i'm not a great believer in customer service, especially when customers have to drop their complaint over a company's website and wait for feedback - usually such emails end-up in the junk, or at best you get an automated reply or a cold reply if any.. but what happened with x-cite yesterday left me with some hope, at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is not a speeding train..
on december 16, we bought some gifts from x-cite, including beats & turtle beach headsets for the kids and a nokia cell phone for someone in lebanon - our request for the phone was simple, we needed a cheap phone that can support viber calls, so the salesman recommended a model called "asha 311" - we asked the salesman if this model can support viber as we are giving it away as a gift for someone who wants to call us from abroad and he confirmed, so we bought accordingly.
we traveled to beirut on 21st and the next day we discovered that the phone doesn't support viber calls! frustrated, we brought the phone back to x-cite and as we presented the receipt, the salesman refused to make the exchange as it doesn't honor the company's 2-day return policy!!! we explained that we are returning the phone because of a salesman's poor product knowledge which mislead us into buying a product that doesn't fit our requirements, but the guy couldn't do anything and he suggested we send x-cite a complaint over the website and wait until customer service comes back with a verdict.
i was extremely furious as it felt like a "don't call us we call you" scenario - on my way back home the one thing that kept teasing my mind was the evil headline on my morning post - however, as my anger settled down, i decided to write that email and see what will happen next.
i spent a few hours writing my complaint, removing all the anger and frustration, then i sent it across and went to sleep - the next day, on friday, i get a call from x-cite confirming the receipt of my complaint with a promise to follow-up on sunday or monday - that call intrigued me as i started to build up hope - monday came and i get a second call from marina mall's showroom manager ayman promising to solve the case, then a couple of hours later i get yet another call from customer service to check whether someone attended to my case or not! how awesome is that?
yesterday i went to x-cite for the exchange but i couldn't find the kind of phones i wanted, however x-cite did not leave me empty-handed, they offered me cash coupons worth my purchase so now i have 6 months to buy whatever i want with the money i had spent over that lousy nokia phone!
exciting twist of events.. a loyal customer was on the verge of breaking-up with a brand he likes all because of a salesman's mistake - but good customer service was enough to save the day and now that customer will come back for more, convinced that there is someone listening to his problems and more importantly solving them - nothing is more powerful than word of mouth coming from a satisfied customer!
thank you x-cite and thank you ayman for taking good care of your customers - hats off!
