Blog & Resources: Blog

February 07, 2008

Oriental Trading: Please Donate It, Don't Return It

I had purchased some items for my children that cost $17.90 from Oriental Trading Company. I called customer service to get a return authorization number even though I knew it would probably cost $10 to return the items. I did not want things hanging around the house. The company customer service rep realizing this told something very surprising: “Don’t Return it, Just Donate it and we will refund your money!” – WOW! I never heard something like this. This was truly innovative and built my loyalty to the company. What did it cost them…nothing. It probably saved them money in trying to process a return on products that to them cost less than $10. This is customer service!

2 Responses to “Oriental Trading: Please Donate It, Don't Return It”

1. Mike Maddaloni - The Hot Iron says:

   February 7, 2008 at 7:59 pm

   Wow is right! Sometimes it costs more to follow the normal procedure than it does to solve a problem for much less.

   mp/m

   Reply
2. Megan says:

   February 12, 2008 at 12:15 pm

   Wow! I’ve never bought anything from Oriental Trading (although I do get their catalogs) but I will certainly remember this innovation to a common problem (that of having to accept returns).

   Thanks for sharing this.

   Reply