Bonobos’s Hilarious Customer Service
t says: Some ads for “Bonobos” kept following me around the internet. It seemed like every time I opened up facebook, there was an ad off to the right hawking pants and/or shoes. Obviously, my recent web searches were being tracked so this ad was following me. (I hate it when this happens, but what’s a person to do?) Then I saw a “get $50 off on your first order” code. How could I resist? There’s a sucker born every minute, and for this minute, it was me. So I browsed the Bonobos website and ordered some shoes. Unfortunately, there was a very tiny defect in the leather upper, so I sent off an email to them with pictures of the little sliver of leather that was miscut and planned to call them the following day.
See the little miscut?
Somehow, I also attached a pic from our trip to Budapest. I must have highlighted it by accident from the memory card from our camera (we used the same camera on our recent trip).
This has NOTHING to do with my shoes ...
So I also sent a second email to them apologizing for the useless picture.
The following morning, I called them and I reached a REAL person immediately! No recordings, pushing buttons to “direct my call”, no foreign languages, just a straight-up person. It took me by surprise. I explained the situation and he pulled up the photos. He said that he’d see if the team could get a new shoe in from the manufacturer (I had ordered the last pair in that size) or alternatively I could keep the defective merchandise for a discount (or I could just return the shoes for a full refund). Because I loved the shoe, I opted to wait and see if a new pair could be sourced. A few hours later, I got an email from them.
“Hey t,
Derek
PS. Not sure why a picture of me leaving the Cloud City in my X-Wing was attached here”
Bonobos's employee's X-wing? If so, they are paying these guys WAY too much!
Naturally, I found this response to be HILARIOUS. As a former Star Wars fan (I lost faith when they released the prequel trilogy), I was intrigued. I also found it odd that he be so forward/bold as to include such a picture – I mean what if I had been a Trekie instead?
“best.
customer.
service.
email.
ever.(i was always more of an A-wing kind of guy – fast and annoying. and i think we can all agree that Y-wings are stupid).sounds good re: replacement. in an ideal world, i’ll take a brand new shoe (assuming it can be done relatively quickly – i kind of need it by august – but want to break it in beforehand – no one wants to be “that guy with the new shoes”). i’m thankful that england doesn’t care about the holiday weekend coming up – maybe they’ll get back to you guys quickly!!in a less-than-ideal world, i can be convinced to keep these – but we’ll cross that bridge if we need to, later.
thanks for all of your help.”
To which he responded:
“Hey t,
I’ll keep you abreast of what happens with those Grensons.
And yes, Y-wings are the worst.
Talk soon,
Derek”
What a great email exchange. On one hand, I’m sad I don’t yet have the pair of shoes I wanted. On the other, I’m ok with waiting if they’re going to be this cool about it …
UPDATE: At less than one week after these emails were initiated, a new pair of shoes has already been sourced from Grenson, sent to Bonobos, and is now on its way to me. AND, I got an email confirming it – without having to pester them. While I won’t hold my breath, I wonder if it’ll get here before the weekend – that’d be out-of-control!
after dinner sneeze 
lc says: The ony way this could’ve been funnier is if your call had reached some actual bonobos. Not sure you would’ve appreciated THEIR customer service, though…
lc
7 July 2011 at 2:41pm