Recently, someone busted up my car, and I took USAA's recommendation as to which repair shop and car-rental place to go to (mostly because they can electronically bill those places, so I never have to pay up front and be reimbursed later — but USAA also guarantees all the repairs if I go to the place they recommend, which is nice). Well, the repair shop (Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury dealer, funny place to send an old Saturn!) did a great job, no problems, and I got my rental car from Enterprise and returned it with no incident. (I had it about 4 days, and other than smelling like somebody smoked strawberries in a bong in the back seat, it was fine.) I got one call from Enterprise the following week, saying that they were having trouble billing USAA for the rental car. I let them know that this was probably because my name is on the insurance policy, but the policy is in my mom's name. I'd had to correct the repair shop on that as well, but they got it right the second time, so I figured everything would be fine, and they didn't contact me again.

Only USAA did, to let me know that the claim was still open two weeks later, due to Enterprise not billing them. I called Enterprise, they said they couldn't get the bill to go through, so I called USAA again, and basically played middleman between the two for a week. Enterprise kept saying the claim was declined, and USAA kept telling me that it would certainly be approved if Enterprise could just enter it in the system correctly. USAA also gave me a number to have Enterprise call them directly to resolve the problem, which I passed along, but it didn't seem to help. I began calling Enterprise daily in week three, and they kept saying they were "leaving messages" for USAA, with no results.

Finally, I got my credit card bill, and lo, Enterprise had billed me for the rental, without ever asking or informing me that they would. I called them back (I'd just spoken to them the day before) and got their manager. She told me that they'd spoken with USAA many times and been told that the bill was "denied", so I was obligated to pay it. I told her that was hogwash, because USAA explicitly told me they'd cover it, and that I wanted the charge removed from my card immediately. Arguing ensues. Manager gets rude, and starts telling me that they called me numerous times to inform me of the charge and I never picked up, so I'd better just pay the bill and "get USAA to reimburse" me if I think they really will. She also says that because she "left a message" at USAA, she's not going to call them again until they call her back. (Huh?) When I threaten a chargeback, she tells me that I can't do that because it's illegal. At this point, I got fed up, hung up and called USAA.

Here's where it gets amazing: I got a rep at the claims office (in about t-minus 30 seconds) whom I've never spoken to before. I explained the situation, and that the manager was now being rude and possibly lying to me over this bill. She listened carefully, apologized immediately for my trouble (!), and asked if she could call me back. Then she did call me back, less than half an hour later. (I regret that I can't remember her name, but then again, every USAA rep I've ever dealt with was this good.) She'd spoken to USAA's internal Enterprise representative, who'd looked up my file and discovered that Enterprise never did call USAA even once to resolve the issue. She passed along their apologies, and said that two complaints to Enterprise corporate were being filed — one on behalf of USAA for failing to properly handle the billing, and one on behalf of myself for managment lying to me and being rude on the phone. She said that Enterprise had promised to look into that manager (of the Garden City, MI branch on Ford Rd., if you'd like to know) and see if she needed to be reprimanded or replaced. I asked if I had to do anything to file my complaint, and she said no, it was all handled. (If it wasn't USAA, I might not have believed her, but their record is literally perfect with me, so I do.) Furthermore, reimbursement for the entire rental expense was being mailed to me immediately. (They even apologized because they wanted to issue the reimbursement electronically so I'd have it faster, and they couldn't because the system would only do that for the policyholder, and my mom doesn't have a bank account there. But heck, I'll take the apology in exchange for having to wait a few days!)

In short, USAA: Got me straight to a human; listened to my complaint and acted on it immediately; called back when they said they would; apologized repeatedly even though they didn't really have to; and took swift, appropriate action to resolve my issue. They also DIDN'T call me a liar, treat me like a criminal, or lie to me about my case or the law, which the Enterprise manager did. Also, the Enterprise rep at USAA appears to have handled this issue quickly and decisively, though whether Enterprise or USAA should get the credit for that, I don't know.

Oh, one more thing — someone banged into my car *again* (while it was parked) and knocked the rear-view mirror off last week. The person I was speaking to at USAA noticed that I had another open claim, and (rather than acting like I did something wrong or was a bothersome customer for having two claims in two months) offered me information on how to use a rental car service other than Enterprise, since she would "understand if [I] didn't want to go back there after this". No judgment, no fuss, just "here's how to use any rental agency you like".

Once again, USAA has some of the most impressive customer service I've ever seen. Whenever I see an ad for insurance advertising low rates, I think, "As strapped for cash as I am right now, I wouldn't dream of using another company, even if their rates were half what I pay right now." USAA's investment in customer service has paid off by netting them at least one die-hard customer. (I say "at least", because I also brag about them to everyone, so it'd be surprising if they didn't get another customer from giving me good service, as well.)

Now, if we can just get that lesson put in some MBA textbooks, we'll have it made!

Sincerely,
Mary Marsala w/ Fries
Transcendental Logic

Wesa ordered a cast iron pot from Macy's and it got packed in these special packing peanuts which Macy's says are 100% biodegradable. They're made from corn and potato starch. Macy's says you can dissolve them in water and pour in the garden, yard, sink, or toilet, or put them in the compost, put them in the ground, or simply throw them away where they will "dissolve in the landfill." Pretty neat! The accompanying flyer is inside.

I work in an IT dept at a tech company in Utah and we have about half Apple computers and half PCs. We had a 17" MacBook Pro with a bad hard drive, so I sent it in with AppleCare and got it back within a couple days. They sent it back with a new hard drive, a new battery, and a broken keyboard! There was tape covering the tab, caps lock, and shift keys and when I lifted it off, the caps lock key came with it! (see picture)...

Also, many of the keys around the caps lock key were very sticky. So, one of the repair techs probably spilled something on the keyboard and then tried to clean it off, but took out the caps lock key in the process. So, I called them back and they were great! They said they wanted to make it up to me by giving me some free stuff. The rep offered me an Apple shirt, or a hat, or some software. I considered Adobe CS3 Premium, but figured that was pushing my luck. My wife wanted The Sims 2 for her MacBook, so asked for that. The next morning, it was at my desk! Apple has 2 new very impressed customers.

So I had an issue with FIOS - my router just seemed to go bad. I called in Friday night and spoke with "Eric" who confirmed that and set up a dispatch to get me a new router. "Eric" told me someone would be there between 8 and noon on Saturday. I got an automated call from Verizon around 9am asking me to call them regarding my "cannot connect" issue. I called back and got James at the Fiber Solutions Center. He wasn't sure why that call came in, but he took a look at my ticket and suggested I wait for the tech as it was still early in the window. His first act of awesome customer service happened when I asked about ordering new services. He said that department was closed, but he would have someone give me a call in about an hour, when they opened.

An hour later, phone rings, and it's James. He greets me by name and has someone from the orders department on the phone. He introduces us and then drops off. I was already amazed by that level of personal service.

Around 12:15p I started thinking about calling Verizon back, since it was now after my scheduled window. About five minutes later, the phone rings. It's James again. Again, he greets me by name. He tells me he was looking at my ticket again and noticed that the dispatch was not set up correctly. He apologizes profusely (even though he didn't set it up) and tells me they will have someone out there that day. He asks for my cell phone because he doesn't want to inconvenience me any more than necessary and tells me that we can leave the house if we need to - he'll have the tech call when he's 20-30 minutes out.

James amazes me again! About five minutes after I hang up with James, I get a call from a cell phone. It's the repair tech. He asks if we are home and tells me that he can be at my house within 15 minutes. He shows up about 10 minutes later, switches out the power adapter for the router, and we're in business! All in all, that level of customer service was amazing! Unfortunately, it's few and far between, but James certainly went the extra mile several times. He could have easily left it as the first call, and I probably would not have thought bad about him. After all that effort though, that man deserves a raise.. or at least a cold beer!

- Jeff

I live in northwest Pennsylvania, an area formerly held by telecom company GTE (GTE North to be specifically I believe?). This has been particularly troublesome to the folks at Verizon when I'd call for tech support. Over the past few years of getting DSL from Verizon when the need would arise to call tech support I would cringe. I *knew* they wouldn't be able to find my account, it always happens.

I call, get connected to "Verizon East", they try to look me up, no worky, they transfer me to "Verizon West". Verizon West looks me up, doesn't find me, and attempts to transfer me back to "Verizon East". This nonsense would continue easily for 20-30 minutes before even getting a tech who knew anything about my account.

This was a major source of aggravation for me each call. Each rep would need my telephone number again, transfers sometimes happened, sometimes disconnected me, etc. Major pain in the ass.

However, just a few days ago I needed to call again due to issues in getting a DHCP lease on my DSL modem. I was dreading it...

Much to my surprise, after a short 15 minute wait on hold for a tech, the guy was able to not only look up my account without routing me through east, west or otherwise but he could also perform a line test while I was on the phone. I was stunned.

I was also mentally preparing for the next round of tomfoolery brought to you by Verizon, namely the scripted troubleshooting I knew was coming next (unplug this, do that, check the wires, etc.).

This tech asked me what was wrong. I said "I'm not getting a DHCP lease on my modem, changed phone lines to test it, rebooted, etc." While my hands were nearly mid flight into unplugging the router and modem per typical scripted requests he interrupted to tell me he would simply release the IP address on their end for the modem to see if it remedied the issue.

Less than one minute later I had an internet connectivity—he had my quickly check verizon.net and time.gov to ensure I was all good and that was it.

So, to recap, Verizon gets some points from this previously extremely fired up consumer. Here's how they did it:

1) Apparently cut the crap. The reps can see my account without switching between east, west, south and north.

2) Cut the crap some more. The tech didn't have to go through the bloody script with me and just solved the problem! Kudos!

Now there are still some issues. When I called support due to connectivity issues the automated system ran a line test, saw nothing was "wrong" with the line and booted me back to the main menu—some tech support. I eventually switched my tactics to selecting "Install problems" instead of connectivity problems and was able to route to a human.

(Photo: SkyShaper)

My wife and I had a trip planned to drive south from Illinois to Louisiana. The trip included a number of side-journeys, so I decided to upgrade my GPS from an older laptop-tied unit to a hand-held. After looking at various devices on the market, I decided on the DeLorme PN-20 GPS; it had similar features to most of the Garmin GPSMap units, but included full navigation and topographic maps of the United States.

Since the trip was in five days, I bought the GPS through Amazon.com, where I could get it in two days without paying an arm and a leg for shipping. I ordered it Monday, it arrived Wednesday, but the box was an older box. It contained Version 6 of the topographic maps, rather than the 7 that was being bundled with the latest retail packages.

I called DeLorme support Thursday morning, in the hopes that there would be some sort of upgrade available. I very quickly got through to a live human in their home office in Yarmouth. I'd no sooner finished describing my purchase before she volunteered that I was eligible for an upgrade to Topo 7! I didn't even have to ask, she said it would go out Priority Mail that day.

I was quite pleased, but figured I'd better plan most of my trip using Topo 6, since I was leaving Saturday and the new version may not arrive in time. I installed it on my desktop computer, calculated the main route I'd be taking, and created mapfiles for the GPS. Saturday arrived, everything was packed, and we were just about to hit the road when the mail was dropped off. Sure enough, there was the new software! I tossed it in the laptop bag, figuring that I'd install it on the road, and tweak the maps from there.

Unfortunately, one thing I forgot to pack was the special USB cable the PN-20 uses (not a normal one, since the device is watertight). And it turns out, you can't create PN-20 map files on the software until it's synced up once with the device, to determine firmware version. D'oh! I'd never synced up 6 or 7 with my laptop before heading out the door, just with my desktop.

I posted to the DeLorme company forums, explaining the situation, and asking if there was any way to spoof Topo 7 into thinking it had already synchronized, since I knew the firmware version for my PN-20. I got a PM back from one of the customer service reps, saying that no, this was probably not possible. So instead, they offered to overnight a replacement USB cable to where I was on the trip!

Sure enough, a FedEx package soon arrived in Louisiana, containing not just a USB cable for the PN-20, but also 3 DVDs of pre-cut maps that were being shipped with the latest GPS units, making drive-planning vastly easier. Needless to say, navigating on the remainder of the trip became much more pleasant.

I felt vaguely guilty, since the problems were due to my forgetfulness. I figured the least I could do was tell others about how they went above and beyond to make sure a stranded customer could still use their product!

-Brendan

(Photo: Getty)

The other day my wife called up customer service at Bath & Body Works to ask about a scented oil she loves that they didn't have at any local stores. Turns out it was discontinued and when they checked the computers they couldn't find any in stock anywhere. They apologized and offered to send out a coupon which made my wife happy. She gave them our address and forgot about it. Yesterday, I went out to get the paper and found a box at our front door...

Inside were two bottles (~$20 each) of the discontinued oil and a really long apology saying how bad they felt that her favorite scent was discontinued and that they would pass on her disappointment to the people in charge of deciding what is sold. It was a a really friendly note, personal and genuine. The fact that they took the trouble to track down two bottles and send them for free (she had been happy to buy them) with such a nice note had us both feeling all warm and tingly the rest of the day (no easy task with the weather in Michigan these days). Anyhow, I thought that kind of service deserved a mention on your fine site.

Thanks,

Kevin

I've seen a lot of poor shipping posts in the past few weeks, and thought I would share a positive shipping story! I recently ordered 12 bridesmaid dresses from Target.com (2 sizes for each girl, just in case, plus two for myself). I expected a barrage of boxes at my door, but was pleasantly surprised to find 10 dresses neatly packed into one Amazon box, and two more dresses in a smaller Amazon box. I guess some companies CAN ship competently!

RELATED: "Stupid Shipping Gang" stories.

I don't know where I should be sending this but I wanted to compliment two excellent Costco employees. This was Friday, January 18th at the Roseville, CA store on Stanford Ranch Road. The checker was Marilyn, who was fast, efficient and friendly.

Very pleasant personality. The young man assisting, bagging, etc. was named Pierce. What a fast-working guy. He had items off the belt and into the carts in the blink of an eye. All the while being friendly and extremely efficient. He was quick but careful in not slamming things around.

I think great employees should be told of the appreciation we have for them in doing such a good job. I believe these two employees are a credit to this store.

Sincerely,
Jeanie R.
Lincoln, CA

(Photo: miss_rogue)

That's why this year we're going out of our way to salute the best of the best. Without further ado... The 10 most amazing, useful, awesome, stupendous products of 2007!

10. Ladders. Perfectly designed for reaching stuff that's too high. Need a can of soup that's on the top shelf? Use a ladder! The one drawback to ladders is that you can fall off of them and kill yourself. Were it not for this small flaw, we're sure ladders would be much higher on the list.

9. Internet. The internet is an excellent tool with many uses. For example, you can type your opinions in list form, post them, and then watch as people from all over the world disagree with you in nearly infinite variations. Believe it or not, some people make a pretty good living doing this.

8. Shoes. Shoes are a product we at the Consumerist use almost every single day. The productivity boost we get from shoes is unmatched. Without them, it takes a lot longer to do even simple tasks such as walking to the store.

7. The Spork. We ask you: What other utensil so deftly handles not only turkey, but stuffing and mashed potatoes as well?

6. Olive Oil. Olive Oil is not only delicious, if you felt like it, you could burn it in a lamp and light your house. Or make soap.

5. Notebooks And Pens. Have you ever had an idea? Or maybe you needed to remember something? What you need is a product that allows you to input data and store it for later. That way, you can free your mind to wonder if Monet would have been worth a damn if he hadn't had cataracts. We give you "Notebooks" and "Pens." They're easy to use right out of the box, considering you've probably had at least 12 years of relevant training provided by our fine education system.

4. Simple Machines. Who doesn't love the inclined plane? So useful for loading things in and out of trucks and entering and exiting buildings. The wheel and axle is another winner, and a wedge can stop a door for you when nothing else will do. Simple machines, we salute you.

3. Coffee & Tea. Neither coffee, nor tea has calories. Both contain caffeine. That's really all we have to say about it.

2. Baking Soda. Baking soda is not only an excellent leavening agent, after you're done eating the yummy biscuits you just made...you can brush your teeth with it. Or clean your produce. Or get a weird smell off of your hands. Or make a science project.

1. Vinegar. Yes, vinegar is the winner. You can use it to make pickles or you can clean your coffee pot with it. You could make salad dressing, or you could clean your counter tops and deodorize your garbage disposal. Vinegar rules!

What simple DRM-free, EULA-free, ETF-free products do you appreciate?

"Normally we would just try to extend the reservation, but there was a reservation right after yours. It won't be refunded to your credit card but there will be $50 on your account for driving credit... Because like I said... I wasn't able to refund the charge to your account. Next time, hold your card on the reader for about 10 seconds and that will end your reservation."

Now, I don't know about you, but I prefer money to service credits, so I said something like:

I see, that's understandable and I need to make sure to swipe out next time. I've been a customer with you guys for months and, but for this little mistake I made, which I promise not to make again, everything has been great and we totally love it. Just curious though, why can't you refund the credit card $50 instead of putting a $50 service credit on the account?

There was a brief pause and then she said:

"Cause it's a lot easier to do it this way (laughs) but if you want it back on the card (laughs), I can send it off to billing and see if we can put it back on the card."

The call ended pleasantly soon afterwards, thus revealing the amazing power of getting what you want by asking for it. There's no need to accept the first answer a company gives you, just because it's their policy or procedure. Sometimes nudging just a little makes a big budge.

She writes, "Thanks to consumerist, I had already disposed of them... I was just glad that [Meijer] did that - it seemed above and beyond just tacking up the notice on the wall."

Props to Meijer. It's good business sense to help keep your customers from dying!

Hunching over with your money and checks and filling out the envelope can be a slightly annoying time-waster. More banks should incorporate this convenience. Just hope they don't get jammed up. Full scan inside...

Through this financial fiasco she has managed to bounce two consecutive electricity bills and her next SS check isn't due for another two weeks. She has received written notice that her power will be turned off in the next couple days. Did I mention she's in Atlanta, where the high today is something like 105 degrees (not counting the heat index)? I had to go to the bank and try to beg the capitalists for some mercy. I had to keep the power on.

We visited the local branch this morning, and the local WaMU branch officer we spoke to offered to remove two charges, but no more, as my mother freely admits all this is her own fault. A very generous offer, I thought, but not good enough.

It turns out that if we could get ALL of those 20 NSF charges reversed, she'd have about four dollars left over after paying the minimum to keep her air conditioner going, and could get current (pardon the pun) when her next disability check comes. I knew I was aiming high, but I was desperate - I'd spent the last of my own money
to pay for her prescription medications and right now I'm just an unemployed tech support geek. We're both living on peanut butter and bananas right now.

Enter Rosie Alvarez of the WaMu Executive Response team, courtesy of the Consumerist post here ("Contact WaMu Executive Customer Service"). It turns out that extension 467 is Ms. (Mrs?) Alzarez's direct line. I called her from the branch office and left her a desperate message, and she called me back in less than an hour.

I want to give Ms. Alvarez a wet, sloppy internet kiss and Washington Mutual a big Above and Beyond shoutout. No, they didn't credit my mom all 20 of the charges, but WaMu has promised to reverse ten of them in the next 24 hours, leaving my mom with basically a zero balance in her account. She's probably going to be without electricity for what
may be one of the hottest weeks in local history, but when her check comes she'll be able to safely pay down her power bill and get her expenses back on track.

And for that I am overwhelmingly grateful.

Sincerely,

Joe A.

If you choose to post this above and beyond, I have one optional part: I have a paypal address, joe@techseaport.com, that could be used to accept donations to go towards paying her power bill. I have documentation to prove her financial trouble, but I also have no desire to insult you, your readers or your business policies/ practices by soliciting. I just want to keep her power on.

Thank you for considering this post and for all the valuable information you've shared with the world.

And that, folks, is why executive customer service shall always and forever be, for the win.

Oh, and please don't overdraft. You're just buying yourself a one-way ticket on the nonstop train to ImpecunioCity.

Joe, we also want you to try these numbers for groups in your area that provide emergency funds for seniors struggling to meet energy payments (via Georgia Natural Gas). Some of them may just be for heating but others may work for electricity or be able to point you in the direction of the right relief agencies:

Statewide Assistance

o Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), administered by the Georgia Department of Human Resources - 404-657-3426 or 404-657-3427 (inside metro Atlanta); 1-800-869-1150 (outside Atlanta)
o Project Share of the Salvation Army - 770-441-6200
o United Way Referral Program - Dial 211

Metro Atlanta-Based Assistance

o Atlanta Regional Commission, Aging Services - 404-463-3333
o Buckhead Christian Ministry - 404-239-0038 (serves these ZIP codes: 30305, 30309, 30311, 30318, 30319, 30324, 30326, 30327, 30329, 30340, 30341, 30342, 30345, 30360, and 30363)
o Midtown Assistance Center - 404-681-5777
o Resource Service Ministries - 404-352-5440
o St. Vincent DePaul Society - 770-458-9607
o Senior Connections - 770-455-7602, ext. 151
o The Sullivan Center - 404-753-0535

On June 21st, I was on flight 6 from JFK to Buffalo departing at 5:20 and arriving in Buffalo at 7:12. We pushed back from the gate at exactly 5:20, and started our journey to the runway, as number 20 or so in line. At this point, the weather just got worse and worse, and eventually all flights north were suspended, with us being 2nd in line for take off, bummer."

From this point, I would say the captain was in contact with us almost every 15 minutes, as we were shuffled around the taxi ways of JFK. He was giving us constant weather updates, trying to find alternate routes to buffalo with the help of ATC, and refused to go back to the gate because our flight would then be canceled. After about 2 hours, they were kind enough to start the food and drink service, even though they were pretty much not allowed to.

All the while, the TV's were functioning, which was great. Finally, after 3 and a half hours on the taxi ways, we take off and get into Buffalo at about 10:30. 2 days later, without any asking, Jetblue emails me with a $100 refund in accordance with the Customer Bill of Rights

The captain of the flight was absolutely excellent, CONSTANT communication with us every step of the way, from the medical emergency in the plane behind us, to telling us that the engines burn 2 gallons of fuel per minute idling on the runways. Totally restored my faith and love for jetblue.

Even I was knocking them recently. I just felt that this was a great experience (other than the weather)..and hey, $100 back on a $170 flight isn't half bad.

Now that was jolly good of the captain, and very good of JetBlue for emailing the refund without even being asked. That's what we like to see, especially considering that the delays would've been due to the weather and most airlines only give refunds for non Force Majeur events.

(Photo: Star Trek)

We've had a Star Wars Lego Clone Trooper Battle Pack on backorder since April. When it was going to take longer than expected for the package to be sent out, Lego sent us a apologetic letter giving us the new shipping date. We thought that was nice. The new shipping date came and went, and we've been wondering what had happened. A 9 year old boy was getting pretty anxious about it.

Yesterday we received a delivery notice from Canada Post telling us our package was waiting for us at the post office. We called this morning, and the employee warned us that the truck delivering the package had been in a serious accident en-route, had rolled over, and many of the packages had been damaged. Unfortunately ours was one of the worst she'd seen... but that we should come down and see for ourselves...

We picked it up and it looked pretty bad. The package was almost completely destroyed. The box was badly squashed, and full of pieces of dirt & gravel. (see photos attached) Canada Post included a letter of apology.

We were optimistic that it might still be ok, since Lego is already in a bunch of little pieces anyway, but unfortunately there were some broken plastic pieces, including a Stormtrooper who was now an amputee.

We just called the ShopLego.com toll free number and a nice woman named Caitlin answered. We explained that our parcel had been damaged in transit. We offered to send photos but she said not to worry, she'd ship us out a replacement, just like that. Yay, Lego!

Here's a link to an article about the accident that claimed our parcel; unfortunately there were some injuries.

Kudos to ShopLego for coming through (not a bad showing by Canada Post either). But the real hero is Anne, If she hadn't picked up that phone and asked for what she wanted, she might've been left with some smooshed Clone Troopers. A little proactiveness goes a long way. — BEN POPKEN

When he asked Kensington's tech support if they would fix the sticky key in his, they sent him one for free!

Yippy skippy!

George writes:

I am a trackball user. I hate mice. And, I have had no problems with my wrist after 17 years of everyday computing.

Well, my Kensington Turbo Mouse Pro trackball is acting up. The left button is dying. It's very difficult to drag and drop. I have a mouse connected too just in case it gets too frustrating.

Yesterday I went to Amazon to order a new one. To my dismay my model is discontinued. In fact, as far as I can tell there are very few trackballs manufactured these days. Not only that, even fewer wireless trackballs. (I gave up looking for a bluetooth trackball years ago. I should just make my own by modding a bluetooth mouse.

There were some used wireless trackballs on eBay, but they are about $170 dollars. Thats a little steep for me right now. One guy advertised a wireless mouse, I wrote him, and discovered it was not wireless!

Anyway, today I decided to write Kensingtion tech support. Maybe they'd fix it for me? Anyway, they wrote back and said that my model is discontinued. :( But, they will make a special exception and send me a replacement for free. Its not wireless though. Just the same, Kensington rocks! with its technical support. The new trackball is $100 value)

— BEN POPKEN

The flashlight is supposed to have a lifetime warranty so he asked their customer service and they told him to send it in.

He got it back not only fixed for free, but the lens and battery were also replaced, a $30-$50 value.

Neato torpedo! — BEN POPKEN

Streamlight [KristofersBlog]

Vanguard work Best Buy, may others follow in your footsteps. — BEN POPKEN
(Photo: a nameless yeast)

The PR rep \booted the issue up to JoAnn Stanford, a high-ranking Sprint Executive Customer Service rep. She wrote Matt:

Thank you for your response to my email. I'm sorry I was on the line when you called. When you are able to, if you would send me the account info (I don't even have his name at this time) I will take care of resolving this for you.

I am truly sorry for the level of customer service you experienced from our representatives.

Sounds like a happy ending is just around the corner.

Thanks Sprint! All it took was 5150 Diggs and you did the right thing! — BEN POPKEN

"Allstate apologized! They called and apologized! Holy cow!

I don't know what you guys did, but it worked. They ungummed the works and my claim is being expedited. WOW.

Please post this note, too. We have to give credit where it's due. Wow. I'm still sitting here stunned.

Nancy A"

That's the power of namedropping Dennis Haysbert in a headline. Shit gets taken care of. — BEN POPKEN

Reader Max did this recently and only paid $240 for round trip last minute tickets, instead of $640.

The airline will likely require that you fax a copy of the necessary death certificate, but that's a small price for nearly half off.

Check with your airline first, Max got his bereavement fare from American Airlines but we've heard of others clamping down on bereavement fares in this no-frills airline era. — BEN POPKEN

UPDATE: Currently, American Airlines, Continental, United and Us Airways offer bereavement fares, according to their websites. All require you call customer service.

[Smarter Travel via Upgrade; Travel Better]

HSBC Direct makes you create two passwords. One you type in. The other you click in. This helps prevent against the possibility of someone using a keylogger to steal your bank account information.

Fantastic! — BEN POPKEN

In the aftermath, reader David called Comcast and Qwest, expecting an abyss of pain. He was stunned then to receive polite, prompt, professional and thorough repair service. Writes David:

In the past I have been quick to criticize these companies, but I have to give them some serious props for their service yesterday. In the aftermath of the storm, the guys in the field are working incredible hours in terrible circumstances, and they couldn't have exceeded my expectations more!

In the face of adversity, humans can band together and achieve great things. Now if Qwest and Comcast could just attain that level of minimum competency on a daily basis.

David's letter, inside...

David writes:

— BEN POPKEN

Lisa sent in a nano and got back a video iPod, but her thank you letter inside seems to indicate her son is happy with the upgrade. — BEN POPKEN

Lisa writes:

"Ben,

You truly are the greatest! Checked your site to see if my story was posted today and was surprised to learn that Nick had sent a video iPod to replace my nano. My son immediately checked the mailbox and found nothing. I told him to be patient the mail takes time. If next week rolls around and we haven't received it then I would email you again. (I was personally very skeptical it would show up.) So we had settled in to wait again, and about 30 minutes later the doorbell rings. Guess what? It was a lovely, brown box from UPS with our replacement iPod! We are stunned and thrilled. Thank you so much. I had given up, but you stepped up to the plate for me and set things right. Thank you. Thank you.

I will email ipod Mechanic and thank them. I will also send them back the iPod I have. Will you please reassure your readers that I immediately sent back the iPod that I was holding for collateral (not "hostage"? I hope that iPod Mechanic figures out who its true owner is.

You and your website are providing an invaluable service. Keep up the good work and have a wonderful, and relaxing holiday.

-Lisa H"

Reader Sean bought what he thought was a box-fresh iPod from Smalldog.com. Imagine his surprise when he ripped off the shrink-wrap and instead found inside two bars of Irish Spring soap and a package of cheap batteries.

"I picked up the phone and gave Smalldog a call," writes Sean, "I was ready to really tear into someone when..."

Kudos to Smalldog for fixing this so quickly, and with such grace and humor. However, they should track down where they got the iPod from and wack somebody's grubby little hands. And then wash them. And then clean their mouth out with soap. And while the soap is still in there, shrink wrap their mouth shut.

Oh, and just because something is in the box and shrink-wrapped, doesn't mean it's new. Shrink wrap devices are not hard to come by. All you need is a roll of plastic, a heated cutting device, and a section of table.

Today's comes courtesy of comment land courtesan Homerjay. He had an awesome experience at L.L. Bean where the salespeople went out of their way to help him save $160.

His heart-warming tale, presented inside, shows how businesses can turn average customers into raving fans by putting the customers first and profits second — and make more money in the end.

"I was in Freeport, Maine- home of any number of outlet stores and retail standout LL Bean- to do some Christmas shopping.

Historically I have done very little shopping at LL Bean mostly because when I need something 'outdoorsy' I don't immediately think of them. Last year I bought a pair of boots there that I beat the life out of. I returned them this year without a problem. They have a lifetime satisfaction guarantee on everything they sell. Even though I beat on them they really should have lasted longer.

So while I was there this time I decided it was time to buy new ski wear for my wife and I. I found a jacket for $250 that was perfect. While I was trying them on a lovely saleslady, probably in her 60's, came up to us and asked me if I needed any help. I talked to her about some of the features of the jacket (at that price apparently they start to have features) and she told me that this was their most expensive jacket and that I might want to look at one that is $100 less because it was designed more for the casual skier. (WHAAA?)

She showed me a couple other less expensive ones, explained the differences in great detail and then brought me over to the computer to show me more details on the materials and care instructions. A this point I still ended up wanting the $250 one.

Then another salesperson came by and the two talked. He commented on the expensive jacket and jokingly I said to him "Can I get your employee discount?" He chuckled and said "Ya know what? I think I can do better."

He then showed the saleslady that in the computer the $250 jacket is actually $170 if you order it in a discontinued color through the catalog. I was shocked. I was about to plop down $250 and they both knew it. He helped me place the order and that was that. These people get NO financial incentives or commissions. They're totally there to help.

Then! We went upstairs to find one for my incredibly indecisive wife. We spent the better part of an hour with a very nice salesgirl who was more than happy to show her every jacket they offer over and over and over. We told her up front that we had no intention of buying the jacket there because we wanted my wife's father to buy it for her for Christmas. It made no difference to her. I was the one getting annoyed with my wife while the salesgirl just kept on going, smiling the whole time. In the end, she picked the same jacket I did. I mentioned the deal I got downstairs and she looked it up and it was also going on for discontinued womens colors. We ended up ordering it in the store anyway just to ensure we got the special price.

I went out of there giddy at saving about $170 but mostly because the salespeople were SOOO helpful.

I was willing to buy their most expensive jacket (which didn't even come close to the most expensive North Face jacket) because of their lifetime satisfaction guarantee and the incredible helpfulness of the sales staff.

If LL Bean can make a healthy profit within a model that allows for a well trained, friendly, helpful staff (even at the phone order center) and a lifetime guarantee, why can't other retailers???

Thanks for listening.

-Homerjay"

A reader is happy to report he did just that, and it worked!

Erik has had a Polaroid DVD player for three years. One day, he noticed its battery was boasting strange little bulges.

Dangling the device over the garbage disposal, about to flick the switch to ON, he recalled our post and decided to send the device back to Polaroid.

"Three weeks later, they delivered! Brand new battery, no weird bulges. Customer Service++! Thanks Consumerist!" writes Steve.

Thumbs up, Polaroid! And thumbs up, Steve, partially for getting proactive, but mainly for obeying our edicts.

But MissDona says hers, "randomly sprays and shuts off."

She was worried about her chances of getting a replacement. It was a gift and she doesn't have the box or receipt. Maybe it could be swapped under warranty?

"I placed a quick call to SC Johnson customer service," writes MissDona. "A 1-step voice prompt led to a very pleasant rep named Amanda. After explaining my issue, Amanda offered to replace my unit with a new starter kit. No holding, checking, "let me see"-ing. Just replacing."

MissDona adds, "All companies should have Customer Relations like SC Johnson."

It's good to know that even though National Customer Service Week is over, good customer service isn't. Let's just hope this one doesn't have problems either.

Philip bought a $3000 Sony Wega 50" rear projection LCD TV a year and half ago, with a two year warranty.

Recently his optic block failed for the second time.

When he called, Sony referred him to a "judiciary group." They refused the repair, citing "customer abuse."

Philip then told Sony he planned to write The Consumerist. He described the nature of our blog and spelled out the URL. He noted our national media coverage and number of daily visitors.

Less than an hour later, Sony called to arrange a time for a technician to come to Philip's house and perform the repair, free of charge.

Philip bathes once again in flickering cathode rays.

Sony, Philip writes, "lost a customer who has been loyal to them for over thirty years and only purchased Sony video and audio equipment. That loyalty has been destroyed. I'm moving to Panasonic from now on."

"Sony sucks - CONSUMERIST.COM RULES!!!!!!! Thanks again Ben!!!!!!!!"

Hey, it could work for other Consumerist readers, too. It's worth a shot.

At the very least, you're helping us out with free advertising.

Customers currently under 12-month contract can switch to monthly without penalty, Ars Technica reports.

The new monthly price plans are as follows:

• Basic (768 Kbps downstream; 384 Kbps upstream) - $14.99 a month.
• Express (1.5 Mbps downstream; 384 Kbps upstream) - $19.99 a month.
• Pro (3.0 Mbps downstream; 512 Kbps upstream) - $24.99 a month.
• Elite 6.0 Mbps downstream; 768 Kbps upstream) - $34.99 a month.

If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it's yours. If it doesn't, it never was.

She pondered complaining but didn't around to it, so she was surprised to arrive home yesterday and find a letter from Southwest in the mail

"It was a voucher for $200 (the round trip flight I had purchased was only $100), and a letter explaining the delay and asking me to accept the voucher as consolation. The funny thing was that the voucher was for the consolation of the 30 minute delay on the way home, and not of the four hour delay on the way to Pittsburgh! Oh, well, I'm not complaining."

Ah! Must...Catch...Breath...Preemptive apologizing and problem fixing! What a concept!

Tipster Chris writes, "I found this yesterday, and last night I was able to upgrade my Nokia 6682 to the most current firmware version. It's a big deal for Nokia owners because up to now Nokia has required that you send in your phone to a Nokia service center (or worse, some Cingular storefront?) to upgrade the firmware."

Cable company CSRs he spoke with said they "were fielding lots of calls" about the addition.

Guess Comcast listened. Neat.

Now they should start an ad campaign touting the unique benefit of their ad-free TV guide service.

That's why he abandoned Walmart, mid-schop, for Target one night, and wrote both companies a letter describing his experience.

What a freak! His America-hating letter, inside.

The few incredibly rude associates I encountered fit in well with their environment. Their appearance was slovenly and unkempt. Most wore non-uniform clothing in a poor state of repair and cleanliness. Despite the utter inability of the associates I encountered to direct me even to the correct departments, I gathered the items I had come for and approached the checkout counter. It was at this point my frustration reached its peak.

Of the almost thirty checkout lanes available, including numerous self checkout lanes, only six full-service and only four self-service lanes were open. In each of the six open full-service lanes, more than eight customers stood in line. At each of the self-serve terminals, at least four customers were in line. Taking the apparently faster course, I queued up in a self-service lane. Over the next twenty five minutes, each of the four self service lanes encountered a variety of problems, from lack of currency to scanner failure. None of these problems was addressed with any degree of seriousness and, when I inquired, I was told that this was "normal" and that no one on duty was trained to operate or repair the terminals. At this point, my quick shopping trip had taken over an hour, and I had yet to complete a single purchase. In disgust, I laid down my armload of sundries and left the store.

At this point, my night took a decided turn for the better. On my way home, I remembered that there was a Target store not far off my route home. I stopped and went in. My experience there could have been neither more pleasant nor more completely unlike that at Wal-Mart. I found a well-lit store with clean floors; wide, clearly marked aisles; eye-level shelves that were fully stocked and conveniently labeled. Moreover, I found friendly, knowledgeable associates who were easily identified by their neat, clean uniforms. I found everything I had come for in less than ten minutes. Over the next fifteen minutes, the ease of shopping at Target led me to accumulate a shopping cart full of merchandise. At Target, the checkout lanes were manned in proportion to the level of business and I concluded my purchases quickly. In all, I spent almost two hundred dollars at Target after having gone out for about ten dollars in light bulbs and shaving supplies.

I am a young man, but I have a number of years experience in the service-intensive hotel industry, and I make it a policy to reward good service when I find it. And that, really, is the crux of the matter: I am a young man. I have a lot of years left to shop, and a lot of things I'd like to have. In the future, my first choice, and the recipient of my disposable income will, without exception, be Target, rather than Wal-Mart."

But after his bluster hit the internet and before he could strap on his boots and fill his flask with whiskey, Apple Ireland's head of corporate affairs called him up and apologized. 90 minutes later, his new Mac was sitting on his desk.

Which is all for the best and not just because it's great customer service. One half of The Consumerist lives in Ireland. He would've been stabbed and robbed at least five times before even reaching Cill Dara.

"I'm sure I contributed to the spread of illegal human trafficking," a reader writes. " So yeah, there was a bit of guilt, not to mention I'm married. And while this wasn't my first time doing this, it was my first time going to a house of ill repute and it's something in general that I hadn't done in years. I thought my life was different nowadays.

I'll blame it on the heat."

There's a happy ending, inside...

This is a story I would love to submit to the Times for it's Metro Diary, but somehow I think they'd pass. It's a story of exemplary customer service, so maybe it's good for Consumerist...

...When I walk in, I see I've arrived during a slow period. An elderly woman is hunched over a stove, poking her tongs at roasting spare ribs. Another elderly woman is serving a batch of those ribs to three young women sitting around a counter. All the women were eating them with little plastic gloves on their hands.

As I'm guided to a bedroom through the kitchen, they make a joke, giggle, and ask if I want some spare ribs. I say yes, as I love the roasted ribs I get at many of the Chinese joints in Chinatown. Ha ha ha.

The girl and I tussle for an hour, I shower, and as I'm ready to leave, Mama-San (I swear!) tells me to sit. She has put aside a plate of ribs for me. I have to eat them. It's like my own grandmother is there. They are amazing, these delicately spiced, gingery, scallion-y, ribs, with flavor all the way through. You can't find these at any of the restaurants I've been to, Korean or Chinese. She handed me the box with the plastic gloves, and I put them on. As I eat, I begin to sweat, and the woman I was just with (again, I swear) wipes the sweat from my brow. She stands over me, attending to me: "Do I need water?": "Do I want rice?"; and "Is it good?"

I left feeling the guilt and shame that comes from acting out in ways that are not healthy to the rest of my life, but full of laughter at the homeyness of it all.

And yes, I am going to go back."

First they seemed to be discriminating against the recently unwed, then hot redhead Canadian chicks, and nearest and dearest to our hearts, heavy drinkers.

Lending a dissenting voice, Danilo actually tried out the service instead of mocking it from afar based on hearsay and anecdote. He says he had a fairly pleasant, though not perfect, experience.

Contrary to other reports, he didn't even get a crucifix shoved in his heart.

Always greatful for an opportunity to contradict ourselves, we let Danilo's letter unfold after the jump like the wings of angels...

Danilo writes:

"As previously established with my Amazon television caper, I'm living the single life. There are plenty of benefits to being single, but it's a little less fun for people who aren't any good at meeting women. Like me.

The internet has always solved my other problems, though, so naturally I turned to it to soften the pain of my transforming into a blithering idiot each time I'm confronted with the sort of woman who interests me. At the very least, I thought, I'd be able cut past the standard introductory crap and confine my energies to the sorts of sophisticated people I enjoy.

After staggering through the thumbnail-filled electronic meat markets for a few weeks, I grew frustrated. It wasn't always easy to find interesting people and the ones I thought might be interesting turned out to be pretty dull. Women in Orlando, it would seem, have an unhealthy preoccupation with excessive drinking and the caps lock key.

It was with heavy heart that I dragged myself to eHarmony, having heard something favorable about it from a coworker. I'd read a decent amount of negative things from Consumerist on the same subject, so I'd avoided the place. Still, I was ready to try something different and thus plunged into an SAT-style personality profile hell.

Chiefly, Consumerist voiced suspicion that eHarmony was a Christian-driven morals machine that would endeavor to leave you loveless and miserable if you weren't an avid bible thumper. This doesn't appear to be the case. I'm not at all religious and eHarmony played matchmaker nonetheless.

But in contrast to the Match.com-style sites, eHarmony seems to be playing up a quality angle rather than one of quantity. After a few weeks, I've only been handed a half-dozen matches — a paltry sum, compared to the hundreds you might find on Match. Still, while even some of those few eHarmony matches seemed pretty bland, one of them wasn't bad at all. In fact, thanks to eHarmony, my faith in women's ability to successfully combine attractiveness, intelligence and maturity has been enthusiastically restored, regardless of the outcome of any particular match I've found through the service.

So, Godless singles can take heart: they too can enjoy the benefits of someone's weird, mathematical people-matching scheme. It was definitely successful at figuring out the sorts of things that make people interesting to me. I'm nowhere near being able to tell if it can actually help you find your soulmate, but if you want some help finding something deeper than just casual sex, it certainly wouldn't hurt to give eHarmony a crack. Be patient, though — if you've got a particularly offbeat personality, as I do, it might take it a few weeks to come up with a useful match.

As far as the girl who's pretty all right: It's a little unusual or maybe cute. I think we got on the phone at 10:30 PM on Saturday night, after a couple weeks exchanging messages and jumping through these hoops eHarmony gives you to better qualify your matches. By the time we hung up from that first conversation, though, the sun was coming up and it was past 6:00 AM but neither of us had noticed the passage of time. I'm the sort of guy who is wildly curious and speculative about life, philosophy and science and stuff and through speaking with this person I am reassured that, hey, women can be like that too and still be attractive. She lives a few hours away, but I'll see if I can grab lunch with her on Saturday.

-Danilo
www.danilocampos.com

Oh, btw, I'm nowhere near as hot as Tamsen is, but I'll attach a photo to save you guys a trip to your discount stock photo DVD."

The "best companies" competition has inspired me to send in something positive for a change, since I usually gripe and swear not to go back to wherever any more.

...this letter will have you sweating your pants off. Friendly, helpful sales associates. Employee opening up register just for consumer so she had zero wait time. Employee helping pack stereo components in car. Shine!

The light of spirit can bask in the glow of the missive after the jump. The cynical can analyze what economic forces might influence such superlative behavior. Both can find room to roam in the netherspace of comments land.

"Dear Consumerist guys:

The "best companies" competition has inspired me to send in something positive for a change, since I usually gripe and swear not to go back to wherever any more. I had the nicest experience at the Natick, MA Container Store this evening. I've written them a complimentary letter and in it I promised them to try to get them some good free press through the Consumerist.

I went in tonight to buy a set of Elfa drawers to add to a system I already had started in one closet. I knew exactly what I wanted, so I didn't expect to fumble much for the components, even though I had my infant son with me. As soon as I set foot in the Elfa area, an employee asked me if I wanted help, and I declined, as I usually do. I said that I knew what I wanted, and I'd put the components together myself. But Mike the friendly sales associate insisted, saying I already had my hands full, and within five minutes of hearing what I wanted, had all of the components in a cart for me and parked it near the registers so I could browse for a while. I did browse, and when I went to check out, Mike was there again, opening a new register so I could check out immediately. He rolled the unwieldy drawer liners neatly and banded them so they would stay rolled, packed everything back into the cart, and walked me out to my car. My son had started to fuss by then, so Mike said I should tend to him and he'd pack my car for me. And he did. This wasn't the first time I had good service from the Elfa associate. Their closet planners are always super-friendly. But this guy really went above and beyond.

But wait! There's more! After I left, I went to pick my husband up at work, and while I waited, I noticed that I'd accidentally been charged twice for three items on my order. I had a large order, and their checkout counters don't have conveyors, so I was sure it was just a mistake. I went back, and they credited me promptly and apologized. Isn't it sad that this kind of ordinary fair treatment is rare enough now that it's worth mentioning?

If every place had that kind of service, you guys would be out of business. No, they're not the cheapest place ever, but I'd rather be treated like that and get quality merchandise any day.

Best,

Etinterrapax"