Those of you who follow this blog know that I have in the past ranted about poor customer service and how companies are just interested in getting your money and then basically you are on your own (Read It's not policy and other ways to ensure customer disservice and The Incredible Shrinking Customer Service). So it is only fair that when I encounter good customer service that I need to give it equal time.
Many companies don't understand that when their product fails, that the customer is not the one that needs to explain why the product isn't as good as it was purported to be. I have dealt with poor quality products over the years, and when requesting that a firm stands behind their product I am left to felt like I'm in an interrogation room, with a spotlight shining in my eyes, needing to justify that I didn't do something to make the product fail.
So was not the case with Ralph Lauren. I had bought some lovely Sateen, 500 thread count sheets some 6 months ago when I moved into my new place. I loved the feel of these sheets and at my age, I could wake up in the morning and I didn't have those deep grooves in my face that made me look like a wrinkle puppy for half the day. However, after six months there were these tears (that's "tair" not "teer") that appeared on the bottom sheet. Short of a tiger sneaking into my bed at night there was no real explanation for this except a quality glitch.
As it had been six months, I no longer had my receipt from the store I had bought it from, but none the less tried to determine if they would take it back, which understandably, but unfortunately they did not. I did however wonder what they thought I had been doing on these sheets to make them tear so!
So I emailed Ralph Lauren through their online store. I indicated that I hoped that they would forward my issue to whoever could help, as I was in Canada and had not bought this through their online presence. I explained in my email the issue, and that these sheets had gentle use, that is I sleep on my own, I did not have long toe nails, nor finger nails, no clawed animals were lurking to tear up the sheets when I wasn't looking and there were no monkeys jumping on the bed (you will only understand the reference to the latter if you have children and know the rhyme).
Within twenty-four hours I had an email response from Ralph Lauren, wherein they asked me for a little further information about the sheets ( I sent a picture of the tag). Another email came back within an hour, saying that this information would be forwarded to a product specialist for review. A further two days resulted in a product specialist getting back to me, saying that because I was in Canada, they were forwarding to a contact in Customer Relations and that he would get contact me, which he did within a day. A request for a photo of the sheet issue (he said usually they ask for the product back, but as I was in Canada that a picture would suffice). He forwarded the picture to his quality assurance group and within another day a resolution, as QA indicated it was a product integrity problem.
And the resolution way exceeded my expectations. I had spent $150 on these sheets, the dollar value which I had shared with Ralph Lauren. Not only are they refunding the $150, but an additional $30 is being added on to ensure that any bank or other charges are not at my expense.
Time from original email to resolution January 4th to January 10th. Along the way, each individual noted that Ralph Lauren stands behind their brand and that my satisfaction was their top concern. And they demonstrated this in spades.
The difference between Ralph Lauren and most other companies is that many say that they stand behind their product and that they focus on customer satisfaction, yet then they make you feel like a criminal when you complain. Ralph Lauren took full ownership of the issue and ensured customer delight!
Am I going to buy Ralph Lauren product again...you betcha! I already have new Ralph Lauren sheets adorning my bed. Because I don't need to worry if there is an issue with a product.
So kudos to Ralph Lauren for understanding that brand is more than putting a logo on a product. It is ensuring that each and every customer is satisfied and thereby becomes a periphery sales person of that brand. You can be assured that I am one of those periphery sales people now!!
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