Zappos Sends the Flowers!

Manolo says, the Manolo is not surprised by this story about the Zappos extraordinary customer service.

Zaz Lamarr meant to return some shoes to Zappos, but her mom passed away and, naturally, she just didn’t have time. Zappos arranged to have UPS come pick up the shoes—and then sent her flowers:

When I came home this last time, I had an email from Zappos asking about the shoes, since they hadn’t received them. I was just back and not ready to deal with that, so I replied that my mom had died but that I’d send the shoes as soon as I could. They emailed back that they had arranged with UPS to pick up the shoes, so I wouldn’t have to take the time to do it myself. I was so touched. That’s going against corporate policy.

Yesterday, when I came home from town, a florist delivery man was just leaving. It was a beautiful arrangement in a basket with white lilies and roses and carnations. Big and lush and fragrant. I opened the card, and it was from Zappos. I burst into tears. I’m a sucker for kindness, and if that isn’t one of the nicest things I’ve ever had happen to me, I don’t know what is.

Such dedication to the customer is one of the reasons why the Manolo frequently recommends the Zappos to his internet friends.

Here is the link to the original blog posting.

Comments

The Betsy 16 years ago

How fabulous. Reading that brought tears to my eyes. What a wonderful group of people at Zappos, and I’m so glad you shared that story. Zappos has moved to the top of my shopping bookmark list.

Christina 16 years ago

That is too cool. I always shop at Zappos anyway–they have shoes in women’s size 12. Not an easy thing to find.

But now, I feel even better about shopping there. Yay to Zappos!

Jen C 16 years ago

I have never purchased something at Zappos but this makes me want to go buy something from them now. How rare to find a company that cares about its customers.

My condolences to Zaz Lamarr.

Cat 16 years ago

That is so fabulous! I’ve always had good experiences with Zappos, and have been very impressed by their excellent customer service, but this really goes above and beyond. Kudos to Zappos, and condolences to Ms. Lamarr and her family.

Jen 16 years ago

It’s true. They have good service.

Bridey 16 years ago

Wow! I know where I’m buying my next pair of shoes. That’s remarkable.

Maybe I’ll even take another look at those fabulous $800-plus silver shoes the Manolo featured a while back…. (Well, I can dream.)

enc 16 years ago

Unheard of, and unprecedented.

How wonderful.

Toby Wollin 16 years ago

Take THAT, Piperlime…

DasBoots 16 years ago

In an age where basic human kindness appears to be sorely lacking, it’s lovely to see this company (or any company, for that matter) go so far above and beyond the already terrific service that they offer.

My condolences to Ms. Lamarr, and kudos to the employees of Zappos. If I had my way, your business model would be taught to all of the MBA wannabes.

techne 16 years ago

Wow. Just wow.

16 years ago

After a week of suffering at the hands of tactless and arrogant idiots a story like this restores a smidgin of my faith in humanity. Bravo Zappos.

Linda Grant 16 years ago

Zappos legendary customer service does not apply to international customers, whom it does not serve at all.

Q: Do you ship to addresses outside the United States?
A: We ship to all US States and Territories. Orders placed through Canada.Zappos.com can be shipped to Canada (For details, see: Canada.Zappos.com/cs_shipping.zhtml). We do not ship to any other international locations at this time.

Phalene 16 years ago

That settles it, I know where I’m going shoe shopping when I need to replace my dress shoes.

desertwind 16 years ago

I hope that customer service rep gets a raise.

Really, when so many companies nickle-and-dime you to the point where you just give up on them, this was not only a sweet thing to do — it was smart! Look at all the goodwill this gesture has created.

Of course, this doesn’t apply to certain service companies you’re just stuck with because there’s nobody else (for now) … Hello, Verizon?

LauraG 16 years ago

I have only heard good things about Zappos, but have still been hesitant to buy shoes over the internet. This story convinced me to do it. After reading Ms Lamarr’s tale (which brought tears to my eyes), I went ahead and ordered a fabulous pair of heels and am in love…thank you!