Below is a string of emails that definitely outlines the type of communication Zappos.com has with their marketing group... Your comment about 'just because we buy an ad somewhere doesn't mean consumers will pay attention to it' is true, however how do you treat customer's who are paying attention to your ads but your ads are not living up to the expectation... Read below for my original email to your 'Customer Loyalty Team', their response, and my rebuttal. I am not impressed to say the least.

Dear Kathy,

I am sorry but you are misinformed because Zappos does in fact advertise on Ebay. The link I followed went directly to the Zappos webpage. I again was able to go to Ebay, search for Samoa Adidas and filter by size 8. At the bottom of the page under the 'Sponsored Links?, it states an advertisement for Zappos stating free overnight shipping. What is a sponsored link? I wondered that same thing thinking it was Ebay 'misrepresenting' your company as you say. So I click the link that says 'what's this' next to the heading for 'sponsored links' and this is the explanation of a sponsored link:

"Sponsored Links are provided by Yahoo! Search Marketing, which generates sponsored search results by allowing advertisers to bid for placement order based on specific search keywords. Matches are based upon relevance to the specific search terms used in your query."

So, you are correct in that your company does not directly advertise on Ebay but it is probably a business partner with Yahoo! Search Marketing, which is a company that does advertising on behalf of companies. Yahoo! Search Marketing uses many websites, not just Yahoo! webpages. If you had done your research and looked into my issue without simply telling me that you do not advertise on Ebay you would have found this. I have zero resources at my disposal to find this information besides the world wide web. You could easily contact your marketing department or asked your supervisor to help you resolve this issue. I think it is unprofessional and simply lazy to imply that I may be mistaken when I saw your advertisement on Ebay. Now, is it my fault that your company employs Yahoo! Search Marketing and that Yahoo! Search Marketing isn't living up to the expectation laid out in their sales pitch? No! I am a customer who saw an advertisement for Free Overnight Shipping. Not once or twice, but three separate times. I was not directed to an old Zappos webpage that is no longer active; I was on Ebay where the advertisements change depending on your search. They are active advertisements. My suggestion to you would be to make sure you are trying to resolve customer complaints and issues to the best of your ability because not all customers will simply accept your canned comments below. At the very least, I hope you have forwarded my question on to the proper people so that they may look into taking this advertisement off Ebay webpage. As a consumer and this being my first experience with Zappos.com, do you think I will ever order from your company? A company that enlists false representation and false advertising to lure customers to their site is not ethical and I simply do not do business that way. I also think the ineffective customer service I have been given is a direct representation of the sort of products your company offers. Are the shoes I want to buy going to be as inferior as the customer service your customer loyalty team has provided me? I guess we will never know. Within your CEO Blog, it states your company?s goal is $1 Billion this year. I am sure I am not the only customer who has had a shoddy experience with your company; do you think this is working towards your goal. I am so glad you received a 10% bonus for all of your hard work in helping Zappos.com reach its goals last year, are you working toward a goal this year. In my limited experience with your company, I would say the bonus you just got a couple weeks ago has already slipped your mind. I am going to post this email on the CEO Blog as a comment to his most recent blog about advertising. I am sure he and others will find my experience with your advertising and customer loyalty team very interesting.

_{Alicia Engler}

Hello Alicia,

Thank you for contacting the Zappos.com Customer Loyalty Team.

At Zappos.com, we have always offered free shipping on every order. Generally, or free shipping is standard ground (4-5 business days). We were running a promotion for free 1 business day shipping; however, that promotion has ended, and our shipping has returned to normal.

Zappos.com does not advertise on ebay. We are very sorry someone is misrepresenting our shipping policy on ebay.

We are constantly striving to improve our service. If there is anything more we can do for you or if we could improve your experience, please do not hesitate to let us know. We are always here for you - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We are a service company that just happens to sell...shoes, bags, clothing, and accessories. 1-800-ZAPPOS-1 (1-800-927-7671) or 702-943-7677.

Take a look inside Zappos!

http://blogs.zappos.com/blogs/inside-zappos

http://blogs.zappos.com/blogs/ceo-blog

http://www.inbusinesslasvegas.com/2007/11/16/qanda.html

Thank you for shopping with us,

Kathy

Customer Loyalty Representative

Zappos.com

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The Web's Most Popular Shoe Store!

Phone: Toll-free 1-800-ZAPPOS-1 (927-7671)

e-mail: cs@zappos.com

http://www.zappos.com

On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:16:21 -0700 (PDT), Alicia Engler <aliciae@rycan.com> wrote: