Cindy K.

What can you say about Zappos? You can place nine different orders with them, they get all nine orders correct with no glitches, and you get your items ASAP with free shipping. If the tenth time you order, they get something wrong, it's no hassle to fix it. Like they sent me the wrong size shirt once, and I simply sent it back with free shipping. The customer service guy I talked to WANTED to straighten things out. If you talk to customer service at most companies, it seems to be their job to say blah blah blah to you, and then not straighten anything out, and then ask if there's anything else they can do for you. This year, I started out trying to buy a variety of Christmas presents from a variety of online stores, but I ended up going back again and again to Zappos because everything with them works so smoothly, quickly, and efficiently. If it's something I can get at numerous online stores, I'm going to use Zappos just because I know it'll be a smooth, no-hassle process. I feel bad because I want to support a variety of stores, but at the same time I also want a hassle-free process. I do try to use smaller retailers for unique items, but with any company, if their customer service is bad, I don't feel there's any reason to ever use them again.

I think the high end online stores in general like Saks, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus have bad customer service. Their customer service people are actually there to be polite to you, but other than that they have no interest in doing something that will help you. Nordstrom apparently has a strange way of posting charges to your credit card account, and my credit card company flagged two of their charges as fraudulent. It caused a huge mix-up. Honestly, all I want is my Christmas gifts I bought for someone. I called Nordstrom customer service to try to straighten it out, and the lady was polite, no help at all, didn't have the slightest idea what to do, took a guess as to what I might do, and then when she was finished she asked, "Is there anything else I can do to help you?" or something like that. I know a lot of people hate Amazon, but Amazon and Zappos (which is owned by Amazon, isn't it?) have the BEST customer service, because if there's a problem THEY FIX IT. They're not just there to say blah blah blah and then not do anything. In fact, I would rather endure a little rudeness (not that they're rude) and then get a problem fixed than listen to niceness from people who are no help at all. Nordstrom has nice customer service people who are no help at all.

The bad: 1. The shoppers regularly get the orders mixed up in various ways. 2. The prices are ridiculously high for the service you're provided. 3. Their customer service people seem to think their job is to spout customer-service-speak, not help you with the mistakes their shoppers make. 4. Sometimes even if you say you don't want a replacement if something is out of stock, they replace it anyway.

The good: 1. Their drivers seem like nice people. 2. There's a variety of stores to order from (all overpriced of course).

The verdict: In a pinch, when I REALLLLLLLY can't get to the store, I may continue to use Instacart. Otherwise, I'm going to the store -- it saves me the annoyance of dealing with these people! (P.S. I also sometimes use Vons delivery, who so far have never gotten an order mixed up. But it doesn't have all the health-food items I'm interested in.)