Merrell Shoes

Happy day to all!

My last blog went into some 'light' detail regarding a business' online presence and monitoring customer satisfaction through social media tools.  I gave an example of a bad experience I had with Home Depot as far as customer service.  Today, I want to give you an example of an outstanding job of customer service by Merrell Shoes.

Late this summer I purchased a pair of Merrell Paragon shoes.  I tried them on in the store and instantly fell in love with them.  Now let me say, I have always been a big fan of Merrell shoes - I have had numerous pairs of both their hiking boots as well as running shoes, and had great luck with all of them.  So dropping $100.00 on these new Paragon's wasn't a big concern to me.  I threw them on and wore them out of the store.

Over the next few weeks, I wore the shoes off and on, but mostly just to work.  I am predominantly sitting at a desk for a large portion of each day; I say this to let you know that this particular pair of shoes were not being 'over used' in any way.  After about 1 to 1 1/2 months of wearing the shoes to work and occasionally out shopping on the weekend, my problem developed.

On the exact same day, after NO heavy use or running in these shoes whatsoever, both shoes suffered what can only be called a 'blowout' on the inside front, near where the ball of the foot rests against the side of the shoe.  You can only imagine how disappointed I was.  The shoes still looked brand new at that point, probably having only been worn for maybe 20 days or so by that time.  They were now unwearable, and basically garbage.  I contacted the store that I had purchased the shoes from, and they bluntly informed me that there was nothing they could do.  I threw the shoes in the back of the closet, thinking someday I'd get around to making a point to letting Merrell know my disappointment, and perhaps try to remember them next time I headed to the store I purchased them.

Last week, I stumbled upon the shoes in the closet.  I picked them up, looked them over and was filled with disgust again.  Picked up my cell phone and Tweeted something to this affect:  "Bought a pair of Merrell Paragon shoes, fell apart, total junk" (I do not remember the exact quote, but that is pretty close).  To clarify, at that point I was not following Merrell shoes on Twitter, and they were not following me.

Are you sitting down?  Within minutes I received a direct Tweet from Merrell stating that they had seen that I had trouble with a pair of their shoes, and would I please direct Tweet them back and let them know what the issue was.  I was very surprised at the response.  I direct Tweeted them, and they asked me to reply to them with my email address, if I felt comfortable doing so.  I thought, "What the heck," and did it.

Shortly afterwards, I received an email from one of their customer service representatives, stating that they were sorry I had a bad experience with their shoes, and could they please replace the product or offer me another pair of running shoes.  I was quite pleasantly surprised.  Here I had thought this was a dead issue and that I was fooling myself by keeping the shoes, and I was just basically Tweeting out of frustration.  And now I was getting direct Tweets within minutes, and emails within the hour directly from Merrell offering to fix this problem.

Ultimately, Merrell asked me to send a photo of the problem shoes, which I did, and they responded by sending me a brand new pair of shoes.  Now how's that for a positive experience in customer service?

By quickly reaching out to an unhappy customer that is 'getting the word out' that they are unhappy with their product, they not only made that customer happy, but essentially stopped all negative comments, and quite honestly created positive comments being made about their company.

Now does this mean everytime we, as consumers, are frustrated with customer service, or a product, or standing in long lines, that we should reach for the phone and tweet away?  I'll leave that up to you, but I will add that I do think this begs what I will call a good application of common sense and personal responsibility.  If we all run out and overdo it, we run the risk of essentially what I'll call 'overexerting the system' and ultimately will run the risk of not being taken seriously as consumers; however, this also shows that we are no longer powerless either.  We now have the ability to optimize our standing as valuable consumers to companies that recognize the value of not just maintaining, but interacting with us on a real-time basis, particularly when it comes to fixing a real problem or dissatisfaction.

Look at it this way:  The companies who recognize not only the importance of social media as a communication tool, but also utilize this tool as a rapidly growing communication venue are the companies that give themselves the best opportunity to grow and move forward into the future.

So what if Merrell didn't have a grasp of the power of social media?  Well, I would have Tweeted or commented through my different social media accounts to family, friends and followers, who some in turn would have spread the word even further, and ultimately, as the ripples expanded, possibly including several hundred to even a thousand different potential customers that would have at the least, thought negatively about Merrell shoes the next time they were in the market to purchase footwear.  Now imagine 50 different people had a negative experience with their product and put the word out.  This suddenly turns into a very costly problem for this shoe company, and a serious loss of market share.

Yet, by understanding and utilizing social media as a great customer service tool, Merrell not only saved face, but the comments I make are positive, which will probably encourage people to at least consider Merrell shoes for their next purchase.

Merrell Shoes gets high marks and kudos for restoring my faith in their company.  They walk the walk when it comes to customer service.  They get it.  They will keep me as a customer.  I suggest you consider a pair of Merrells.  They stand behind their product.  In real time.

Customer service lives!

Until next time. . . .