My note to Levi's...

I just want a pair of jeans. I've just told you that I'll spend $44 dollars with you, but you don't want to make that easy for me... do you?

Here is my note to Levi's (sent Tuesday):

I can't seem to find 511 jeans in size 30x30 - do you make that size? If so, when will they be available online at the levis store?

Thank you!
Jon

The reply (received Thursday):

Thank you for contacting The Levi's® Store Online. We appreciate your interest and the opportunity to assist you.

Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to view the inventory we will carry in the future. We recommend that you periodically check our website to see if we have the item(s) you inquired about. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

For information on Levi's(R) products or sizes that are not currently featured on LevisStore.com, we suggest you call our Consumer Relations team at corporate headquarters. The phone number is 1-800-USA-LEVI (1-800-872-5384.) You may also e-mail your inquiry to [email protected]. If possible, please include a style number with your inquiry.

Thanks again for contacting LevisStore.com and sharing your thoughts with us.

Sincerely,

Customer Service
www.LevisStore.com

Well, you say you appreciate the opportunity to assist me... and I do appreciate your reply, truly. However, if all it takes is a phone call OR an email to consumer relations, why don't you do that for me real quick?

Imagine if instead of the email I got back, I got the following note:

Thank you for contacting The Levi's® Store Online. We appreciate your interest and the opportunity to assist you.

We've just been in touch with consumer relations and they've put aside two pair of 511 jeans (size 30 x 30), just for you.

Simply call 1-800-USA-LEVI (1-800-872-5384.) and give them your name or email address. They'll complete your order in 5 minutes and you'll have your new jeans in time for the weekend!

If you experience any trouble completing your order, just let us know and we'll get it resolved right away.

Thank you again for contacting Levi's.

Sincerely,

Customer Service
www.LevisStore.com

Talk about simple. Even if the reply would have been that they don't have any jeans in my size, that would have been cool as well. They could have said that they searched high and low but couldn't find any. Think about all the options available to them - they could offer to notify me when they do have my size, they could try to upsell me to a custom pair of jeans, etc, etc.

I'll still buy these jeans (whenever I happen to find them) - being thin means its hard to find jeans that fit right. It just strikes me as a tad odd that Levi's comes out with "Skinny" jeans but can't seem to provide inventory for a skinny person.

How about it, have you ever gotten an email back from a company that demonstrated them going the extra mile?

Comments

[Christopher grove]

Looks like another case of paying lip service to customers instead of giving them real customer service...
Nope, never had a mail from a company going the extra mile, but I've had loads from companies that have tried to go an extra mile in the opposite direction...

[Jon Strande]

Chris, lip service indeed! Maybe they should refrain from calling it customer "service" if they aren't going serve customers?

[Arnie McKinnis]

They should have just started the letter with...

"Our consultants (you know, the ones that we pay millions of dollars to a year to advise us on how best to serve our customers) have suggested we reply to each and every email to show just how concerned we are about our customers. This lame response is our best response to that suggestion.

So please read this and understand that we love our customers and value your opinion.

Sincerely, Levi Strauss & Company."

[George]

I guess there may be a lot of sys-overhead if levi online store dept to connect to the retail customer store division..

And the online store simply might not keep any inventory(or have back-order)...as viable business-model.

Think abt this, you just idenitfy a weakness of Levi-online store. Maybe an email to business-manager might get a "free levi jeans"

[Jon Strande]

Arnie, yeah, good stuff! :-)

George, My bad, I should have posted a follow up. I spoke to someone at Levi's store (I called them). They are not connected to Levi's. They are a 3rd party service that Levi's hired to run the online store. A great example of why companies should not outsource anything that is customer-facing... IMHO.

Thank you both for the comments!

[Cassandra Shifflett]

I have had a problem with the last five pairs of levi's carpenter loose straight fit jeans.... Every pair has riped in the same place, on the left seam of the right back pocket from top to bottom of the pocket. I had them patched at the cleaners and they have riped again.. This is the first problem I have ever encountered with Levi's. Thanks so much for your time..
Cassandra Shifflett

[alison stratton]

I have been buying Levi's for 20 years. i use to get my husband and son 31 x 32. but they no longer make 31's and 30 is to short and 32 is really long. the saleslady at j.c. penneys said all the men complain about this same thing. why can't we have odd lengths come back? it would make alot of men happy. alison

[in case you haven't found them yet]

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=CLTH&cat=Mens&subcat=Pants&pid=041J0111000

*or*

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=203920&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results

[Jon Strande]

Thank you so much for the links - I still haven't found them, so this is nice. It looks like Macys has them, in my size!

Have a great day!

[kim bateman]

Hi, my question is I have been looking for levis 512 slim fit tapered leg red tag for over 10 years and cant find them I have all kinds of numbers and i dont know which numbers are the style numbers? here they are 4440Ds19another one is 611 04 another is 532-0197-49817-5 ane the last one is 10512-4812. can you help?

[Aweau kamaka]

Dear Levis
I have a great design idea for womans jeans that I think your company would be interested in.I'd like to share more info and would like to know how I could contact you.
Please give me a call my number is
(714)521-2054

Email address
[email protected]

sincerely,
Kamaka Aweau.

[Tammy Hartsock]

My problem is the men's loose carpenter fit jeans and shorts. The last three pair I have bought my son have ripped from the pocket all the way down the legs. There is no way they can be patched. What is the problem with the dry rotted material you are using now? We pay way too much for Levi's for them to do this.