Sunday night, my friend and I went to see Signs at a nearby Lowe’s (theater not home improvement store) we bought the tickets for a 8:00 showing at around 8:05. We walk in and the comming attractiions were showing so we were like cool we didn’t miss any of the movie. The only seats open where we would not get in the way of the other people where in the front of the theater. We tried some of the seats but we were just too uncomfortable so we left (while they were still showing comming attractions) We spoke to the manager and asked if we could trade the ticket in for the next showing. He agreed right away and told us we could see a different movie or get our money back if we wanted to. We ended up seeing Signs an hour later but I give props to the manager who took care of us quickly.
My internet provider, Broadgate01, was incredible even if they couldn’t fix the problem. I called their help line and talked with one of their techs for about 2 hours, with her trying and verifying every possible software setting on my computer before I had to give up and go to work.
The next day, she called back to see if I was still having trouble. I was, so we went through all the settings again (about 90 minutes), after which she said they’d send someone to my house the next morning.
The next morning, three guys come and start testing the server set up in my apartment building and checking all the settings on my computer themselves, but still can’t find the problem. They decide they need to check the lines themselves, but they don’t have the equipment with them and will come back the next day.
The next day, four repair guys show up, along with a sales manager and a sales trainee. They go through the building and my apartment, verifying that every section of cable and every LAN connection is working properly. It is, and eventually they say that the only other option is that the problem is in the hardware of my computer. They all apologize profusely, and leave.
Acting on their diagnosis, I opened my computer to swap out the LAN card, and discovered that the store where I’d bought the PC had left a large piece of packing tape stuck across several of the contact points of the card. Apparently, the card had worked for a while, but malfunctioned after the heat melted the glue. I pulled off the tape and scraped off most of the glue, plugged the card back in, and everything worked.
I called Broadgate01 back and told them what had happened, and thanked them for all their help. Had they not gone through so much effort to systematically eliminate every other possibility, I never would have found the problem.
Maybe I should have mentioned the original problem: after two weeks of service with no trouble, my connection suddenly disappeared. No internet, no email, nothing.
sony/verants customer service for everquest
Most of the people on the game complain and whine about it
but the’ve been helpful to me and before customer service went to toll calling they spent a hour helping me out with my problems
The new online tech support is ok they just need to work some kinks out since its new
Compaq had better than recommended customer service except for one guy , But they stayed on with me til it was fixed and sent me a new keyboard no problem ,
I dont usually get bad customer service … maybe im lucky ?
I applied for a Dividend Miles account from US Air and got a horrendous number that had some zeros and some o’s in it, and unfortunately the font on the card doesn’t make it at all clear which is which. When I tried to used the card the first time, the ticket person couldn’t get the number entered right or, for some reason, find the account by using my name, and eventually she just threw up her hands and gave me a new account, which is what I’ve used since. However, I still get statements from both accounts, which is annoying. I’ve made a few anemic attempts to get the first one (which only has the 500 bonus miles for joining) closed down, but the response I keep getting is “Well, it’s not hurting anything, and it would be very difficult to do / I am not authorized to do this / other lame excuse.”
I was trying to access my account the other day and forgot my pin number, and apparently they send it through a Real Person instead of automatically emailed to you, and this person said that she noticed that I had two accounts, and that she’d consolidated them for me.
Which means I ended up getting the 500 bonus miles twice! Don’t tell anyone.
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I live in England. Customer Service is just one of those things we don’t have (like the sun, civil liberties, good national cuisine etc.)
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My sister and I went to a restaurant and ordered steak quesadillas; they brought us chicken quesadillas. We didn’t say anything, since they were good and we were in a hurry. The next time, same place, same thing happened, same results. Third time, same thing, we complained, got coupons for free meals for 2 for both of us. They were very nice.
Then on Saturday sister & I went to lunch with the stepmonster, who made a scene about something in her own inimitable way. She didn’t ask to speak to the manager, but the server got the manager over, who comped the dessert we all shared. Again, very nice people.
I’m going to quit going out to eat!! But I really do appreciate when people take care of problems in such a courteous manner.
My credit card company just cut 6% off my interest rate last night and all I had to do was call and ask. I think that’s pretty good customer service.
Umm, this is about me giving good customer service ,instead of getting it. Does that still count?
October 1998: I was working in the Rockville, MD B&N, back in the music department.
An older woman came into the department and was sort of looking around, but with that, “I really have no clue what I’m looking for, but I’m not sure I want to ask for help” look on her face.
It was my "tunr to go and help customers, so I walked from behind the counter and went over and asked if I could help her find anything.
She said that she was looking for music for her 15 year old cousin Vin and could I help her.
I asked her what kind of music Vin liked.
She wasn;t sure, but she had just gotten Vin a CD player, he was going through a really hard time because his mom had just died, etc.
Then she asked me what kind of music I liked.
Long story made short; 1 1/2 hours later, she walked out of the music department with $500 worth of CDs in bags.
I had basically gone through the Pop/Rock section, putting together the “standard” must-have’s CD collection, albeit, with my own take at it.
She came back 3 days later on my day off ,and refused to have anyone but me help her and asked when I was going to be working next.
Next day, I’m at work and she comes sailing in, and 45 minutes later she leaves with another $650 worth of books & music.
She came back again a week later and spent another $600 on music and a few books.
She said that Vin liked what he had heard, not that he could possibly have listened to all of it and she tried to tip me:cool: 
Unfortunately, my manager saw her try this and got all bent out of shape, the end result being that I was transferred out of music up to the front cashwrap.
When we first bought our house about a year and a half ago and I called to have the power and utilities turned switched over to our name, I dealt with a very nice, friendly person at Puget Sound Energy. We were hooking up power to the new house but continuing it at our rental, and she made sure she had all the weirdness straight and the billing address correct.
A few months later, when the electric bill at the house we were renting shot up, I called back and talked to another service rep (maybe the same one, who knows) who was very very helpful and reviewed our bill, even went so far as to look up the daily usage for us and read it off to me over the phone.
I hear a lot about bad service from utility companies, but I was really impressed with the nice service I got from PSE.
My best customer service story is about the Japanese immigration office in Osaka, which is infamously bad. When I first moved down to Osaka from Niigata (Northern Japan) I was changing jobs and also (I thought) renewing my visa. When I went to the immigration office they didn’t tell me (because no one noticed) I needed to change my visa status due to the different nature of my jobs (old job teaching at an accredited school, new job teaching at a business). Renewing a visa is very simple, but changing your status at that time required leaving the country. When I went in to pick up my visa the clerk who called my number explained about the mix up. She filled in the paper work right without requiring me to leave the country. She worked 20 minutes into her lunch hour, was very pleasant, and apologized for the mix up, something which no bureaucrat has ever done for me.
The screen of my Nokia 8210 had been screwy for a couple of months, so I took it to the local mobile phone store to see if they could fix it, or if they could recommend someone who would. The store was absolutely packed (as you’d expect on a Friday night), but the guy who was working handled it expertly.
When I told him what was wrong with my phone, he told me that Nokia had identified it as a common problem, and would fix it free of charge. However, the shop would have to charge me a $15 postage and service fee because I hadn’t bought my mobile there. I didn’t mind at all, since $15 was a lot less than what I was willing to pay to fix the phone. The guy told me that Nokia had a store in the CBD, and if I took it there myself I could get it fixed without the service charge. He drew me a map and gave me detailed directions for how to get there.
Afterwards I told my sister about the great service, and she told me that a friend of hers had gone to see the same guy, and had been very impressed with the service as well.
When I was working at Books-a-Million (ugh, what an awful excuse for a large bookstore), one of the girls at information got a call from a woman who wanted to make a pot roast, and was looking for a cookbook with the recipe. The girl took her number, then went to the cookbook section, but she couldn’t find any books with the recipe in them. So she called her dad, who made a mean pot roast, got the recipe from him, then called the lady back and gave it to her.
When the paidhi-girl was about a year old, I was getting some lunch with her at Long John Silvers. This particular one had no drive through, but I couldn’t handle the thought of McDonalds, the only other nearby fast food. So there I was juggling the paidhi-girl and a tray. While I was looking for a table, the person whose job it was to wipe tables and generally keep the dining room clean (she was very busy at it, too, it was lunch rush) spotted me, came over, got me a high chair, and offered to go get me ketchup and such. I know it wasn’t part of her job, and I would have managed more or less, but it was extremely helpful and thoughtful.
I’d also like to put in a good word for Dreamhost’s tech support. The few times I’ve had to email them, they’ve been friendly and helpful, even, in one case, helping me with something that wasn’t really their responsibility. On one occasion, the support person got back to me before the autoresponder telling me they’d be getting back to me did.
I was in Circuit City (no, trust me, this works out OK) Saturday night looking at CD-RW drives when I noticed on the bargain DVD display the special edition Princess Bride. For $13.99. The best online price I had seen for this was around $18.50, so I knew immediately this was a steal.
Turns out, as we figured out later, somebody there had mistakenly stocked the bargain display with special editions when it was supposed to be stocked with regular editions. The register clerk talked to a manager and she let me have it without a second thought, even though the whole time I’m thinking to myself, “I bet they think I put those three copies of the special edition there just to get it for cheap.” Misspent youth grows into a guilty conscience, I guess.
Anyway, $13.99 later I was a happy guy.
Well, I also picked up UHF for $9.99, which given the $22.99 list price for Princess Bride was like getting it for free. 
Two weeks ago was my son’s fifth birthday and he wanted a light saber. Little did I know that it’s currently the most popular toy on the planet. Discovering this, I starting making calls to stores around town to locate one, rather than trying to manage it afoot. I called Meijer and someone in the toy department assured me that they had three of 'em. I hurried over.
When I arrived the main toy department woman came over to help after I’d been cruising the aisles looking for the blame things. When I told her my story, a horrified look crept onto her face. “Why do they DO that?!” she exclaimed. Do what? “Lie and tell people we’ve got something!”
Holy poo, I cannot believe this. Not only do they not have them but some fool kid is getting off on telling poor mommies like me they’re in stock, when they’re not.
Helpful Toy Woman conferred with a younger woman in the department, but they couldn’t think who the asshole culprit might be. But she did think maybe, just maybe, she’d spied some of the sabers In the Back. We go to look.
10 minutes later, they hadn’t found anything, and Toy Woman is despondant. How about I call her when the next truck is due and she can check for me? We conspiratorily agree that she’ll examine said shipment and secret away a light saber. “Which color?” she whispers. Blue, blue.
I returned to my office, feeling hopeful yet anxious about this plan. So I call the Target on the other side of town, and another person tells me they’ve got a couple. A saber in the hand is worth two on the truck so I drive over there, and sure enough, there they are.
I called Helpful Toy Woman back and told her I’d met with success and she was so relieved! It just goes to show you that people often are quite nice and helpful and believe me, I appreciate every one.
Sprint DSL-
I was setting up a DSL account for my inlaws and it would not work. It was their computer- not the account at all- but the tech guy spent 45 minutes on the phone with me trouble shooting the network settings (we ended up doing a clean installation of the network card and all of the software) and was patient and extremely resourceful. After we got everything working, I told him how much I appriciated his help and how professional he was- and that he had done a fantastic job.
This is such a little thing, but it made such a big impression on me. The other night we had dinner at Olive Garden and the usual scenario is I order a Diet Coke/Pepsi, my husband orders iced tea. He gives me his lemon and I squeeze it into my coke. 9 times out of 10 what happens at restaurants is when the waitress snatches the glasses away for a refill, I end up with a drink that’s half diet soda and half ice tea. In this instance we both received our specific drinks but I had a fresh lemon in mine and he had none. This seemingly stupid, piddling attention to detail bumped the waitress up to a nearly 30% tip just because I was so tickled to death.
When I think about it, I realize that I receive good customer service far more often than bad. It’s just that the nightmares stick out in one’s mind.
My latest:
I bought two cheapo wood shelf units from Lowe’s (the home improvement center, not the theater). The box said they were easy to assemble and came with predrilled holes and all the necessary hardware. It turned out after I got them home (and brining home two five-and-a-half-foot-long boxes in my Sentra was no mean feat) that there were only predrilled holes in the uprights, not in the shelf supports, and that those holes were so crooked and badly spaced that it was impossible to use them, get the screws solidly into the supports, and have the shelves square and level. I also dropped one of the wooden shelves on my foot in the process of struggling with the damn things, and I believe I broke my little toe. So I loaded the shelves onto/into my Jeep (at least I didn’t have to try to fit the half-assembled one into the Sentra) and headed back to Lowe’s, full of self-righteous rage and toe pain. When I got there, no fewer than three helpful employees came up to me at the door before I’d even gone inside, helped me to unload the things, and showed me the way to Customer Service, where a very patient and concerned representative commiserated with me, agreed that the shelf-making company should be taken out and shot, refunded my money, and turned me over to yet another lovely employee who asked me about my shelf specifications and went back to the department to get me replacement, metal shelves he thought would work. I brought those home, and lo and behold, set them up in the 10 minutes he’d told me it would take. I love Lowe’s now.
The other truly wonderful customer service I’ve had lately has been from an auditor in the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department. Mr. Legend and I are being audited for 1999 to see if we should have paid gross receipts tax (we shouldn’t have to, but we failed to file the correct paperwork). She’s been incredibly patient with me, helped me through some of the complexities of tax law, and done everything within her power to make the process easy on me. AND she’s a state worker! An AUDITOR! I’m eternally grateful to her, even if I do end up paying a thousand dollars I don’t really owe, because I wasn’t bright enough to do research on this in 1999.
I like this thread. Dwelling on the good things people have done for me rather than the bad has put me in a wonderful mood, even despite the broken toe. Or that might be the Percodan.
I travel a couple times a month for work. At home I have DSL, but I cruised the yellow pages for a cheap ISP in the town I go to. I got one finally for $15 a month.
The owner/operator has given me the instructions on how to set up the network connection, and to make the modem default to the fastest possible connection.
When I called and left a message last time about how I kept getting rejected while signing on, I got no answer, but the next day it worked. “Oh,” I thought. “He fixed it. Good.”
Days later I got a call on my work line back in the office about how he had called me numerous times, but had mis-heard my cell phone number, and had been getting someone else’s voice mail.
So even though my messages had stopped for days, he was still calling back to make sure it was ok.