SPECIAL DELIVERY

Recent letters from the world of Roots

THE MEANING OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
I am writing you to provide feedback and bring to your attention a superb customer service experience that your representative Marie-Eve Lanteigne provided in your Champlain Place store in Dieppe, New Brunswick.

Last week, I accidentally tore the knee out of my R33 cargo shorts. These are the most stylish and functional shorts I’ve ever had the pleasure to wear for summer or cruisewear. I called your Champlain store concerned that I might not have the opportunity to replace them this late in the season. Not that long ago, one would be hard pressed to find anything attractive in stock, the right size or in season this time of year from any designer sportswear merchant.

Marie-Eve answered the phone, was totally empathetic to the situation and offered to call other Roots stores in the Maritimes to have a pair couriered in if available in my size and color preference. To my amazement, within ten minutes she called back advising me that a pair would arrive from your Halifax store within two business days. In my shopping experience, this is exceptional.

When I arrived to buy the replacement pair, Marie-Eve and her manager were so wonderfully accommodating, I ended up buying add-ons and spent twice the amount of the purchase price of the shorts.

I have worked in the higher-end fashion industry as well as in blue chip corporations like Xerox, AT&T and Asurion. This is exactly what merchants hope will happen on a return or drop by. Your staff represent your company very well and I wished to make you aware of this. Not all shopping experiences in this day and age are so positive or leave customers feeling this way about a company. But your staff in Moncton, Halifax and Toronto always make shopping a total pleasure and I have spent thousands in your stores because of it.

S. MacCallum
Moncton, New Brunswick