Did you know that many companies will offer you Customer Service assistance on the free samples that they send you? Do you know what to do when you receive a free sample that arrives in your mailbox damaged or missing from the box? Companies that seek to exceed in the area of customer satisfaction will usually go above and beyond in responding to their customer’s requests, even for free samples. I have seen this happen first-hand myself, and I will never forget the companies that have exceeded my expectations. I have also learned that I must give these companies the opportunity to make me a satisfied customer, this means that I must contact them with my comment/complaint/request.

What if your freebie arrives damaged? I received this package from Febreze and my candle was broken even though they packed it in bubble wrap. So I looked at the paperwork that came with this freebie and called the marketing company that was handling the fulfillment. They told me they’d be happy to send me another candle to replace the broken one. I’m still waiting to receive the candle replacement, but I’m glad I followed-up on it so that they know there was a problem, and so that they can hopefully replace it.

What if your freebie package arrives minus the freebie it’s supposed to contain? This happened to Jessica when she received her Clinique Happy sample box, minus the perfume it was supposed to contain. Jessica wrote to me “I was so sad to get my box from Clinique, that was supposed to have my free Valentine’s gift in it, but instead it was rubber banded closed and covered in stickers from the post office stating that it was received at my local post office, opened and without contents! How do you follow up on those sorts of things?

It appeared that the package that she received from Clinique was not sealed with tape, and therefore easily opened. Somehow her perfume was missing from the package. I encouraged Jessica to contact Clinique by phone, and they cheerfully responded by promising to send her new samples and said they would report the problem with the packaging. Jessica said “The woman I spoke to gave me the impression that there was something that could be done, and told me that they would take very good care of me. SHOCK!!! I thought for sure that they would just blow me off because it was a freebie!” Well, some companies will simply not respond to your request, but you have to give them the opportunity before you will know how they will respond.

Steps to Follow When Your Freebie is Damaged or Missing
Here are some steps that you can take when you want to follow-up on a free sample that you received that was damaged or missing from the package. Every company will respond differently, but most seek to achieve excellent customer satisfaction for anyone trying their products, even for free samples.

Step 1 – Save the package or damaged sample.

Step 2 – Find the contact information for Customer Service (phone and email). You may only find a general phone number, but you can usually get routed to the correct department by calling during normal business hours. If the phone number takes you to an automated “phone maze”, you can usually press “0” to speak to a live customer service representative.

Step 3 – Contact the company’s Customer Service by phone (preferred) or email to notify them of the problem, and to request that a new sample be sent to you.

Step 4 – Follow-up with the company if they send you a new sample to tell them that you received it and that you appreciate the quality of customer service you received.

Does anyone else have a similar experience to Jessica’s or mine? Did you follow-up with the company?

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Image credit: Clinique

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