Customer Service @ Costco.com, SamsClub.com, and Bjs.com
... items to the buyer. Although, on a similar note, the site did recommend products in particular areas such as jewelry or computers, prior to placing an item in ones cart. Samsclub.com was the best at using this system. They showed similar items immediately after they were placed in the cart and at checkout. However, not for every item they offer. Sam’s Club works hard at trying to determine what the customer is looking for while shopping online by using their own in-house teams working with groups from different divisions of the organization (Espindle, August). The last site bjs.com was the absolute worst site. In fact it was unclear how to even place an item into your cart. Fortunately, in a press release dated January 12, 2004, stated that BJ’s selected Unica Corporation and IBM to help them with their marketing (Yahoo Finance). Security and Privacy Policies When assessing each sites security of payment and their privacy policies again we didn’t find consistency amongst the sites. Costco.com’s site left us feeling the most secure. The trust-e privacy seal program licensed their site (Costco, 2004). While on the Costco website the moment the customer begins to enter any personal information the site is secure. Their privacy statement although lengthy is very easy to understand and read, it is laid out in a very organized outline type format. This way if a customer only wants to read about one particular section of the policy they can easily jump to that section. SamsClub.com’s online security and privacy policy was also exceptional. When making purchases on Sam’s Club personal information was under a secure mode, and it was clearly visible. This site uses Secure Socket Layering (SSL) to guard passwords and credit card information; this is an industry standard (Sam's Club, 2004). Their privacy policy is very easy to read and go through. Rather than list their policy in a document style they display it by using a frequently asked questions style, this style is used to explain both their privacy policy as well as their security standards. BJ’s Wholesale was proving to not be a great place to shop. BJ’s stated in their privacy policy that they did not sell or rent any of your personal information, and they did not use cookies to collect information (BJ’s 2004). What left us uneasy was what they said about privacy. BJ’s only assurance of privacy was that they would take reasonable precautions to protect users’ information (BJ’s). Since we were not successful in submitting an item into our shopping cart we were not able to test their checkout procedures. Return Policies If a company has a terrible return policy that can deter customers from returning. Luckily enough for Costco they have no worries in this department. Costco states they “guarantee your satisfaction with the merchandise you purchase”, (Costco, 2004). Returns at Costco.com are hassle free; they will accept all online returns at any of their brick-and-mortars even after months of purchase, without a receipt, and even give you cash regardless how it was purchased. The only exception to this is for computers. As of November 2002, Costco now requires that computers must be returned within six months of purchase. If there is not a brick-and mortar near the customer they also have the option to make the return by mail. Costco’s return policy is well renowned by their members. In fact in a study conducted by CustomerRespect.com, which evaluated customer service for the web sites of 100 U.S. companies, Costco ranked number 2 (Baldwin, 2003). Returns at Sam’sClub.com are also str...