Why I Trust @Zappos More than @UPS and How Tweeting is Not Enough.

My Zappos UPS package was stolen from my front door, and like every prolific social media loud-mouth, I Tweeted it out late last night:



Now what I didn’t megaphone was how I filled out a customer claim form like a consumer who functions in society should. The next morning, I woke up to responses from Zappos via Twitter and email. No big shocker there, since I’ve been a fan of Zappos loooooooooooong before Twitter and their customer service has always been exceptional.

But I wasn’t expecting a response from UPS and I’m not going to lie. I was surprised to see them monitoring conversation.

Take a look:

But Zappos is always one step ahead:

(I had to add “refund” since the Tweet got cut off. You can view the series of @ replies here and here)

I then replied to UPS and told them my shipment was stolen who then told me:

To which I responded:



Then responded to Zappos:

The reason I trust Zappos more for customer care more than UPS is simple:
Where UPS asked me to email the order number to some generic email address, Zappos asked me to DM the order number. That tells me the person behind the Twitter account really wants to resolve my issue as soon as possible.

It’s good to see brands like UPS monitoring conversation, but follow through is what is most important. Who knows, maybe UPS would have resolved my issue, but by the time the UPS guy responded to my Tweet, Zappos already emailed, offered to look into the stolen package and shipped me replacements. I am 100% sure the @Zappos_Service on Twitter, would have offered the same exact thing if I had DMd my order number. Zappos is good like that. Now if I was dealing only with UPS, I probably would still be waiting for acknowledgement of my claim.

Resolution is just as (or perhaps more) important than listening. What brands must ask themselves before delving into the phenomenon that is Social Media is this: Do we have a workflow set in place to resolve issues?

I know I do for my brand, but I constantly strive to exceed Zappos’ extraordinary ethos. After all, happy loyal customers are the reason why we have our jobs. That, is the true power of social media. :)

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