QVC Lands In Top 10 For Customer Service Again

QVC once again secured a Top 10 spot in the annual NRF Foundation/American Express Customers’ Choice survey, and it let us all know about it Wednesday.

The survey asked more than 9,000 shoppers to identify the leading retailers who provide the very best customer service.

QVC ranked No. 8 in a list that was topped by Zappos and also included Amazon.com, Kohl’s, Nordstrom, L.L. Bean, J.C. Penney, Overstock and Land’s End.

“The QVC team is thrilled to be recognized by consumers as one of the 10 best customer service retailers in the country for the third year in a row,” Dan McDermott, QVC’s senior vice president of customer services, couldn’t resist crowing. “We are committed to providing our customers with exceptional customer service each and every day.”

And let’s not forget the canned quote from the NRF Foundation.

“Consumers have spoken and QVC’s customer service has received a ringing endorsement,” said Katherine Mance, executive director of the NRF Foundation. “So many things are important when it comes to providing great customer service, such as helpful and knowledgeable staff and accommodating return policies. This award recognizes all of QVC’s hard work in these and other areas.”

The NRF ranking is one of a number of customer service honors QVC received in recent weeks. In fact, the multimedia retailer has been recognized by both Gomez, the web performance division of Compuware, and the ForeSee E-retail Satisfaction Index for its excellence in customer service during the holiday shopping season.

QVC Honcho Dan McDermott Should Be Careful What He Asks For, As He Gets Some Blowback After Seeking Comments On The Network’s Recent Customer-Service Award

Any good lawyer knows that you must never ask a witness a question in court that you don’t already know the answer to. That’s something Dan McDermott, QVC’s SVP of customer services, should take to heart.

He wrote a blog on QVC.com crowing about QVC’s recent recognition as a Top 10 retailer for customer service, ranking fifth in the NRF Foundation/American Express 2009 Customers’ Choice survey.

“On Tuesday, sitting among leaders of the nation’s top retailers, I represented QVC at the National Retail Federation’s 99th Annual Convention and EXPO in New York City,” McDermott blogged. “It was one of those ‘I LOVE my job days’!! For a 2nd year in a row, QVC has once again been recognized as a top 10 retailer for customer service…And what can I say? WE’RE THRILLED! To be ranked 5th among a group of like-minded retailers – leaders like LL Bean, Zappos, Overstock.com, HSN, and Amazon.com, Inc. – is an honor.”

But then he opened the door to trouble.

“If you shopped with us over the past year, hopefully you have experienced just how hard we work to ensure you receive a rich, engaging experience EVERY time you shop with us, across our multiple channels,” McDermott blogged. “I’m always open to hear what you think on how we make QVC your preferred destination for shopping! Tell me about it. Feel free to post a comment…”

Well, his invitation prompted a half dozen comments on his blog, and two separate threads on QVC’s forums.

One thread started “If the Q made the top 10 customer satisfaction list… can you imagine where the other top online retailers rank? QVC right up there with L L Bean? Not a chance. ( I give this post about 10 minutes.)”

On a second thread,

“I accidentally went to the Blogs page and Dan McDermott is quite proud of this fact,” one poster wrote. “QVC is up there with Amazon, L L Bean and HSN. Let the constructive criticism begin.”

On McDermott’s own blog, several posters complained about what they called QVC’s high shipping and handling fees.

“QVC has not kept pace with their industry peers in the area of shipping, that is for sure,” wrote one poster. “Each of the organizations you have listed either offer discounted shipping OR they offer to ship the order ALL IN ONE BOX. Reducing the embedded carbon footprint in online shipping should be a top priority for all of these companies, including QVC.”

Agreed another, “I would have to agree what other commentators are saying. Shipping, often equal to a significant percentage of the item price, is a real deterrent. It especially does not make sense to ask customers to pay extra shipping for the same item, if one gets more than one.”

QVC’s PR Department Asleep At The Wheel Again: A Day Behind HSN With Press Release On Customer Service Award

Man, someone light a fire under QVC’s PR department. What the hell are they doing over there? Wake up!

QVC posted a press release on its Web site Thursday with the headline “Multimedia Retailer Named Top 10 Retailer for Customer Service in the NRF Foundation/American Express 2009 Customers’ Choice Survey.”

Great news, right? Well it would have been even better news if QVC had announced it yesterday, when HSN beat it to the punch by putting out a press release about it getting a great customer-service rating in the same survey.

We blogged about the HSN release yesterday.

The irony is that QVC was actually ahead of HSN for customer service, ranking No. 5 while HSN was No. 7.

The actual awards were presented Tuesday at the National Retail Federation’s 99th Annual Convention and EXPO in New York City. QVC jumped three spots from its 2008 ranking, rounding out this year’s list of Top 5 retailers.

“Our commitment to delivering exceptional customer service is a fundamental part of our business,” Dan McDermott, QVC’s senior vice president of customer services, said in a prepared statement.

“We work very hard to ensure that our customers receive a rich, engaging experience every time they shop with us, across all channels,” he said. “We’re thrilled to be ranked in the top five, among such a group of like-minded retailers. We will persist in our efforts to exceed our customers’ expectations every day so they will continue to make us a preferred destination for their shopping.”

The NRF Foundation/American Express 2009 Customers’ Choice survey was designed to gauge consumer attitudes toward retailers’ customer service. The survey, which polled 8,600 consumers, was conducted in September by BIGresearch, a consumer marketing and intelligence firm.

QVC’s e-commerce site, QVC.com, was also recently recognized for its exceptional customer service by ForeSee Results, ranking third in its Holiday E-Retail Satisfaction Index. The Web site received a score of 83 out of 100, up four points and 5 percent from last year’s results.