I’ve been a Malia Mills devotee for years. Their commitment to making flattering swimsuits in the USA, their body positive credo of “love thy differences,” their understanding of their customers’ needs, their use of models of all shapes and sizes, their knowledgable staff… They’ve done a fantastic job of finding their niche and building their brand as both a basic and a luxury.
Their swimsuits are, admittedly, outrageously expensive, but over the years I have pieced together a fairly impressive collection by scouting their sample sales and asking for a piece here and a piece there whenever gifts are being thrown my way. Always looking for a deal and with a beach vacation on the horizon, when I saw that Gilt was running a $300 Malia Mills credit for $150, I snapped it right up.
Last Thursday I was visiting a friend in NoLiTa and weaved my way through the San Gennaro feast to the Mulberry Street Malia Mills store… Only to find the following sign in the window:
Despite the fact that I live in Brooklyn and a cab ride to their shop on Atlantic Avenue would have cost under $20, when I phoned I was told that the cab reimbursement was for Manhattan only. Still don’t quite understand the logic behind that (Do Manhattanites think that there are tolls or something? Or that we still live in the days of cabbies refusing fares to BK?), but oh well… It’s a very generous offer nonetheless. And on one of the most gorgeous days in recent memory, it was a great day to walk along the park and take the long way home. One $30 cab ride to the Upper East Side (which, true to their word, I was paid back for, in cash) later, I was shopping for a new suit with Catherine, my very sweet “fit specialist.”
For the two s(t)unning pieces I ended up with, I paid $140 on top of my $300 credit. Yup… That’s a $440 swimsuit. A really, really great, flattering, will-wear-for-years swimsuit and, as far as I’m concerned, worth every penny:
Unfortunately, upon getting my pieces home, I discovered that there was a tear in the ($250) top.
The next day, my buzzer rang and my UPS man handed me a package marked Malia Mills. Did my husband secretly call them in the middle of the night and get me a replacement top rushed? And if so, why? Did someone send me a very generous birthday present? I tore it open (with a furrowed brow and quizzical look on my face) to find the following:
The note reads:
Hey Cody! Thank you so much for stopping by Malia Mills; it was wonderful working with you! I hope you have a blast rocking that new bikini all around the Caribbean—you look amazing in it! Here are a couple of fun-in-the-sun essentials! Some sunscreen so you don’t get burned and my favorite tinted lip balm (with SPF of course!). Have fun with your husband on your trip, you two have earned it! Yours in Good Chi, Catherine
How amazing is that? Flattery, attention-to-detail, good listening, and gifts will get you everywhere with me.
Between the cab ride and the care package, this was truly an example of customer service at its best and I vowed to write this story up on my blog to give credit where credit was due and to serve as a lesson to all of us looking to position ourselves in the high-end, boutique world; we need to have the right product, position ourselves well, and look the part, but we also have to treat our customers like high-end, boutique customers too.
My outlook changed a little bit yesterday (which happened to be my birthday—not a day one wants to deal with returns even if they’re completely pleasant), when I brought the damaged top to their other UES location to exchange it for a new one. Unfortunately, the staff at this location were no Catherine and said that they would prefer to send it to be repaired rather than just give me a new, non-defective top (that I had called ahead of time to make sure they had in stock for the exchange). Keep in mind that it had been 4 days since I purchased it. I had a receipt, it was unworn, and the tags were still on. And let’s not forget that it was a $250 top. I mean, come on. I was ready to suggest that, per the policy printed on the receipt, they process it as a return and give me store credit so I could then buy the other top when they called Catherine and were told that they should, of course, give me a replacement. So in the end, it worked out, but it’s too bad that an otherwise stellar experience was ever-so-slightly marred by what I can only assume is inexperience.
And I guess that’s another lesson for all of us: no matter how great we are 99% of the time, one bad experience can taint our reputations. I mean, we all have our boundaries and our policies, but it’s absolutely crucial to put ourselves in our customers’ shoes and see things from their perspective and, most importantly, be flexible. Especially if it’s their birthday!
Yours in Good Chi,
Cody