Send Your Letters
As a journalist by trade, I fully support the act of sending letters to companies, news organizations, writers, etc… Do the person you intended the letter for always read them? No. Does somebody? Usually.
So following my own advice I decided to write to New York & Co. after purchasing an adorable Gray Military Jacket this fall and having 4 buttons fall off the first time I washed it. I worded the letter politely telling them that I thought it was a shame to sell an item that was obviously faulty and it made me reconsider making further purchases there. It also is making me think twice about taking others there to purchase clothes when I do my style consultations.
When I went to the website there were three options for submitting a letter or complaint to the company. Calling customer service, filling out the e-mail form, or snail-mailing the company. Since it wasn’t a huge life-altering complaint I figured I didn’t need to bother a customer service representative over the phone. And who sends letters to a company long-hand anymore? So I filled out the e-mail form.
As soon as I hit submit the site thanked me for my comment and told me I would hear back from someone within 48 hours. Then 5 minutes later I got an auto-response e-mail telling me to either call or snail mail my comments. Fail.
I’m going to think long and hard before stepping into and making a purchase as a New York & Co. in the future. This auto-response has upset me more than the 4 missing buttons. It’s not customer friendly nor is the company up with the latest trends in technology. Snail Mail? No. Seriously?
So after all that… I have one question - Why put the e-mail comment form on the site if you don’t want people to use it?
