Analyzing Service Failure and Recovery Strategies at Amazon

This report examines a service failure encountered by a customer using Amazon Prime, where a promised next-day delivery was missed, and the initial response was deemed inadequate. A service process map is created to visualize the customer service flow, highlighting key interaction points and potential areas for improvement. The analysis delves into the roles of personnel in handling problems, assisting in sales, and performing clerical tasks, revealing shortcomings in Amazon's responsiveness and problem-solving. Recommendations include proactive communication with customers regarding order discrepancies, personalized responses to complaints, and a robust system for tracking and resolving customer issues. The suggested service recovery strategy emphasizes clear communication, empathy, and effective solutions to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. The report concludes that proper planning and organization within the customer service department are crucial for retaining customers and mitigating the impact of service failures.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Overview of Amazon.............................................................................................................2
Service Failure Experience of Amazon..................................................................................2
Service process Map..............................................................................................................3
Symbols..............................................................................................................................4
Analysis..................................................................................................................................5
Roles of Personnel..............................................................................................................5
Recommendation and Service Recovery Strategy.................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
A contract which does not include any type of physical goods and is transmitted from the
supplier to the purchaser is known as Service (Erik, 2015). The benefits of these services are
established by the purchaser’s willingness to do the exchange. This report talks about a recent
service failure that has been encountered. A service process map will be created and the
important points will be highlighted in that. The analysis will be done of the service failure
and recommendations will be provided for the recovery strategy for service.
Overview of Amazon
Amazon is known as the largest online retailer in the world, trading over forty types of goods
(Jackson, 2014). They sell books, electronics, groceries, jewellery, auto parts, etc. It is also
called as an Internet technology and e-commerce platform, a platform for execution and
logistics, Internet advertising and search technology platform. Along with this it is famous as
an Internet start-up incubator. The revenue of Amazon has increased from 41% to $48.08
billion in 2011 (Schneider, 2014).
Service Failure Experience of Amazon
I am a regular customer of Amazon and have ordered many goods from them. But recently I
had a wave of problems in order as a customer with Amazon. I bought a product by using
Amazon Prime and choose the next day delivery option. I did not receive the order within the
prescribed time and in return got a message which was saying that the delivery is failed as
you were not available at the location. But on the other side, I was waiting for the order at the
location. Naturally, I complained that I haven't received my order but in place of my order, I
got a mail asking for apologies and saying it will get deliver tomorrow. Only a sorry mail was
not enough to comfort me. They were supposed to give a proper explanation, the reason for

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the delay and the assurance of my order that it will get deliver properly. At the end, I received
the product which I ordered.
I absolutely know that the extra work of linking every sale with the product and listing the
costs of every product. But at the same time I know the feeling of misplacing of a Buy Box.
Service process Map
The process of customer service flow chart permits the development of the simple structure
for the management of customer relationships. Correspondingly, the company must confirm
that they can manage or monitor the contacts with the users (Martin and Osterling, 2012).
The complaints of customer and requests flowcharts are managed in order to identify the
problems of customers and offer solutions for the same. In particular cases, the care
procedure has to activate a growth to another level of service, so that issues can be handled
and flow can be followed without any break or unnecessary delay.
At the time when a customer contacts the Service Desk, the CSR (Customer Service
Representative):
 Records the contact information of the user and the request details.
 Categorizes the request of the user.
 Defines the supportability of the request.
 Solve the request of the user.
 Checks the solution and ends the request.
 Confirms good service (Microsoft, 2008).
The process flow of customer service-

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Symbols
At the time of mapping process, there is number of symbols that are used for the
communication between various process functions. Certain symbols are industry particular
(i.e. engineering, network design and software design) (ASU, 2018). There are some of the
symbols that are important in order to make effective process map. Some of them are:
 Terminator
 Process step/ Task
 Pre-defined Process
 Decision Point

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 Delay
 Document
 On-Page Connector
 Flow Line
Analysis
The service personnel’s interacts with the customers of the company in order to offer
information to address investigations concerning to services and products (Friend, 2018).
Roles of Personnel
Handling Problems
Customer investigations often include a certain form of criticism that the representative of
customer service should manage according to the company’s policies and guidelines. Many
times, the representatives try to resolve the problems or at least suggest some solutions
(Lovelock and Patterson, 2015). In the above case of Amazon, the representatives may have
suggested some solutions or could have given an explanation and the status of the good that
was ordered. But they only send a message and a mail for the apologies which was not
enough to satisfy the customer.

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Assisting in Sales
Selling the service and product of the company is the part of the job of the service
representative, besides the fact that he/she may or may not be the part of that sales division.
Some of the representatives may offer information of service or product in order to provide
assistance to the customer in taking the decision to purchase products (Writing, 2018). The
services which were offered in the above case was not satisfying and even the sales
representatives of the company are not so supportive to provide proper support and
suggestions for purchasing any product.
Clerical Tasks
The customer service representative’s job may include clerical responsibilities. These types
of duties include answering the telephone calls and making proper transfers (Calì, 2008). In
the above case, the service representatives were not doing their job properly as they were not
able to answer properly about the status of the product and many times they were showing
least interest in my concern. It is not acceptable from the viewpoint of the customer because
he/she has paid for it.
Recommendation and Service Recovery Strategy
If the list is reflecting different information than the product, it is recommended that the
personnel of the company should immediately contact the customer, before delivering the
product. It is very important that the sales personnel should explain the modification and get
confirmation from the customer to continue with the order before dispatching it from the
store or warehouse.
If the difference is irrelevant, or the product’s consumer is not answering promptly, keep a
communication letter with the shipment by determining the difference and explaining the
reason behind the change or delay. Similarly, keep a label of return which can help the

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customer in returning the goods or products easily. This letter will involve the company's
justification for the delay or change in the product and will explain the status of the product.
Along with this if the customer is mailing about any issue than the responsible department
should immediately give a response and should try to solve that issue. Mostly general
answers such as recognized the problem, saying sorry, and offer worthless platitudes or a
discount message are transferred to the customer, but these reply’s really fail in solving the
problem. Each response should be revised by a peer to settle that it replied the question of the
customer and there is a device in place to confirm assured rectifications are done. It is
particularly important to evaluate the message history. The only thing that irritates the
customer more is the conversation which starts fresh every time.
Conclusion
Creating the roles of customer service in the department of customer service need proper
organization and planning. The kind of business and the customer’s expectations should be
considered. The above report is reflecting an experience of service failure due to the improper
planning of the customer service department of Amazon which is a well-known online
shopping website in the world. From the above analysis, it can be concluded that it is very
important for every business to have proper planning and organization which can help in
retaining the customers. If the customer service department of Amazon can follow the proper
process in the case of service failure then they will be able to comfort the customer. In the
above case if the service department would have provided a proper explanation for the issue
than such problems would not have been faced by the customer.

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References
ASU (2018) An Introduction To Process Mapping [online]. Accessed from:
https://service.asu.edu/blog/an-introduction-to-process-mapping [Accessed 11 February
2018].
Calì, M. 2008 The contribution of services to development and the role of trade liberalisation
and regulation. London: Overseas Dev't Institute.
Erik, J. 2015 Modeling and Selection of Software Service Variants. KIT Scientific
Publishing. n.p.
Friend, L. (2018). What Are the Duties of a Personnel Administration Specialist? [online].
Available from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/duties-personnel-administration-specialist-
1145.html [Accessed 11 February 2018].
Jackson, A. 2014 Amazon®: How Jeff Bezos Built the World's Largest Online Store. New
York: Simon and Schuster.
Lovelock, C. and Patterson, P. 2015 Services Marketing. Australia: Pearson Australia.
Martin,K. and Osterling, M. 2012 Metrics-Based Process Mapping: Identifying and
Eliminating Waste in Office and Service Processes. U.S.: CRC Press.
Microsoft (2008) Customer Service Process Flow [online]. Accessed from:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc543259.aspx [Accessed 11 February 2018].
Schneider, G. 2014 Electronic Commerce. U.S.: Cengage Learning.

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Writing, A. (2018) Duties & Responsibilities of a Customer Service Representative [online].
Accessed from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/duties-responsibilities-customer-service-
representative-759.html [Accessed 11 February 2018].