Dear Hillary:
Thank you for telling us about your dissatisfaction. We're sorry to hear you've had this experience with our Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Nail Polish in Hard Metal.
You do not need to return the product to us. If you should have another problem with a Coty product in the future, however, we will ask you to return it to us for evaluation.
We hope you enjoy the complimentary product you will be receiving within 10-12 business days and that future purchases of Coty brands meet your expectations.
So, I don't need to return the bad polish THIS time but if I have a problem in the future I will have to pay to ship them the product in order to prove that something is wrong with it before they will replace it. Mind you, I sent them a PICTURE of the undeniably defective brush.
I am awaiting the arrival of the above mentioned "complimentary product". I
think what they meant to say was "replacement product". If there is not a complimentary product accompanying the replacement polish I will be offended. In fact, that will be the deciding factor on whether I continue to buy Coty products. Sound ridiculous?
I have worked in customer service for almost ten years and have extensive training in handling customer complaints and turning all negative experiences into positive. If I am representing a business, I will do whatever I can to ensure the clientele are pleased. I have managed restaurants and served as the face of customer service in world-class facilities. I know that the cost of replacing a faulty product with a smile (especially something so cheap as a nail polish) is far less than the price of a lost customer.
It is at the discretion of the customer service representative to take the number of complaints by any customer into consideration before granting a replacement product or service. In my training, you don't question a customer on their complaint unless they have been dissatisfied three or more times out of the ten most recent transactions. In that case the question should be, 'how can we get it right the first time?'
Coty/Rimmel has made me feel like the bad guy in a situation where I simply received a defective item. They could have replaced it from the get-go and I would have continued on filming my glowing review of their product. Instead, I have had this encounter with their customer service that has completely and utterly changed my opinion of an otherwise wonderful brand/nail polish. Now, inevitably, I will have to address this in my review. Worse than that, I will remember this every time I browse for polish.
I will update you about what I receive in the mail.
I feel that we don't see eye to eye on this. I was searching for blogs/reviews by people who have also received replacement and/or complimentary products from Coty because I'm in the same boat. I don't think they're saying that they don't trust you regarding the quality of their product and I think that's a really bizarre conclusion to jump to. It doesn't say that you'd be responsible for the shipping if you purchase a defective product again so I wouldn't immediately assume that. Based on my experiences in the past, I'd say that they'd want the product back to see what's up with it and to hopefully improve or change future products, not to make you feel like the "bad guy" or that you're not to be trusted making an accurate assessment of the product.
ReplyDeleteHey Alyssa,
DeleteThanks for the feedback and your opinion on the subject. I certainly wouldn't classify my assumption that I'd be responsible for shipping charges as 'really bizarre'; considering that in order to send them the product for review I would have to incur the shipping charges whether they were later refunded or not. On your point that the e-mail doesn't say that I'd be responsible for shipping; it also doesn't say that I wouldn't be. A company that cares might add a couple words to clarify that.
At the rate that Coty responds to customer concerns I would be better served writing off the shipping charges if I were to go through such trouble (which I wouldn't do). I sent them a clear picture of what fault there was with my product and if they want a better look they should check things before they get sent out to retailers.
I am quite an understanding consumer and believe in giving companies a chance to correct service/product errors. Based on my experience with Coty Inc, I feel confident sharing my story to others with the point that Coty's customer care branch is in need of some serious attention. Social media is only making individual experience more important and Coty needs to step it up.
Thanks again for the comment, I appreciate your point of view.