Last month, I ordered a black, leather wallet from Amazon.com. When it arrived, I was stunned to see I received a brown, plastic wallet instead.
So I begrudgingly started the return process and thought, what an annoyance to have to go through this (e.g. shipping it back) when it wasn’t my fault. It turns out I couldn’t complete the process, because the wallet I wanted was now out of stock.
I wrote Amazon’s customer service a note explaining the situation and seeking a recommendation. I was stunned by their response:
I’m so sorry to know that the item which you received was different from what was ordered. We certainly did not expect this to happen. As a customer service representative, I’m willing to help you in this issue.
It is certainly not our intention to ship incorrect products to our customers, and we will investigate the origin of this problem. Unfortunately, on rare occasions, fulfillment centers make a mistake when assembling a package. I’ve forwarded your message to our fulfillment team to make sure they’re aware of this incident.
When something like this happens, I’d normally send out a replacement order. I’ve checked your order and see it that the item now is temporarily out of stock in our website.
As a valued customer and as much as I want to help you, I’ve requested a full refund of $XX. This refund will appear in the next 2-3 business days as a credit on the original payment method used for the order. Once processed, you’ll also be able to see the refund here:
To avoid any inconvenience, as we don’t like to waste your precious time, there’s no need to return the item you received. You’re welcome to keep, donate or dispose of it–whichever option is most appropriate and convenient for you.
How awesome is that? As the saying goes, go above and beyond in customer service–and Amazon certainly did that.