Tips for Avon Online Customer Returns and Other Online Customer Service Issues
As Online Beauty Bosses working our online business, establishing a great online experience with our customers is super important as this can make a difference on whether they will become a loyal repeat customer.
Here are some things I do when it comes to handling my online customer returns & customer service.
Whenever a customer contacts me with an issue about their online order this is how I see it. There’s a reason they are contacting me first.
Yes, they already have the number to call Avon directly, it’s on their invoice. They also have the return instructions if they need to make a return, that’s on their packing slip. So these things they can do for themselves. But they called me first seeking my help as their Avon Representative. So I see it as they’re contacting me first looking for assurance that as their Avon Rep I’m going to help them. So instead of sending my online customer off by themselves to handle the problem on their own, I call Avon for them 😉
That’s part of my Avon Representative promise to them. I always want them to know they’ll have my assistance Before, During & After their sale.
So when it comes to online returns when customers contact me, usually by a phone call, email or sometimes text, first we discuss the situation. Was it Avon’s error? The customer’s error? Did they accidentally purchase the wrong product? Was the product damaged? Did the order get lost en route?
Whatever it is, once I understand the situation, I make the call to Avon’s online customer service to see what I can do to take care of the issue for my customer. It’s one less thing they have to do and as an experienced Avon Rep I know what questions to ask to help resolve the matter.
Doing this is easy and after so many years, I pretty much have a standard way of handling customer issues.
Here are a couple of things I do that might help if you decide to do this for your customers.
When you call Avon, you’ll need to provide some customer information.
1) Customer order Number starting with “AVR”
2) Customer First & Last Name
3) Customer Billing Address
All this information can be found at YourAvon.com > Web Office > Address Book > Customers & Groups. From there you can look up your customer info, get there Avon order numbers and shipping and billing information.
Once you have this info then you can give Avon’s online customer service a call at this number (800) 367-2866 / (800) FOR AVON . Once I connect with Avon Online Customer Care I say,
“Hi, I’m an Avon Representative and I’m calling on behalf of my customer who purchased through my Avon eStore”.
As soon as I say this the agent is ready to help. Next, I’ll be asked for the customers AVR #, then once they pull up the account they’ll ask me to confirm the customer’s name and billing address. They’ll also ask my name to confirm I am the attached Avon Representative to that account. Once that’s established I’ll explain the situation.
It’s typically been my experience that Avon is very PRO customer and will accommodate a customer issue the best they can. Here are some situations that often come up with my online customers and how Avon has dealt with them.
Avon Error: Avon ships the wrong item:
Avon will immediately reship the correct product (no charge) and often the item that was shipped in error doesn’t have to be sent back to Avon. If Avon does require the item to be shipped back to the warehouse I ask them if they would send a pre-paid shipping label to my customer so they don’t have to pay for the shipping due to Avon’s error. If this isn’t offered automatically, make sure to ask.
Customer Errors: Customer orders the wrong product, Clothing doesn’t fit etc.
More than likely the customer will have to return the item to Avon before a credit is issued. It can easily take about 3 to 5 weeks for a credit to be issued, this is how I handle it.
First I call Avon to confirm the item does need to be reshipped. I never assume, I let Avon make that call. If Avon says yes the item needs to be returned, I ask the customer to let me know when they drop of the return package at the post office.
Then I put it in my calendar to call Avon in 10 days to follow up to see if they received the return. Once Avon receives the return it can take another 3 to 5 days for the credit to appear. So I put it on my calendar again to call Avon back in about 5 days to confirm the refund was issued and credited it to the account. Once I get confirmation the refund was issued, I ask for the reference number, then email my customer to let them know their account has been credited and the refund has been completed. It might seem like a lot of work but it really only takes a few minutes and my customers are relieved and appreciative that I took the extra steps to make sure they got their refund.
Customer receives a damaged or defective product:
Avon is great at replacing the damaged product and usually the damaged item doesn’t have to be returned. If the customer care rep says the item does need to be returned, first I ask if there could be an exception, because I don’t want to inconvenience my customer in having to repackage and take it to the post office. Sometimes I get a yes and sometimes a get a no, and that’s ok, if never hurts to ask and at least I know I did all I could to make it easy for my customer.
Once it’s established the damaged product does have to be shipped back to the Avon warehouse, if Avon doesn’t offer it automatically, I always ask if they would email a pre-paid shipping label to my customer so they don’t have to pay for the return.
Customer orders a personal makeup item like lipstick or mascara, doesn’t like the color or isn’t happy with it:
Whenever I have a customer call to tell me they aren’t happy with a lipstick, eyeliner, mascara etc. I let them know I’ll give Avon a call to issue a refund. It’s been my experience the refund is issued immediately and those type of items haven’t been requested to be returned.
Customer forgot to add a Promo Code to their order:
Usually when a customer contacts me expressing the promo code wasn’t applied to their order, more than likely it was a customer error and not Avon’s. But I never make it a big deal I tell my customer, “No problem, let me give Avon a call to see what we can do”. I never make any promises, just that I’ll give Avon a call.
From experience in doing this, Avon has more often than not, honored the promo code whether it’s free shipping or a discount offer and has applied a credit to their account. Usually when I explain the situation I always ask if they would honor it and never demand it. I’ll say something like, “My customer just called me and I realize it was their mistake but if we could help them out, it would really be appreciated”.
The sooner you call Avon the better your chances are for an adjustment.
Special offers weren’t included with the order:
I get this one a lot, when it comes to Buy 1, Get 1 Offers or Gift with Purchase Offers. When a customer contacts me saying they were expecting a free gift or a special offer item wasn’t included it’s usually because they didn’t add the product to their shopping cart and were under the impression it would be added to their order automatically. So for these situations, I explain to my customer, for those type of offers they need to make sure it’s added to their shopping bag. If it doesn’t show up in their online shopping bag then they need to manually add it. Once I explain that to them, I tell them I’ll give Avon a call to see what I can do.
It’s been my experience in these cases, Avon will ship out the free item or special offer. No problem.
Customer never receives their order:
Use the "Track My Order" tool over at your Avon eStore!
Whenever a customer contacts me and says they didn’t receive their order there are two things I do. First, I track the order myself using Avon’s Track My Order Tool found over at our eStore. I enter the AVR Order number and email address, click submit and Avon will give me all the tracking information I need. From that info I can see whether the item is still en route, if it was undeliverable, got hung up somewhere or if it was in fact delivered.
If the tracking says it was delivered I ask my customer to check with a neighbor, their complex office etc. If there’s still no sign of the package I call Avon to let them know it was never received so they can reship the order out to the customer. Avon is also very good about checking status on packages that get lost and will also reship a new package as well with no hesitation.
Customer accidentally enters the wrong shipping address:
OMG! I don’t know what it was but during Christmas I had so many customers call me about this! Probably because they ordered in a hurry, but regardless of their error I try my best to help them.
If they JUST placed the order, sometimes Avon can make the address change but this isn’t always the case. So this is how Avon has handled this.
First the customer has to wait for the order to process and ship. Once it ships and delivery is denied or the tracking says it was delivered then I can call Avon at that time to confirm the customer never received the package due to a wrong address. Then Avon will reship the order to the correct address.
Avon Online Customer Care is amazing and when I first started doing this for my customers I was pleasantly surprised with their pro customer attitude. I love that in return I can come back to my customer and say “No Worries, I took care of it!” Doing this has developed strong online customer loyalty, referrals and most importantly a rapport with my online customers that they know I always have their back. I like to think of it this way, initially I represent Avon before the sale but after the sale I represent my customer. It’s a win-win for everyone.
A couple of additional things to keep in mind when it comes to online customer service:
ALWAYS be helpful and never take it personal when a customer is unhappy with their order. It isn’t your fault and you can defuse a negative situation by assuring your online customer you’re there to help them.
On the other side of the coin, when you call Avon Online Customer Service, even if it’s an Avon error, mistakes happen and typically the Avon Customer Care rep you’re talking to, isn’t responsible for shipping and warehouse issues just as you aren’t, so try to be friendly and courteous with them as well because that can determine how much they’ll be willing to help you and make any exceptions if needed.
Now online customer issues don’t happen all the time but when they do you have a choice on how you’re going to handle it, so sometimes offering a little extra effort can go a long way in establishing your online business.