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August 04, 2008
Apologize or not?
Regular readers may know I'm a big fan of J.Crew, the apparel retailer.
My affection deepened with this email. I didn't know the company was having problems with the website, but a quick Google search showed people having issues. Bad word of mouth from mistakes spreads quickly when others experience it simultaneously.
Mickey Drexler and Tracy Gardner effectively dumped a big load of neutralizer on the spread of bad buzz, and they set expectations for anyone else who might run into the problem. They didn't do it behind a cloak of corporate anonymity or force a spokesperson to absorb the hit.
To admit a mistake is to humanize your company.
Then, of course, work like crazy to fix the problem. Go overboard in making things right. That can turn the spell of bad word of mouth into good buzz.
BONUS LINK: A great discussion on SWOM is about the in's and out's of apologizing to customers for mistakes.
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This is great to see - but I wonder what was done for those that DID experience a problem? If this was all they received, I would argue that this falls a wee bit short. But somehow I doubt this was all J. Crew did - it would be nice to know what they did for those more adversely impacted.
To answer PATMCGRAW's comment, J.Crew has offered & done some more actions for some of the customers affected by the website/system upgrade.
I run a blog about J.Crew and some of the members have mentioned how they have received free shipping on current and future orders, gift cards, discounts on future orders, etc.
However, there are some members who have mentioned that they receive nothing from J.Crew. Naturally, they are disappointed to hear that other customers are receiving free shipping, etc., while they do not. (I actually fall under this category. I was charged three times for just one order of one item. It took weeks to straighten out. I receive nothing for my issues.)
I honestly believe J.Crew is trying to do their best.
I also think J.Crew should take down their site for a week and fix the problems outright. I think many of us J.Crew customers would be understanding of the situation, especially if it means that the site was finally fixed. :) We love our J.Crew and want to shop with confidence again! ;)
Apologisng is great when you make a mistake. It's not so good the second time, worse the 3rd time and entirely meaningless at any time after that.
So long as the apology isn't an excuse to 'year 0' anything, but more of an effort to say 'we're going to make thing better', it should be ok.
It is great to apologize. I agree with your other commentors. However, let's not forget that JCrew got some negative flack about the edits that happened to the apology several times within the first day of launch and the notable deletion of the executive names of the executives who originally personalized the message (leading folks to speculate that they didn't want any personal liability). Now, if you go the site, the apology is now 4 sentences (which was perhaps by design as people get the message). Know that sometimes the impact of an earnest apology can be diminished if not managed well and communicated clearly.
At least they acknowledged they were in the wrong... most companies fail to even do that. Perhaps they should offer a sale or coupon or somethin of the sort for those who were affected.
Anybody here take Tylenol Extra Strength? That has to be the best example of the steps you have to go to save a brand. The problem was that someone had deliberately poisoned the medication. People died in the Chicago area. The brand could have died as well At great expense they recalled and replaced ALL product EVERYWHERE. The result? People still rely on this drug. For a history lesson, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Chicago_Tylenol_murders
Bill
I applaud the effort, but was looking for a reason to go back and try again (ie 10% off your purchase for the next week or something like that).
I think it is stories like this that make blogging such a powerful social media, and at the same time, give an explicit example of why it makes businesses so uncomfortable. In this case, were J. Crew to have a blog, I'm sure there would have been many comments posted about some of the problems customers have been experiencing, but this would have also created the opportunity for J. Crew to showcase effective customer service by publicly rectifying the problems. Although, as observed by the posters above, the company also squandered the opportunity to effectively handle this issue the first time around due to the launch problems.
One problem I have with this public apology is for people like me who don't normally purchase. If I was interested in purchasing and came to the website for the fist time, this apology might create concern for me, e.g., if I order, will I have a problem too?
I experienced the J. Crew problems firsthand, which took a functional site and made it miserable for days. During the 'kinks' I had orders lost, shipped sporadically, and received no direct feedback on order status of efforts to correct. The J. Crew 'apology' made me, and others smirk, as it was vague, like their attempts to reconcile with the customers they alienated when the problems originally arose.
Their response was essentially half-hearted spam.
I think this is great. Do you know if it's helped them much?
