Posts Tagged ‘money gifts’
Top Ten Companies for Customer Service
MSN Money has released its 2009 Customer Service Hall of Fame this month. I’ve listed the top ten below with excerpts from the retailer profiles. Try one of these service standouts for your next gift purchase.
#10. Southwest Airlines
“Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines attributes its customer-service success to personality… and free peanuts.” Consider a Southwest gift card.
#9. Costco
“The company’s prices have also won Costco fans. Costco stocks its stores with bulk items that consumers can buy at discounts. It keeps its margins low in order to keep prices down and makes up the difference in sales volume.” Shop at Costco.com.
#8. Apple
“If they can’t fix it, and it’s new enough, they’ll often hand you a replacement device free, on the spot.” Visit the Apple Store.
#7. Whole Foods Market
“[Whole Foods] has created a loyal following by committing to sell high-quality food that’s free of many additives and antibiotics that concern health-conscious customers.” Order a Whole Foods gift card.
#6. Publix Super Market
“[Spokeswoman Maria] Brous also attributes Publix’s success to discount programs intended to help struggling families afford the basics.” Purchase a Publix gift card.
#5. Nordstrom Department Store
“The company gives many of its salespeople the latitude to deal with customer complaints without running them up the management chain.” Shop at Nordstrom.com.
#4. Amazon.com
“Amazon considers its free shipping a form of advertising. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Amazon said it had saved customers more than $800 million in shipping costs in 2008.” Shop at Amazon.com.
#3. NetFlix
“Netflix has 58 distribution centers across the country, enabling 97% of members to receive new DVDs the day after Netflix gets their returns, says Steve Swasey, the company’s director of corporate communications. The company ships more than 2.2 million DVDs each day to a network of 10.3 million subscribers, he says.” Give a NetFlix gift subscription.
#2. Trader Joe’s
“Trader Joe’s owes its customer ratings to its cheese, chocolate cake… and the rest of its product selection, says satisfied shopper Lisa Hsu.” See TraderJoes.com for the closest grocery store location. TJ’s does not sell its products (not even their gift cards) online.
#1. USAA
“USAA certainly isn’t your average insurance company or financial institution. Its 7 million members are all in the military, former servicemen or family members of military personnel. Members are stakeholders. They pay premiums and are paid back a portion of the insurer’s profits each year.” If you qualify for USAA services, visit USAA.com to learn more about buying a U.S. savings bond as a kid’s gift. Albeit practical, savings bonds help children understand the power of growing interest.
MSN Money based its top ten on a survey of 3,015 respondents, rating the customer service of 145 companies in 15 industries. Zogby International conducted the survey and also asked which aspect of service was most important. The results (rounded up) are as follows:
- Knowledgeable staff – 44%
- Friendly staff – 18%
- Readily available staff – 15%
- Flexible policies for return/exchange of merchandise – 9%
- Service after the sale – 9%
- None — product is all that matters – 1%
- Not sure – 1%
- Other – %1
Tags: chocolate+candy, clothing, customer service, food, for kids, gadgets, gift cards, gift ideas, gift sites, lists, money gifts, movies, shopping, surveys, travel
I’m looking forward to a college friend’s wedding next month. Of course, her wedding invitation properly omitted any mention of a gift registry. While bridal shower invitations may list registries, the wedding invitation should not. Traditionally, family and close friends of the bride and groom spread the word about the wedding registry.
Instead, I turned to the WeddingChannel.com‘s unified registry search, spanning 22 different gift registries:
- Amazon.com
- Barneys New York
- Bed Bath & Beyond
- Bloomingdale’s
- Borsheims
- Bottlenotes
- Charity Registry
- Cloud 9
- Crate & Barrel
- Fortunoff
- Gump’s
- JCPenney
- Macy’s
- Neiman Marcus
- Pottery Barn
- REI
- Restoration Hardware
- Sandals Resorts
- Starwood Hotels & Resorts
- Tiffany & Co.
- Traveler’s Joy
- Williams-Sonoma
Just one search, based on her first and last name, revealed the couple’s wedding registry. Keep in mind you can give thoughtful gifts off the registry; it’s just there for the convenience of the guests. And the gift of money (or gift cards to the couple’s registered stores) is often well-received.
If the WeddingChannel.com’s search yields no results, you can individually check some of the online gift registries that the WeddingChannel.com does not cover.
- Bon-Ton stores, including Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s, Parisian and Younkers
- Dillard’s Wedding Registry
- JCPenney Wedding and Gift Registry
- JustGive.org’s Wedding Center
- Kohl’s Wedding Wishes Gift Registry
- Linens ‘n Things Gift Registry
- Sears Book Gift Registry
- Target Club Wedd
- Walmart Gift Registry
With the sluggish economy, both Target and Walmart are seeing more couples using their registries, according to a recent survey by TheKnot.com. For example, Target’s Club Wedd made up 18 percent of the respondents’ primary wedding registries. The survey also found that 69 percent of guests chose gifts from the couple’s wedding registry.
Tags: for couples, gift registry, gift sites, money gifts, surveys, wedding, wish lists
Yesterday, my parents surprised me with a mid-day visit at my workplace — calling first, of course. They gave me a card that read, “Here’s something to smooth out the bumps in the road of life.” Inside was a very generous check. My parents let me know all my brothers and sisters received a money gift. I was floored. I hugged them both and thanked them. I’m putting the thank-you card in tomorrow’s mail.
Money gifts may be a powerful present, if given appropriately. Cultural differences apply, but for me, spouses and older relatives generally should not receive cash. Money gifts can work for weddings, college savings for kids and teens, employee recognition, graduations, and gifts to your children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. I suggest giving money with a note card that lightly suggests a purpose.
For example, I received my favorite money gift as a wedding present from the person who introduced me to my wife. She and her husband gave us an oblong black box with a sliding cover that reads:
The Black Box: Stuff to make life’s frownies go away. May it never be empty. May the magic never end.
Inside are scores of gold-foil-wrapped chocolate coins. But if you look carefully, mingled with the chocolates, you would see plenty of Sacagawea dollar coins. (The U.S. Mint first issued the golden coins in 2000, the year of our wedding.) She included a Crane’s stationery note card, wishing us health and wealth to smooth our journey ahead.
Tags: chocolate+candy, for kids, for teens, for work, gift ideas, money gifts, note cards, surprise, thank you
Paper and plastic. U.S. consumers seeking gifts for the Class of 2008 plan to give cash gifts and gift cards for high school and college graduations. According to a National Retail Federation survey, 56.8 percent will give cash to grads and 32.2 percent will give a gift card. Other favorites are greeting cards (35.6 percent), electronics (11.6 percent) and clothing (10.8 percent). Note that the percentages do not total to 100 percent because respondents can give more than one type of gift.
In all, one-third of Americans (32.4 percent) have, on average, two graduates on their gift list in May and June. Together we will spend $4.37 billion on graduation gifts this year, or about $52 per graduate.
Tags: clothing, for grads, gadgets, gift cards, money gifts, shopping, surveys
Christmas Eve can kindle your spirit of generosity. And if that doesn’t work, you could try inhaling a brain hormone called oxytocin (but only with a prescription, please). Researchers have discovered that subjects given a nasal spray of oxytocin were more generous in giving experiments. Neuroeconomist Paul Zak published a study last month in the Public Library of Science’s journal, ONE, entitled Oxytocin Increases Generosity in Humans (pdf download). This hormone occurs naturally, most notably when women give birth. The word oxytocin has roots in Greek, meaning “quick birth,” because the hormone can be used to induce labor.
In this study, Zak gave male college students $10 to keep. (Women were not studied to avoid the possibility of a miscarriage.) Then students played a computer game, asking them to share part of the $10 with randomly selected strangers who they did not meet face-to-face. Students with the oxytocin boost gave 80 percent more than those administered a saline placebo.
So forget what I said earlier about snorting oxytocin. You see, the brain also releases this bonding hormone when we feel friendship or love. Zak underscores this point in his conclusion: “Although we artificially raised [oxytocin] levels in this study to establish a causal mechanism producing generosity, [oxytocin] can be enhanced non-pharmacologically in a variety of ways, including touching, safe environments, and receiving a signal of trust from another person.” In other words, sharing affection and gifts can trigger this “giving hormone” and, in turn, may increase generosity.
Tags: giftology, money gifts
