When things go wrong, how do the business's teams perform?
In my experience it is all very well reading reviews of how well things work. What really interest me, and is the real measure of a business, is what happens when there are problems, when things do not go according to plan. How well do the systems and people work then at resolving the problems?
My experience with Forward2Me in Japan and Nica in Customer experience fall into this category.
I ordered some Pilot fountain pens and some Iroshizuku inks from Amazon in Japan. There are much cheaper in Japan rather than buying in the UK, however Amazon will not ship direct.
The initial part of the transaction, from setting up the account with Forward2Me and then Amazon shipping to my “account” were flawless. Instruction Forward2Me to then ship onto me initially was also flawless. But, there was a problem with the paperwork they provided and DHL in Tokyo put the shipment on hold asking for Material Safety Data Sheets, and then requiring a change to the waybill showing that the inks were safe for air travel. Of course they are, but paperwork must be correct.
Unfortunately, despite Nica’s interventions, this revised requirement was not met in time by Forward2Me and the items were returned from DHL back to my account at Forward2Me. After further conversations and with Nica’s and Forward2Me’s to figure out exactly what paperwork was needed for the next delivery attempt was fast. From leaving Forward2Me in Tokyo to arriving in Wales at the delivery address was just 48 hours.
So, at the beginning of this review I mentioned how well do the systems and people work when things don't work is, for me, an important measure of a business's teams. My experience with Nica, and Forward 2Me is that they are capable of working to resolve an unusual problem. In an ideal world, it would have been resolved before being returned to Forward2Me from DHL, thus saving several days. However, I am grateful to both Nica and the team at Forward2Me for working together to resolve this for me, and I will happily use them in the future.