Got an email today that I just had to share with y’all.
It all started because I lost the knife-blade piece for my KitchenAid Stand Mixer Food Grinder attachment. Without the cutter blade, the food just all gets jammed up behind the extruder-plate; the blade cuts it down to size or something.
So, I meandered over to the KitchenAid website. They’ve got a “partner site”, applianceaccessories.com, that handles the replacement parts. I checked it out, but I couldn’t find just the knife-blade / cutter-blade / whatever you want to call it. I sent an email to their customer service division, telling them I’d like to purchase a replacement blade and how could I go about it pretty please?
Got an email yesterday, less than 24 hours later, from their customer service division saying they were going to send me a replacement knife-blade absolutely FREE as part of their customer service & guarantee to always stand behind their products!
Now, keep in mind, I lost the blade due to my own stupidity and carelessness, but they’re willing to take the hit for it. While I do realize that the thing is probably costing them less than $5 to replace, including shipping, it’s the fact that they’re willing to send me another one, no questions asked, that was the impetus behind this post.
And yes, I do in fact realize that’s probably the reason they do stuff like that - not because they expect everyone is going to post on The Best MessageBoard In The World, but because they’ve realized that the $5-or-so in replacing that little dinky part will garner them LOTS MORE in referrals and good customer relations.
Heck, we’re already checking out a few of their other Mixer attachments that we’ve been already thinking “gee, it’d be nice, but…” - just because we know that they’re going to stand behind their products.
Pasta Maker, Sausage Stuffer…get ready for your new home! 
I remember my Dad returning a hoe (I think – my sister is sure it was a rake) with a broken handle to L.L. Bean, with a note (which he meant to be humorous) saying that his father had bought it and it had failed after only 75 years of use. I think he hoped they would use it as a testiment in their advertising, though he never contemplated any sort of compensation. He just thought it was neat that the tool lasted 75 years.
Two days later a new hoe (or rake, if you like my sister better than me) showed up at our door, attached to a single-sentence letter (which, you’ll be relieved to know everyone agrees on) saying: “Dear Sir: L.L. Bean guarantees its merchandise.”
I buy L.L. Bean once a year, if I can afford it. Not because they sent out a new hoe/rake so much, but because it wasn’t a big deal. And this was before they became the mail-order boutique to the liberal eastern establishment.