Dear Miss Charlie,
We have received your email and very sorry to know that you have not
located the $25 eGift Card which was sent to you as part of the NOOK
MasterCard Promotional Offer. Please note that we have canceled the
original $25 eGift Card and sent you a replacement eGift Card which you
should receive shortly.
Sincerely,
Shahida
Customer Service Support
Barnes & Noble
To which I, in a bit of a temper, wrote back. . .
I did receive the 'replacement' card, as for the missing first
card, I could not have located it because it was never received, and
your tone which clearly implies that I am to blame for this issue is not
appreciated. Having a top rated e-reader does not give your company
carte blanche to disregard the concept of customer service. During the
ridiculous process, which has taken over a month and several emails and
phone calls to resolve, I have encountered three customer service reps
who were shocked that the gift card was meant to be a gift, and couldn't
understand why I could not give it after Christmas. I have spent 20
minutes with a rep who insisted that the card was not supposed to be
sent until Jan. 3rd. He was equally adamant that I had somehow been
informed of this during
the purchasing process, although he could find not record on his end
that those terms had ever been outlined. I have received several emails
implying that my inability to use firewalls or check my spam folder are
somehow to blame for the missing card.
At no time did anyone even conceive that my card could have simply slip through the cracks of technology, nor did anyone seem even remotely sorry that this issue had arose. While I in no way hold anyone I communicated with solely responsible for this issue, I do hold them responsible for the level of customer service they provided. In this case, it was null. Please remember, customers are not an inconvenience, we are the reason you have a job, and as your job title indicates that you are a member of customer service support, you should offer some, instead of your condescension.
At no time did anyone even conceive that my card could have simply slip through the cracks of technology, nor did anyone seem even remotely sorry that this issue had arose. While I in no way hold anyone I communicated with solely responsible for this issue, I do hold them responsible for the level of customer service they provided. In this case, it was null. Please remember, customers are not an inconvenience, we are the reason you have a job, and as your job title indicates that you are a member of customer service support, you should offer some, instead of your condescension.
-Miss Charlie
I should point out that the Nook is an AWESOME e-reader and that the peeps who staff my local Barnes and Noble are infinitely less sucky.
*edit*
Evidently Barnes and Noble was not content with the level of customer service they provided, becasue today I received this email:
Dear Miss Charlie,
Thank you for your inquiry regarding order #280851590.
We reviewed your order and we are pleased to inform you that the $25
eGift Card will be emailed to the account that purchases the device, on
or before December 29, 2011 for the purchase of Nook.
We apologize for the incontinence occurred to you.
We look forward to your next visit.
Which after a good chuckle and few face palms, was answered as follows:
Did you read the part where I said I finally received a card and just ignore it, or am I now getting automated responses? Regardless, I have a card now, I have printed it and will be giving it as a gift on the 25th, which is when you give gifts, not on or before the 29th. Do not cancel it, do not send out any new cards, unless you just feel like giving me extra cards as a way of apologizing for your general lack of regard for me as a customer.
As for incontinence, that has not been an issue during this process, although I have been given a bit of a headache and a bad taste in my mouth.
- Miss Charlie
