Recently, I ordered a new laptop for Don from Office Max online. They were having an end of year deal, and the computer we were looking at was on sale for $549, $300 off it's normal value. Having done some comparing with other models, I felt that this was a pretty good deal, and a big upgrade from his existing machine, so click, click, click and it was on it's way.
Within 5 minutes of hitting submit on my order I received 4 emails from Office Max. Their standard shipping is next day, for free, which is a big reason why I like using them. That, and they donate 5% of each order to the local school of your choosing, which is pretty awesome. The first email from Office Max was a confirmation of the order, and an estimated delivery date of Friday Dec. 29th (the next day). Then within minutes I received another email that said there was an adjustment to the delivery date, your product should arrive Tuesday Jan. 2nd. No biggy, we can survive a few extra days without the new computer. Then, another email, your shipping has been updated to Friday, Dec. 29th (back to the original shipping date). And again a few minutes later, one more message… back to the 2nd again. Well January 2nd comes and goes, and no computer. Then the 3rd… no computer. Late in the afternoon on the 3rd I called the customer support number, and she said the computer is on backorder. I said that's fine, it was a good deal, and the computer we wanted, how long will it be before it arrives? She told me they didn't know, but someone would call me tomorrow with an update and let me know. Thursday, she called back and said that they still don't have an update, but they're looking to see if they can find one for me. Again, she'll call back the next day.
Living in Grand Rapids, there isn't a lot of options to purchase electronics, besides Target and Walmart. Don was on his way to Duluth on Friday to visit a family friend, so he said I'll just stop at the store and see if they have one in stock. While I was on the phone with the representative Friday morning I mentioned that he was going to check at the Duluth Office Max to see we could just pick it up. I asked, if he found one, can we just cancel this order I placed. She said of course, and even though I reiterated that we wanted to keep the order open until he had a computer in hand at the store, she proceeded to cancel the order at that moment. She said nothing had been done, but I logged into my account online and could see that it had been cancelled, so I once again called back on the customer service line. It took 20 minutes, but I finally got someone who could help me. She said she could see the order, and that it was in fact canceled., and she was unable to recreate the order, as it now shows as out of stock and unavailable for purchase. I explained that I didn't want the order canceled, and we picked out this machine specifically because it was on sale for $300 off. She was kind enough to take notes about my situation and said when you call back, ask for a supervisor right away, they'll approve a discount on a new machine when you've picked out a replacement.
We looked at all the other computers over the weekend, and while it wasn't quite as good as the original machine, we found one we were satisfied with. On Monday I called the number again. After waiting on hold for 10 minutes, I finally got a customer service representative. I immediately said that I had an issue with a previous order and needed to speak with a supervisor. She asked me about 10 questions, and I could tell was not intending to send me on to anyone else. I again said, please I've already talked to someone and really need to speak with a supervisor. She said she'd check if anyone was available, two minutes later she's back on the line and says they're all busy now. I said that's fine, can you please give them my phone number and have someone call me. I was told that's not possible, which was odd because the person who took the notes about the situation on Friday explained that it's likely someone might not be available when you call, and I should provide my number and they will get a hold of me shortly. Frustrated, I said I'd call back later. Hung up the phone and dialed the same number again. Same story. Time to try again. Another 10-minute wait on hold to get to a representative, but this time a wonderful lady named Megan picked up. I again said I needed to speak with a supervisor. Again, no one was available, but she said they definitely can call me back. She asked if she could help me and I explained that I was supposed to get a $300 credit off my purchase. While we were talking, she reached out to a supervisor via email or online chat, and was able to get the ok from the supervisor to grant the discount without even talking with me. While the call took upwards of 30 minutes, it was wonderful to be making progress. We got a great deal on the new machine, and I received confirmation within minutes of giving her my credit card number. I explained to Megan how much I appreciated that she took this on and found a way to get it done. I said after dealing with this for a week, and making 5 phone calls, I was so happy she got it finished, and would be happy to provide feedback on my experience. She thanked me and offered to have her supervisor call me.
It's experiences like these that make me happy to be doing what I'm doing. Life is not perfect, and there will be experiences like this that happen to all of us. Luckily, as an independent agent, I get to help solve the problems like this one. I can be the one to go between you and the insurance company to try to find a solution to the problem. We all have better things to do than wait on the phone, or get some run-around from someone who doesn't want to solve the problem. We try everything we can within our office to avoid wasted time and frustration for our customers. Sometimes it's the little things that make all the difference, like calling in the claim for you, or creating a conference call so we can answer the questions you may not know or understand. We want to make insurance as easy as possible for our customers.
While the experience we had with Office Max was frustrating, I'm happy to say in the end everything worked out fine. We live in a "right now" world, and sometimes it's difficult to be patient. We're all human, and mistakes happen, but if someone is there to help us out, do their best, and solve the problem, then that's all you can really ask for. Hopefully that's the feeling you get whenever you deal with our agency. I can't guarantee we won't ever make a mistake, but I can guarantee whenever you talk to us, we'll do everything in our power to help you out, and solve your problem, so you can get back to your life.
