What we see mostly on this board is people bitch-slapping Best Buy and other companies for their disdain for customers. But I actually got prompt, courteous, cheerful service! Okay, it’s from a Canadian company, but still. . .
I bought a portable ice maker a few years ago from Greenway, and it’s worked very well. Recently, it started having problems with the ice shovel (the plastic tray that pushes the ice from where it’s made into the holding basket). I was able to adjust it so it worked, but the other day a piece of it broke off and that was that.
Sent an email to the company in Ontario, and they answered within five minutes, telling me they would give me one for free. Holy crap, what country are you living in? Oh yeah, Canada, right.
Ho-lee shit. A company that stands behind their product. What a concept.
A friend of mine bought a portable ham radio antenna from a guy, it was very well made but fell over on a windy day. My friend called the company about it and they sent him the parts free to fix it. They even called him back on a Sunday evening to make sure everything was ok with it.
I have an office chair and the vinyl on the armrests cracked after a year or so and the padding started coming out. I lived with them taped up for a long time, but one day I called the company to see if they could send me some new armrest pads. They did, and for free!
I’ve had 2 PUR faucet-mounted filters that had developed minor leaks replaced without question by the nice folks in their customer service department. They shipped them out the day I called, and I had the new filter within a couple of days.
When LL Bean says they’ll exchange any product, any time, for any reason, they mean it.
I used to buy my kids’ backpacks at Target. If they lasted a month I was happy. I asked here, and most everyone recommended LL Bean.
Our dog chewed on one of the straps of my son’s backpack, and although it took a few weeks, they exchanged it for free. He’s carrying all his 11th grade books in it and it’s holding up very very well.
It was a bit on the pricey side, but I figure I’d pay once for a good $80 backpack then several times for a $20 one. I think it will see him into college and beyond.
My company once sponsored a booth at a community event. We had ordered some magnets with our company info on it to give out. When we got the magnets the day before the event, our phone number was wrong!
I called the company, asked to speak to the person in charge of disasters, and got Frank. I told Frank the story and he said “Oh, shit.” He took my name and number, called back 15 minutes later and promised us a new batch early the next morning (which was a Saturday). And he delivered on his promise.
When I moved to Knoxville, I had trouble finding the specific type of toothpaste I wanted - Tom’s of Maine peppermint flouride but NOT tartar control (that leave a nasty aftertaste - the one time I bought it, thinking it would be pretty much the same I was horrified).
I sent an e-mail to them. They let me know that I could order online and the names of several stores in the area that I could check (I had - they didn’t have it), but also that if I’d send my address they would send me a free tube (the big tube even - and when it’s just me, a big tube lasts for a while) of the kind I liked. And they did.
I have a Light & Motion bicycle headlight. Recently I tried to adjust it a little too forcibly and broke the mount. I e-mailed them asking how I can get a replacement. A few hours later I received a reply saying they’ll send me a replacement mount for free. It was here about 3 days later. The mount is a plastic part and not terribly expensive, but still, this was impressive service.
A lot of knitting needle companies do this. I don’t use wooden needles, but most wooden needle companies will give you free replacements for life if you break one. Good stuff.
SC Johnson. During the summer, I was trying to locate Shout Wipes, and couldn’t locate them anywhere. I emailed them, and they replied that unfortunately, they were no longer selling them in Canada. They recommended other products and sent me a $7 off coupon on any product they make.
Medela. My breast pump was making a weird noise around the face plate. They couriered a replacement to me and it arrived the next day. They didn’t even ask for a copy of the receipt or the UPC #.
Costco is fantastic for returns. I bought a digital camera off their new Cdn online store and found it a bit awkward. I returned it to the local store and they didn’t ask a single question and only took a minute. In addition, they offered the refund in cash when I had paid with a credit card. Sweet.
I like to buy shoes at Nordstrom. They’re not bargain basement shoes by any means, but I know that even if I’ve been wearing them for six months and decide I hate them, they’ll take them back with no questions asked. Because of this, I feel secure buying shoes there and always bring them my business.
I bought a bunch of new door locks from Factory Locks .
I got an e mail telling me that one lock was back ordered for three weeks. However, when my order arrived the lock that was supposed to be B/O was included.
I had a suggestion about making their website a lttle more user friendly. I sent it to them. About 30 minutes later I had a reply that said that I was 100% correct, and they they would do the change that afternoon.
Cool people, if you need locks I recomend them.
When I pulled the 3-year old Yakima roof rack off of my totalled car, I noticed some rust problems on the front fork mounts. I wrote to the company to let them know about the problem (it looked like water was collecting inside a concave surface and causing a hinge pin to rust) and they FedEx’d me 2 new ones, worth 60 or 70 bucks each. Great service.
When my new Cuisinart coffee grinder died after about 9 months, the factory rep said “Oh dear, that’s a new product; that shouldn’t be happening.” and promptly shipped me a new one. (I still dream of replacing it with this one, though.)
I had the world’s best curling iron, a hot air iron with five attachments (two barrel brushes, two curling tongs, one hot brush), made by Phillips Canada. Part of the base cracked and I emailed the company to find out where to buy a replacement. In response, I was overnighted a free base. Yay! My only sadness is that it is no longer sold. I’ll have to find a new one I like as much, should I ever want to curl my hair again.
I started a thread about it, but I can’t find it. Winter of our missed content.
I recently bought some accessories for my Leatherman Juice tool (a couple holsters, and a set of drivers). The driver set had two identical hex bits, instead of a hex bit and a phillips bit. I called them shortly after getting the package, they made sure of what bit I needed, and I had it two days later.
Clark’s of England.
My dad had a pair (older than I was at the time, so they were fifteen, sixteen years old) that he’d worn almost every day - just for officewear and such, but still - when he noticed that the rubber soles were getting a little gummy. The stitching and leather were still in great shape, and he’d put a little wear in the heels, but the rubber was degrading and turning gummy. He wrote to Clark’s about it with some pictures to see if they could tell him which model it was so he could get new ones. It turns out they didn’t make that model anymore, but they were very sorry about the rubber, so if he could let them know his size, they would be happy to mail him a new pair right away.
Now that’s service. They’re really comfortable, too.
I stopped by a local Afghani restaurant (Bamyan, in San Rafael - highly recommended) to get some take-out, and locked my keys in the car. I went back inside to ask if I could use their phone to try and get ahold of my parents, who had a spare key, but they weren’t home. So the owner drove me home to get my spare himself.
True dat. I still have my LL Bean backpack from middle school! That thing is at least 15 years old and still going strong.
Once I ordered a pair of LCD monitors from Planar. One of them arrived damaged with a huge splotch of dead pixels in the middle of the screen. I called them up and they sent a new one overnight – it arrived before I even sent the broken one back!
My friend and his brother and sister recieved iPods for Christmas the year before from Costco. The color screen ones (4th gen?). One of the siblings had a minor problem with theirs and went to Costco to see if they could help. They were able to exchange it for a brand new video iPod! So the other siblings did it too. Just said the click wheel wasn’t working right. Got brand new video iPods. Probably not the nicest thing for them to do, but it just shows how liberal Costco’s return policies are!
