Costco and customer service

When you think of Costco, the words that do not come to mind are “customer service”. This is not a slight against this giant,  it’s simply the reality of the channel.

If customer service was at a level 10(according to traditional standards) then the box store paradigm would be altered to a different experience entirely. But with this said, does that mean that customer service here is non-existent? Absolutely not, it is just very different.

We are all aware of the recent meat recall that hit our marketplace. During this time retailers were scrambling, the supplier in question was doing what ever possible to correct the problem and most importantly consumers were scared.

But once the initial wave of concern passed there were the lingering consumer effects such as, the meat is gone, I don’t have my bill but how are you “Mr. Retailer” making good on this?

Costco’s answer was to use the power of their loyalty card and data collection. When my colleague who has a large family and does most of his primary shopping at Costco approached the customer service desk to ask how they were dealing with this issue the response was swift, non-questioning and effective. They simply pulled all of the purchases from the loyalty card that were applicable to the recall and reimbursed the full amount via a credit.

Simple, effective and powerful. I am one of approximately 15 people that this person told this story to.

How many more have heard similar stories and then passed them along?
Well done Costco.

Just the ramblings of a Retail Guy.