A PSA from your friendly neighborhood CSR

So as we move into the Holiday season, that time is upon us when we spend more money than we have all year to give people things we're pretty sure they'll like, in some cases things we know they'll like.  And many times, we'll do it online for some reason or other.  And, because it's the Holiday season, there will be a chance you'll end up calling into a company's Customer Service center to talk with an agent about something.  So, on behalf of CSRs across the country and abroad, I thought I'd compile a list of things to keep in mind before, during, and after you do your online shopping over the next couple weeks.

BEFORE YOU SHOP

1. Figure out where you're going to do your shopping.  This sounds like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised.  Bear in mind that if you choose a third-party retailer at a place like Amazon.com or eBay.com, you *will* have issues if something goes wrong.  Be especially careful of anything third-party.  What seems like a better deal can cause more hassle than it's worth in the long run due to "restocking fees" and "shipping and handling".  In other words, know where you're buying, and who you're buying from.
2. Don't leave your online shopping for the last minute.  This will become clearer later on in this post, but this is something to keep in mind before you do your shopping.

AS YOU SHOP

1. Break up your order.  Most online retailers and most carriers have a limit to how much weight or how many items they can put into a shipment.  If you want to ship to two or more addresses, be aware that for larger orders, they will most likely get broken up in shipping and will ship under multiple tracking numbers.
2. Pay attention to where you're shipping your items.  Are you sending them to a friend?  A family member?  Yourself?  Know where you're shipping.  If your shipping address is any different from your billing address, and even if it's not, double and triple-check your address before checking out.  It is not the responsibility of the company you're shopping with to know where you're shipping your order to.  That's yours.  Most companies will charge to have an item returned to them if there was a mistake; e.g. you wanted your order to go to your sister in California, but it ended up at your home address in Texas because you forgot to check or un-check the box that said you wanted to send your order to a different shipping address.  It's not Customer Service's job to fix your mistakes.
3. Remember that stock is constantly changing.  An item that shows up as "in stock" today may not be in stock tomorrow.  It's unfortunate, but the company you shop with is not at fault that part of your order was cancelled due to stock.  More than likely, they're working on getting more back into stock, but it's rarely, if ever, rapid.  If an item is cancelled from your order, you won't be charged for it because it didn't ship.  You can either wait until it comes back into stock, or you can get it somewhere else.  Please don't threaten to sue the company if a particular item goes out of stock.  It's pointless.  If an item has a special deal or promotion, be especially careful.  Speaking of...
4. Read the fine print of any promotion.  If you have to buy one item to get another for free, put them both in your cart.  I've seen promotions where people only buy the item needed to purchase and didn't include the promoted item in their cart, and got upset when they didn't receive the free item.  The fine print stated that both items had to be included in the cart at checkout.  In a BOGO promotion, you don't expect to pay half-price off of only one item, right?
5. Remember that sale items and promoted items sell out the quickest.  They really are "first come, first served" and "while supplies last".  If your item sells out because of a promotion going on, please don't get upset and threaten legal action.  It's on sale.

AS YOU CHECK OUT

1. Know where you're shipping your packages.  Remember where you're shipping things.  Most companies that aren't Amazon or eBay have limited resources for shipping overseas.  A good rule of thumb to follow is that if you're shipping anywhere outside of the contiguous 48 states, allow at least 3 weeks for delivery, even if it's to Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico, or even an APO/FPO.  Outside of the Lower 48, only USPS will deliver to those areas unless it's international.  And it'll still take longer than a week.
2. "Ships in 1-2 business days" means "FULL business days".  If you place an order at 6 PM on a Tuesday, don't expect your order to ship on Wednesday.  Expect Thursday at the earliest, because Wednesday is the first full business day.  Conservatively, your order might not even ship until Friday.  Ordering anything before noon (think Eastern Time to be on the safe side) is your best bet for early shipping.
3. With shipping, you get what you pay for.  While the free shipping option is wonderful and economical for most of us, if you need your item by a certain time, it's rarely the smartest option.  Most places that offer free shipping (usually under $25 because of the cost threshold) use FedEx SmartPost, which means that FedEx takes your package and delivers it to the local post office to be delivered.  It's cheap, it's easy, and companies know that most people don't want to pay for shipping.  But please be aware that, especially during the Holiday season, FedEx, USPS, and even UPS are slammed with business so things are going to take a lot longer to be delivered.  That, and if you do end up making a mistake on your shipping address, it's nigh impossible to get anything shipped SmartPost rerouted.  Just forget it.  FedEx won't touch it because the post office is delivering it, and the post office can't touch it until it's in their possession.  Your best bet is to pay a little extra for Standard/Ground shipping and deal directly with FedEx.
4. Overnight is shipping is "mostly overnight" shipping.  This is the most frustrating part about the whole shipping business.  People shell out $50 for overnight shipping and expect to have it the very next day, when they placed their order at 6 o'clock the night before.  Not even Amazon is that good.  Seriously, go by the "ships in 1-2 business days" rule.  And don't order something on Friday that you need for Saturday or Sunday.  Nope.  Here's a nifty little tidbit as well: if you don't want to pay for extra shipping, call and place your order through Customer Service.  If you ask nicely, they have free shipping codes they will be more than happy to offer you.
5. Assume your order cannot be cancelled.  Most retailers have a window of about 5-45 minutes to cancel an order after it's been placed.  The more you pay for shipping, the shorter this window is, and it's best to assume you have 5 minutes.  So please, please double and triple and maybe even quadruple-check your shipping address(es).  Many retailers are working on this because we know how annoying it is, but seriously.  Just assume your order cannot be cancelled.
6. Assume your order cannot be changed.  You left something out?  You wanted the pink My Little Pony instead of the blue one?  Sorry.  You're going to have to place another order.  Sorry.  Double, triple, quadruple check everything.

AFTER YOU SHOP

1. Hang on to your confirmation/order number.  This is how we verify your information to make sure we can best help you out.  It's how we can check in to see if FedEx/USPS/UPS really did deliver your package or if anything went wrong.  It's how we know what's cancelled and why, and if there's anything we can do about it.  It's also how we process credits and refunds and reshipments.  Keep it.  Bookmark it.  Save it.  Write it down.  Do whatever you need to do to keep it handy.  Just in case.
2. During the busiest weeks, expect longer shipment/delivery times.  Even if you paid for expedited shipping, it still might take a while.  Please be patient.  The carriers are working just as hard as the retailers are to make sure packages are delivered.  Retailers lose money when we have to reship things, and nine times out of ten, it just hasn't even been delivered yet.  Either that, or it's a case of "my neighbor picked it up because I wasn't home when it was delivered and he/she didn't want it to get stolen".  Speaking of...
3. If the tracking says "delivered" and you haven't seen your package(s), be patient.  Sometimes drivers mark packages as "Delivered" when they're simply "Out for Delivery".  If 8 PM arrives and nothing's shown up, talk to your neighbors.  Maybe they've seen it or know where it is.  If they don't, and it's been 24 hours, then you can call Customer Service.

To sum up, be aware and be patient.  Everyone gets so much more stressed during the holiday season and there's honestly no reason for this.  Please remember that if you do need to contact Customer Service, we are there to help you.  We want to help you.  Be patient with us, explain the situation clearly and calmly, and don't raise your voice.  Nine times out of ten, you're not the only person having the same problem and we are more than equipped to take care of you.  If you need something, ask us politely, don't demand anything.  I give away lots of expedited free shipping to people who ask nicely, and since I handle a lot of escalated situations I do a lot for customers who have been through a lot of frustrations.  I'll help everyone out regardless, but I feel so much better about doing it when I've just gotten off the phone with someone who's patient and cooperative and understands that I'm doing my best to help them.

At the end of the day, imagine yourself doing Customer Service work over the Holidays.  We are there to help you, we want you to get your stuff, we want you to keep doing business with us.  We don't want you to be unhappy.  We are human beings at the end of the day.  Most of the time, you only need to call us once.  We have to handle problems on a daily basis.  A little appreciation and a little patience go a long way is all I'm saying.