Had the “pleasure” of trying to order a giftcard from the Next online site recently. I’d say the pleasure was all someone elses but it was a lesson in customer care and staff confusion. I thought it would be a straightforward option. Select the gift card from a friend’s daughters gift list – pay the money and finish. No it took three goes on the web site – five phone calls and a persistent member of cutomer service at Next to get what should have been a five minute process complete. I understand that the site had an issue at the time but someone from Next should try buying their own products to see what a shambles they can have. But for the tenacitiy of the staff member I first contacted they would have lost a sale and a future customer.
So remember – if your company sells through the web – make sure it works and that staff understand it well enough to guide customers when technology fails.
Otherwise there are plenty of competitors ready to take the business in the current climate