. The manufacturer was Crowson and the fabric was a heavy duty grade suggested for contract applications.
The finished furniture was delivered in early April and faults in the fabric were immediately apparent. The on-line retailer wanted Crowson to take responsibility as the manufacturer and a sales person did visit to look at the problem in May.
I did exchange e-mails with the Crowson MD but he insisted that I dealt with the on-line retailer as that was where the purchase contract lay.
Finally we agreed to accept replacement material and a contribution to have new cushions made. The replacement fabric was received and shipped to the furniture manufacturer and, guess what? They refused to use it as it appeared faulty!
This time Crowson immediately agreed to replace the fabric and I was contacted a few weeks ago to say the fabric was ready BUT not with a flame retardant backing. This is a requirement by law for upholstery fabric so I cannot believe that Crowson offered untreated fabric. They finally agreed to have the fabric treated but this would add another 5 weeks to the process.
We are now 14 months into the the process and still we wait for a satisfactory conclusion. The Crowson MD has told me that he oversees all complaints. He’ll never see another one from me as I’ll never purchase fabric from them again.
This should have been solved 8 months ago but a failure to grab hold of the issue, own it and solve it means they have disgruntled customers.
Solve the problem quickly and efficiently and your customer will remember that you treated their complaint seriously and you could even improve your relationship with them.