

Epic "Your Order Has Shipped" customer service email (2005) - dcaldwell
http://www.davehyndman.com/cd-baby-great-customer-service-email-2.htm

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RiderOfGiraffes
OK, personal opinion only, but ...

I find this sort of thing annoying. It would be especially annoying if I
bought more than one thing, unless they changed it every time. But that, in
turn, would force me to read through the entire email every time just to make
sure they really were just saying - it's shipped.

In short, life's short, and I've got better things to do than read through an
entire, cutesy email to make sure that it's saying what I think it's saying,
and not saying anything unexpected.

It's also lying. I bet they didn't do any of that.

"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" expresses clearly the difference between "Funny
Always", "Funny Once", and "Funny Never". For me, this is somewhere between
the last two. I hope it doesn't catch on.

And it's not "epic".

</rant>

~~~
ugh
My opinion about this depends on the subject line. What do I care about the
cutesy text as long as I can get the important information without even
opening the email? (“Your CD Baby order has shipped” would be ok. Bonus points
for mentioning the date of the order right there. The body of the email should
definitely contain a table with the ordered products. Oh, and put the tracking
number in an obvious place if you have one.)

You really shouldn’t even have to open order or shipping confirmation emails.
Who am I to complain when they contain a gem on those rare occasions when I
open them? (Those kinds of mails seem full of legal disclaimers anyway, it’s
not like that additional text would confuse you.)

~~~
mapgrep
The subject line was "Joe - Your CD Baby Order!" when I ordered last year (but
with my actual first name).

Kind of annoying because then you do have to read through all that (same
message) to figure out that the order actually shipped and wasn't unavailable.
Of course, the use of an exclamation mark in the subject line was a clue all
was well.

------
JonnieCache
If anyone is ever struggling to translate that most idiomatic of british
phrases, "taking the piss," this is pretty much a perfect example of one of
its meanings.

EDIT: to expand on this, I don't see this as an attempt at humour through
"cuteness," it comes across as sledgehammer-irony mocking the corporate
world's shift towards conversational marketing since the 90s. Customers _know_
that corporations aren't really that personally interested in them as a
person, they can't be because of their scale. This is obvious. So I see this
email as a nudge-wink from CDbaby to the customer, it allows them the benefits
of conversational marketing without the downsides, because irony allows them
to both "say it" and "not say it" at the same time.

Savvy.

------
jrockway
I like Amazon's email. "We're writing you to let you know that your order
3984-39843234-23431-3413 has shipped. This shipment completes your order.
Tracking number: 1Z2394829348938293."

That's all I need to know. I don't have time to read a novel every time I buy
something.

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rianjs
Er, that post is from 2005. CDBaby has been sending emails like that since at
least 2003. Maybe they still do.

That said, I think CDBaby was probably one of the first companies to engage in
conversational marketing, which includes emails that look like they're written
by actual human beings. (Even if they are (were?) a little over the top.)

~~~
Shooter
Re: "over the top"

Gary Halbert, one of the most infamous "over the top" copywriters ever, was
using this general verbiage since at least the mid-80s. He used it with, among
other things, his very famous "Family Coat of Arms" mailings, which numbered
in the tens of millions. It is a well-known piece of writing among
copywriters.

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absconditus
Again, can we stop with the reddit-style headlines?

~~~
dcaldwell
Sorry about that. I'm a newbie here and posted this. After seeing your comment
and reading my headline, I agree that it isn't in keeping with other HN
headlines. Duly noted and I will try to be sensitive to that in the future.
Thanks.

------
ahi
Years ago I ordered a box set 20 Years of Dischord direct from Dischord
Records. In the package was a hand written thank you note from the Dischord
staff member who boxed it, who not coincidentally was one of the people
included in the box set. Instant loyalty. Small and diy are strengths, not
weaknesses.

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loumf
My initial reaction was that they were trying to act like Derek was still
there. Then confusion as I saw his signature (were they still sending out the
same old emails?).

Please put the year in the title if the post is old. Thanks.

~~~
dcaldwell
I'm new to HN and posted this article. Thanks for prompting me to put the year
in the title for old posts. I will definitely do that in the future in the
event that I post an old article. Sorry about the confusion and thanks for
bringing this to my attention.

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whyleym
Personally I really like this - shows the human side to a company rather than
the standard corporate spiel you receive on normal shipping notices. Agreed it
could become tiresome 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc time but if they added some detection
as to whether you were a first time customer - it could sway someone (such as
me) to at least take notice they are that little bit different and if I
received the product in a timely fashion it may prompt me to choose them again
over another company. Would be something worthy of an A/B test at least -
corporate vs non corporate.

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runjake
I'm not sure it was a great idea. The email comes off as condescending if you
aren't aware of Derek Siver's personality (he is a great guy & an HN member)
or haven't seen his TED talks
(<http://www.ted.com/speakers/derek_sivers.html>)

