Consumerist
Unlike Drew's story about IKEA from earlier today, Philip had what sounds like insanely good customer service from Costco—which is a good thing, since both the original table he purchased and the replacement table Costco's delivery guys brought were missing key pieces.
Here's Philip's tale of amazing customer service:
Today I witnessed what has to be some of the most outstanding customer service ever offered.What else were you offering them to drink, Philip? We bet if you'd offered them milk, they would have accepted, what with the price of milk these days. That's like cow caviar. Anyway, great job Costco!
This past Saturday my wife & I purchased a large amount of garden furniture at Costco. One of the items was a marble topped table and chair set. When we got the pieces home we discovered that the table top had a flaw and there were critical pieces missing from the hardware. Compounding the problem, we had returned the rented truck we used to move this very heavy piece and no longer had any help either. My wife called the store to find out what our options were. Steve called her back and said that he would come by our house Monday morning with a complete replacement set of furniture.
True to his word, Steve and Jay arrived Monday at 11am and proceeded to unpack a new tabletop. The replacement was also slightly marked but not as deeply as the original and a little time and elbow grease had it good as new. We then started searching through the new boxes for the missing hardware. Eventually, we all agreed the hardware was not shipped either with my original purchase and the replacement they brought out. With the Costco guys standing there, I contacted the manufacturer and was told I would have to fax a receipt and to expect a 10 day turnaround for their missing hardware!
At this point Steve and Jay said this was not acceptable to them and they headed off to Home Depot to see what they could source themselves. They returned about 20 minutes later with a bag of parts and proceeded to assemble the table perfectly. In all the process must have taken at least 2 hours and they would accept nothing but a glass of water. We now have a beautiful table in our backyard.
I really can't thank Steve, Jay & Costco enough. We have always been big fans of Costco but this really went above & beyond.
(Photo: Getty)
Comments
Let me get this straight... The reseller... Costco, delivered a replacement product for free because of missing parts. Than upon opening it you and the two Costco deliverymen realized it was still missing parts, so the two deliverymen drove to Home Debot and purchased the replacement parts for you. And they build it for you. And did not charge you anything extra?
Man, I bet their boss is pissed. Someone better make sure to call Costco corperate customer service to recognize this specific store and the named employees. Could make the difference between being yelled at and being employee of the month.
Im surprised to hear that two of those tables were missing parts. Most of the time, they always put one extra of each of the smaller parts for the build it yourself stuff.
There's alot of good reasons to like Costco.
Costco is the model firm. Not surprising at all to just about anyone. ;)
Yet another reason I give a lot of my business to Costco.
@pecheckler:
WTF? Pissed? Tongue in cheek or am I missing something?
Wow, way to go, Costco!
Welcome to Costco, I love you.
I love how they went to H&D instead of just searching though every box in their store and just throwing in the towel. Way to go Costco.
@pecheckler: Costco doesn't give out any employee of the month awards, they believe it detracts from the workspace.
Also, Costco employees are forbidden to take any gratuities or they can be terminated on the spot. Though, I do believe water is acceptable.
C'mon Philip, store number and location, that way if I know I'm in your neck of the woods there's an awesome Costco around the corner! Details man, details!
@Suttin:
I have never, ever seen that with anything ever.
Wow, those are some nice guys. I'd totally buy them a beer. Hell, a six-pack. EACH!
Damn! More Costco trips for me!
Great story. But hey, why not post their full names and store location so these guys can get the full recognition they deserve.
Everyone is quick to post full name, addresses, phone numbers, email, website, blood type, political affiliation, social security numbers, sexual preference, etc. of people who wronged them but then skimp on the info of people who did something good.
In addition to welcoming info on which stores and locations to avoid, I also like to know which stores treat customers with courtesy and respect and thus deserve my patronage. If these guys work at a Costco in my area that's the one where I'd rather spend my money.
@Lambasted:
I have to agree, store location would be most appropriate, like to give my business to the places that treat customers right.
It's stories like this that make me wish my closest Costco wasn't 220+ miles away... :-(
Yeah I know that place pretty good, I went to law school there.
nice to know there's still human kindness and true customer service hanging around. Frankly, they did so much more of what was expected from them, and fixed a fault they or the company represent had nothing to do with
+1 for Costco
No Costco in my town, only a terrible Sam's Club. And that makes me a Sad Panda. . .
FWIW- Costco is known for having many customer friendly policies and for treating their workers well.
@world-inferno: Best movie ever that nobody saw...
Steve and Jay are just two more reasons why Costco RAWKS.
@Underpants Gnome:
Great movie. Too bad it's turning into a documentary.
Costco is the best! Good reminder for me to buy 100 shares of their stocks today!!
I bet Steve and Jay knew that when they got back to the store some task they really hated was waiting for them. Going 'above and beyond' to Home Despot was just a fun way to delay the inevitable.
That, or one of them is the type who absolutely can't see a project left unfinished.
Either way, they're above average delivery guys.
@highmodulus:
Im in the same boat, I wish there was a Costco here, instead we have 3 wal-marts and 1 sams club, I'd gladly trade all 4 for 1 costco.
God I LOVE Costco. I actually got in a huge fight with some tardy friends of mine who think WalMart and Sam's club are great. I tried to explain about living wage and supporting responsible businesses, but they weren't having it. Costco, may you never change!
@TechnoDestructo: I can think of a bunch of DIY kits that had extra screws and joints, but the example that keeps popping into mind is ... Lego kits.
Costco pays and treats their employees better than competing stores (Sams). In my experience their product quality is as good or better than competitors, prices are competitive, and service is excellent.
That's why Costco gets my business. This story doesn't surprise me at all.
at the milk comment:
It's so damn HOT! Milk was a bad choice!!
+ Watch video
Costco is awesome. Not only are they crazy cheap, most of their stuff is good quality, and their employees don't have to rely on alms to get by which makes them much friendlier.
Costco FTW!
That is sweet. It's great to see companies that CARE sometimes!
@Channing:
A few years ago I bought a roasted chicken from Costco and there was a piece of plastic in the chicken. I took it back and after reassuring the manager that I didn't need to go to the hospital they gave me another chicken, a salad and a case of beer of my choice. I miss Costco, although the Sam's by my house has been ok.
Comment%20on%20These Costco Guys Are Going To Assemble Your Table No Matter What Very pleased to see a retailer take a big loss on an item to please a customer. They'll shop there again surely, and I will too when one opens up near downtown Philly.
Im a big Costco fan too.
Some of the products arent the best priced, but you buy something there and you can be pretty sure its good quality at (minimum) a decent price, and there is always the VERY liberal return policy to fall back on.
Their steaks are outstanding, BTW.
-Chris
Our city recently got a Costco, and we joined, having heard of the fantastic service, but not quite believing it.
It's all true, though, from the way they try to get your electronics from the back before you've left checkout so you don't have to wait, right down to the little things.
On of my kids carries around a Mike Wazowski toy from Monsters, Inc. When we leave the store, the checker always draws a Mike on the receipt.
In our book, that's pretty spiffy.
I am an employee at the Costco corporate offices in Issaquah, Wa.
I cannot say how proud I am to be so. Reading the consumerist I find the in almost every case where we are mentioned it has been a positive story. Almost because rice rationing though not exactly positive, is a reality given its nature as a commodity. You would not believe the hoops we make our foreign suppliers go through to assure that the factories are run in a safe and fair manner for their employees. I cannot of course go into the details but be assured that manufacturers are audited and if issues arise that are not fixed the vendor will be dropped. We take it very seriously.
We have a simple yet significant corportate mission statement
1 Obey the law
2 Take are of our members
3 Take care of our Employees
3 Respect our vendors
If we do these things in this order we accomplish what every corporation is responsible for
4 Reward our Shareholders
Just look at our stock prices over the last 4 years.
And trust me those guys manager would be pissed if they did not do what they did.
Comment on These Costco Guys Are Going To Assemble Your Table No Matter What I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. When Costco came here after NAFTA opened the doors to American Big Box stores ( I throw this in as the politics in the US are dissing NAFTA even though it has made American products much more available up here and thus increasing US exports a great deal), I knew little of the company. I waited a year and then went in and asked employees here and there in the store if it is a good place to work, acting as if I were looking for a job. I had a day pass and had not yet joined. They to a person, said it is a great place to work, salaries were decent, there was a future there, good benefits, sick leave for kids if needed and time off for other family matters that come along..As well, the products looked excellent and though the prices were sometimes not particularly low in one area they were sometimes crazily cheaper somewhere else and so the overall savings is incredible. For example, my first sale paid for the next five years of annual memberships. Return policy is no questions asked..other than what was wrong with the item. My only complaint is that head office determines what kinds of food items the clientele might likely buy and out West here it is assumed, wrongly, that Edmonton is a white bread town and thus many of the items that one would find in ethnically diverse communities..you know, smoked fishes, various cheeses and deli items of that nature are in short supply at ours. In fact, Edmonton is 35% immigrants so they are rather off the mark here but hey, so it goes...They at least have lots of good things...There clothing is excellent but they do not supply big sizes and considering that Edmonton is in the oil patch the big guys have to go elsewhere for their clothes..Their sizes stop at 42...baby size for a oil field worker, for sure! Neil Fiertel nfiertel@ualberta.ca
@jchabotte: Got any Brawndo?
Return Policy: Amazing
Customer service: Best
Products: Damn Good
Pricing: Better than damn good.
Best thing about costco?
Samples. mmmm, samples.
Costco is the greatest store that is on this planet. Always nice, always helpful and the prices cannot be beat!
Gonna make a trip tomorrow to get some new tires....yes and $200 cheaper than anyone else!
@WNW: check out what I found at the store the other day...
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Another unsurprised Costco fan here.
In terms of the quality of the product, support, etc., I don't think I've ever regreted a single dollar I've spent at Costco. (Although, for my sake, it's easy to overspend there!) I do wish a few of their products came in smaller quantities, and I do wish they carried dog supplies for smaller dogs.
FWIW, the website store is of equal caliber, and they often have things the local store won't carry (besides the coffins, that is!).
What's really cool about this story is that the Costco employees didn't even have to assemble the table at all--all that was needed was some parts, but they went above & beyond not just to arrange for the parts but to exceed the customer's expectation.
I have a Costco in my area. Like ten minutes away on foot.
This story makes it final: I'm getting a Costco card on my next paycheck.
There are at least 7 Costcos in the Greater Montreal Area (Google Maps shows 6, I know of at least one extra that isn't listed (my local one), so there may be more.
They are indeed awesome, and as you can tell by the number of them, they're rather popular. There is one costco for every roughly 500k people in the GMA, and they're rather evenly spaced.
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