Big Companies Get E-Commerce So Wrong!

I'm pissed off at the moment!! I ordered my mum Mother's Day flowers from Tesco Direct as she likes the company and who am I to risk getting my mum flowers from a company that I don't trust to get it right?

Well, how wrong could I be. Tesco Direct pride themselves on their customer service, but they got it very wrong this time. If it's one group of their customers they can't disappoint it's mothers!

The flowers never got delivered on the day I set, they haven't got back to me with a reason and their telephone support is woefully inadequate!

So what should huge retailers offer in the way of customer service? Well here's my little bit of advice:

1) Don't make your customers wait 15 minutes and still not take their customer service query - I may be wanting to spend more money with you!

2) If you give a customer support email address make sure you get back to your customers within 24 hours! Great company's get back even sooner.

3) Predict Issues - how simple is it for a report to be created showing "Orders by date" | "Dispatched?" - it's not. The product I bought was "Mother's Day Flowers" - that's what you called it - make sure all of your products about Mother's Day are delivered before!

4) Keep your promises - it was a condition of my purchase that they were delivered on the day. At the moment Tesco is in breach of contract!

5) Communicate with your customers - I don't mean the constant drivel of marketing messages - speak to us!

6) Be accountable for your, or your supplier's actions. If you've dropped a bollock, apologise.

7) Value your customers, say sorry with vouchers, better flowers.

So even big companies can learn lessons. The points I set out above are so obvious it makes me cringe that they've not been implemented.

Will I get my money back, will I be able to make it up to my mum? I doubt it. Companies these days are so adept at hiding behind T&C's that consumers are shafted all the time.

Will I used Tesco Direct for my Girlfriends flowers, my mum's, Christmas, Valentine's Day? Will I pop in for petrol or last-minute shopping? No - not until I've had an apology and to feel valued!