Every so often we have a thread on “good customer service… for once!” and I figured it was time, because I just got an e-mail that my crock pot was shipping. Which confused the hell out of me. Then three e-mails down, there was a customer service e-mail explaining that they were sending me the newest best model they have, because I e-mailed a few weeks ago to tell them a little plastic part had broken on mine. Not even a part you need to work the appliance - it had a nice little feature where you could flip the lid up and it would stay up and you didn’t have to find a place to put the lid. It broke, and now I have to find a place to put the lid, is all. But they’re sending me a new one totally free! Rival stands by its stuff, evidently - that’s the original Crock Pot, accept no imitations.
When have you gotten really good, pleasant customer service lately?
I’m currently a disgruntled waitress. I’ve got a reverse to tell, just because it was so neato.
I had 3 women for lunch in my section today. Normally, that can be a nightmare of separate checks, special orders and what-not. They all ordered the exact same burger with the exact same side and all had water to drink. That just flummoxed me so much, I asked when were they gonna sock it to me, was it going to be asking for pecan pie, pecans on the side, separate checks, each paid with cash and a credit card, or better yet, rolls of pennies.
Single check, paid in cash, needed no change. Julie, Judy and Martha, I love you three, you rocked! It was so much fun waiting on you and you made it sooooo easy.
Not like the couple that chose 4 different tables before they found the one they wanted to sit at.
I ordered a fairly rare CD, used from an Amazon seller, not Amazon but a seller.
It was 30 days and I got a notice saying “Did you get your item? If so please leave feedback.”
I realized I didn’t get it, so last night (or rather this morning at 3am) I filled in the form saying I never got it please credit my credit card.
In five minutes I got a note back saying “We’re sorry, we’ll go ahead an issue a credit.” At 5pm I got a note from Discover saying my credit card was credited for the amount.
Tiger Direct, Cameta Camera, Zzounds, and Staples Online have made me very happy with a mix of easy websites, informative and friendly e-mails, fast shipping, and helpful phone customer service when the inevitable, tho rare, problem does occur.
I had gotten a phone through them. Then I broke it.
It was entirely my fault, and I explained it to Verizion customer service thus:
“Eh, I put my phone in my pocket with my keys. Then I sat down too fast. The keys scratched and cracked my screen. I know it’s my fault, can you give me any even minor discount on a phone?”
“No problem sir, we’ll send you a new phone, your current model, no charge. Thank you for your business.”
“Wha…wha?”
I had specifically declined whatever “phone warranty” they had. Breaking my new phone was entirely my fault.
So I was as pleased as punch when they were willing to replace it without charge.
Earned my loyalty. Verizon, AFAIK, is good people.
My folks bought my son a really cool Christmas present from an Amazon seller. It’s a remote-controlled spy dingus, with a camera and a microphone that go back to a set of glasses. But ours didn’t have the video screen. The Amazon vendor was quite less than helpful, but I hounded them enough to get the manufacturer’s contact information.
The manufacturer is Wild Planet Toys. I called and told them that it was missing a part. They said that only things bought through Amazon itself were guaranteed, not third-party vendors, but that said, apologized and immediately shipped a whole new set of the glasses. They didn’t have to do that, and they didn’t have to be so kind about it, and I appreciated it. So does my son, who now spies on the whole house with his little robot self.
This happened last year but I thought I’d give a shout out to Patagonia anyway.
Patagonia offers a service where they repair their clothing. You send your item in and they call you to let you know whether they can fix it and how much it will cost. If they can’t fix it, they give you the option of returning the item back to you (if it has sentimental value) or they’ll toss/recycle it for you.
I bought a fleece from them about three years ago and wore it constantly. Last year, one of the pockets sprung a hole on the inside and the zipper broke so I sent it off in the hopes Patagonia could repair it. About 3 weeks later, I received a package in the mail from them. I was actually really surprised because I though the jacket was a goner. Open up the package and what do I find? A brand new $200 + fleece jacket. Thank you, Patagonia!
I purchased a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses in May 1999. In March 2008, one of the temple pieces broke near where they attach to the lenses.
I called the Ray Ban customer service line, and asked them if they have a repair service. They said that they did, and asked me to send them the glasses. They would then send me a quote for the repair work. I was assuming that it would be a simple fix for them - they’d just need to replace the temple piece, and send it back to me, right?
A few weeks after I sent them the sunglasses, I got a note back from them saying that since they no longer make the exact pair of sunglasses any more, they would just send me a new pair of sunglasses. All that I had to do was pick a pair that I liked, and they would send me a new pair.
I found a pair that was similar to the broken pair, and they sent them to me a week later.
I’m now a life-long customer of Ray Ban, and won’t buy anything else.
Geez, I’ll be sure next time I eat out that all of my dining mates and I order the same thing so as not to inconvenience the help. :rolleyes:
On another note, before Christmas my brother ordered a $100 gift certificate from an upscale Chicago restaurant online. With the holiday approaching, he called the place and informed them that he hadn’t received it yet. They apologized and shipped another immediately. Of course, the first one arrived, then the second. He called back, explaining the situation, and the manager said to keep them both and have a Merry Christmas. (Sorry, don’t know the name of the restaurant).
Why the attitude? I’ve been a waitress and, in the sea of constant complicated orders, it’s just a nice thing not to have to deal with a mess once in a while. I do believe that’s all she meant.
As for the OP, I’m a very disgruntled Wal*Mart shopper. So as an anecdote to that, have been going to Target more frequently and they are, obviously, just heads and shoulders above the competition in every way… friendly, helpful, clean environment, lots of choices, decent prices, knowledgeable. I’d live there if I could. Go Target!!
Years ago I bought a Rockford Fosgate car amplifier on Ebay. Now RF is quite clear in that their warranty is only valid if you buy from an authorized reseller which the ebay guy was not but I took a chance. Got the amp and it worked fine except for one very big issue: Whenever it was on it interfered with radio reception to where I could not listen to the radio at all. It was just waves of static.
Realizing I had no warranty I called RF. They asked me to send it to them anyway for testing (they even paid shipping). After a week it came back with a test sheet showing no problem found. I was getting the sinking feeling I would have to buy another amp, there goes $350… So I called RF again just to see if there was anything else I could do.
This time they connected me with an actual electrical engineer in their design department. This alone is pretty much unheard of in any company I think. The guy asked about the exact placement of the amp, distance to the antenna etc. Then he says he has seen this particular model interfere with antennas if they are placed very close. I explained I couldn’t really move it due to space constraints. He says no prob, this other, more expensive, model has a different power supply that will not interfere. I’ll just send it to you, no charge. And he threw in a wind-breaker jacket for my trouble. All this when I didn’t even have a valid warranty to begin with.
I’ve had the Ray Ban free replacement happen to me, too. Few of my friends ever go beyond Dollar General for their shades, so I never knew if that was a common happening or not.
DirecTV – a few years back I was having problems with the receiver. Tech support tried to help but we couldn’t fix the problem. Within three days I had a new receiver. The next thing that happened was a billing issue. We had the NFL package for a year but decided not to renew for a second year. I didn’t cancel in time so we were billed (automatic payment). When I called them, they not only refunded the NFL charge, they gave me three months free service – and it was my mistake! Then they gave us a year of Showtime for free because we’d been a customer for five years. More recently, they gave us a portable DVD player because we responded to an on-line survey.
Just before christmas I broke my wife’s Knifty Knitter ball winder - she emailed the place she bought it from and they shipped out an entire replacement that arrived the next day. Did I mention it was just before christmas?
Chase Visa emailed us yesterday because a recent string of purchases seemed suspicious to them; turns out someone duplicated my card while I was in Ontario at the beginning of the month and had started using it this week.
I used a mobile pet grooming service for the first time recently. Aussie Pet Mobile was excellent. I don’t think they did anything above and beyond their normal level of service, but the groomer was so good with my girls that I can’t say enough about them. I have a Collie and a Dachshund and getting them both in the car and driving to the groomer stresses out both me and them. Not to mention the strange environment, other dogs, strange people, and bare cages they are kept in at the groomer’s (Petsmart at least). Aussie Pet Mobile comes to your home with a fully contained van (has it’s own electric, water, and water reclaimation system), and your pet has only to go from your front door to the driveway.
I get the Furnimator service for Ginger my collie and the last time I took her to Petsmart, I paid for furmination but I really don’t think she was done, plus she was still wet. We decided to give the mobile grooming a try and although it’s a little more expensive, we’ve decided it’s worth it. To get them both done at Petsmart is $98 and with Aussie Pet Mobile it’s $125. 100% worth it.
Fidelity Investments helped me with a combined account rollover, offload from a former employer, wedding name change, and profile error without the slightest hassle or confusion. None of it required talking to outsourced script-jockeys in India, elevation to higher levels, or holds or transfers.
too late to edit - the brand of the ball winder was KnitPicks, not Knifty Knitter; and they also replaced a broken needle tip recently in under two days.
I’ve only been there twice but both times the food was excellent and the service was great.
Actually, the first time the service was so great that in addition to the usual good tip, we also thanked the waitress and told her manager. We also asked our waitress to let the cooks know how much we enjoyed the food.
We always tip well and we tip especially well when the service is good. But, I think this was the first time I’ve actually talked to the manager about a server.
