Customer service practices during the first official e-holiday came up short. Despite the Internet's velocity, the speed of e-customer service was lacking.
According to the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), 42% of customers who asked a question via email never got an answer; and 83% never knew if a site offered customer service.
If a shopper didn't get customer support the first day, the odds of getting help plummeted, according to Jupiter Communications. Thirty-nine percent of customers heard from customer service after a one-day wait; 7% got a response after two days; 6% after three days; 2% after four days; and 10% after five or more days. Twenty-six percent got no response at all.
Things got even uglier when shoppers attempted to return items purchased online. Extraprise Advisors, a Boston-based market research firm, surveyed the return policies of 50 e-commerce companies:
- Most e-stores make buyers pay the shipping cost of returning the item, even if it arrived to them damaged.
- Eight of the 50 e-tailers charge customers a restocking fee for the returned item.