Customer service news is rarely good news, since usually there's more to gripe than gush about. Zappos' latest feat is definitely an exception. The Amazon-owned e-comm recently logged its longest customer service call, ever, clocking in at 10 hours and 43 minutes.
The employee, Steven Weinstein, initially was helping the unnamed customer order three or four items. But they went on to discuss "everything from the best vacations they’ve taken to stories about their hometowns and childhoods," according to a Zappos rep.
"Even though I never spoke to this customer before in my life, I felt like I knew her for 15 or 20 years," Weinstein, pictured below, told Refinery29. "It was just natural, and time was flowing; it felt like it was effortless."
And, yes, Weinstein did leave the call for "a few minutes" to use the restroom two-and-a-half hours into the magical marathon call. (His coworkers kindly brought him food and water throughout.)
It's not the first time a Zappos customer service call lasted nearly an entire day: Four years ago, the footwear-focused site reported a 10-hour, 29-minute call with a customer.
"In many other call-center environments, an employee's job performance depends on how quickly they can get the customer off the phone," Tony Hsieh, CEO, told us. "At Zappos, we encourage employees to stay on the phone for as long as the customer wants, even if it's over 10 hours long. We know it sounds crazy, but as long as the customer is happy, then we are happy, too."
Honestly, it's hard to imagine spending over 10 hours on the phone with anyone. But there are, evidently, people who can do that. And if that's not a testament to good customer service, we're not sure what is.