The lovely scented candle that Todd ordered from The Body Shop arrived on time and all, but smashed. It came in a glass holder, and no one working at the warehouse seemed to know that when you ship an item made of glass, you should put some kind of packing materials around it so it doesn’t end up pulverized into little shards that cut Todd’s hand. For example. Trying to get through to their customer service, though, added figurative insult to his literal injury. [More]
above and beyond
The Body Shop Ships Glass Candle Holder Loose In Box, Makes Up For It With Fabulous Customer Service
By 12.19.12 — Updated: 12.20.12
Spangler Candy Company Delights Autistic Child, Comforts Struggling Family
By 12.10.12
At this time of year, Spangler may be best known for their candy canes, but they’re also the company behind cheap, tiny, flavorful Dum Dums lollipops. Normally, these candies come in a large bag of assorted flavors, which the discerning candy-eater will then paw through to find the cream soda-flavored ones. What you may not know is that at the company’s web site, you can find tubs of single flavors. When Rebecca learned this, she ordered up a few for her son, who is autistic and has obsessive-compulsive disorder. A single container of his favorite flavor? Perfect for him. Rebecca wrote to the company to tell them how happy this product made her son. Then they wrote back. [More]
T-Mobile Saves The Day When Samsung Won’t
By 12.6.12
We often write about oddball, 1-in-1,000 customer service horror stories. For most consumers, their feelings about a company is often related to how it responds to everyday concerns and complaints. [More]
My Mom Ordered One iPad And Best Buy Sent Five
By 12.5.12 — Updated: 12.8.12
Alexa’s boyfriend got an iPad for Christmas from his mother. Well, that’s not quite true. His mother ordered one iPad, and had it shipped to him. What arrived on their doorstep was a very large and heavy box that was big enough to hold five iPads. Because it did. [More]
Kmart Goes Above And Beyond To Help Mother Of Triplets
By 12.5.12
Having one young child can be a hassle (or so I read on Facebook every day), but having triplets makes everything that much more complicated. So it was a great relief for one Consumerist reader when her local Kmart went out of its way to help her in her search for three car seats. [More]
Ninja Offers Swift, Quiet Replacement Of Defective Blender
By 12.4.12
Nathan expected stubbornness or indifference from Ninja complained about the mildew trapped inside the handle of his blender pitcher. Ninjas aren’t the fanciest blenders out there, but aren’t the cheapest, either. He e-mailed them first, then called customer service as they requested. That’s when they surprised him by actually replacing the defective pitcher. [More]
Woot Marks Item Down, Issues Partial Refund, Delights Customers
By 12.3.12
There are a few (very few) companies that Consumerist readers seem to universally adore. Woot is one of these, even when they’re not sending their customers unexplained wads of cash. They did something pretty simple this week: sold an item for $200, then put it up for sale for $170 only a few days later. Instead of saying “tough luck” to those first few customers who paid $30 more, Woot issued a pre-emptive refund. [More]
How Dave’s Coffee Saved One Customer’s Thanksgiving
By 12.3.12
When Consumerist reader and New Jersey resident Brian lost power for nearly a week following Hurricane Sandy, he also thought his plans to craft some homemade coffee ice cream for Thanksgiving had gone kaput too. [More]
Apple Takes Back Wi-Fi-Sabotaging MacBook, Replaces It With Shiny New One
By 11.29.12
Micahel’s new Macbook had a very unusual flaw. Whenever it was connected to his home network, it would take out his modem. Unfortunately, it didn’t take the whole Apple Store’s network down, so he wasn’t able to replicate the problem for the Geniuses. After five trips and a variety of repairs, Apple finally gave up…and gave him a brand new MacBook. [More]
Grocery Store Gives Customers Free Food Rather Than Have Them Wait For Registers To Start Working
By 11.19.12
Pop quiz, hot shot: You’re the manager of a grocery store and a computer crash leaves your cashiers without any easy way to tally up customers’ purchases, let alone process payments. Do you (A) tell customers they’ll have to wait; (B) pull out the old calculator; (C) give them their food for free. [More]
Dollar Shave Club Replaces Lost Handle, No Questions Asked, Wins Customer Over
By 11.16.12
Consumerist reader Mark signed up for Dollar Shave Club after catching the razor subscription service’s ad that devoured the Internet earlier this year. Since then he’s been satisfied with his decision, but it’s how the company responded to his minor problem that has Mark saying he’s sticking with the service forever. [More]
Publisher Atones For Underwhelming 2010 Video Game With Free Downloads Of Latest Game
By 10.29.12
Two years ago, Consumerist reader Joe purchased “Elemental: War of Magic,” a turn-based, strategy game for his PC. Alas, Joe’s response was like that of many reviewers, that the game was buggy and unpolished and not worth playing. [More]
Bed Bath And Beyond Applies Coupon After The Fact, Alerts Me To Rebate
By 10.29.12
Where there is a mattress and there are small children, it is inevitable that the children will try to jump on the mattress. At least, that’s what happened when Kurt rolled out the air mattress for some out-of-town guests. He ran to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get a new one, but couldn’t find a precious 20% off coupon in time. When he returned to the store, he decided to be honest rather than buying another mattress and “returning” it using the receipt from the first purchase. His honesty paid off. [More]
Cosi Manager Wins Over Customers By Opening During Storm, Not Gouging
By 10.29.12
With Hurricane Sandy about to hop on the Atlantic City Expressway toward Philadelphia, many area stores opted for the better safe than sorry route and closed for the day. But one Cosi eatery in Center City won over some hospital employees by not only opening just for them, but by also not charging. [More]
Shop Owner Drives To Customer’s House After Bad Yelp Review
By 10.26.12
After receiving his first negative Yelp review, the owner of a California store made repeated attempts to contact the disgruntled customer in the hopes of turning him into a gruntled customer, and ultimately ended up at the Yelper’s doorstep. But before you go looking for the shop owner’s mug shot, this is actually a good thing. [More]
My Cats Ruin My Mouse, Logitech Sends A Free Replacement
By 10.24.12
Cats and consumer electronics might be two of Consumerist readers’ collective favorite things, but they don’t always go together very well. Meow Maximus has learned this over the years, as he’s combined computer mice with scroll wheels with long-haired kitties. Normally, he’s been able to open them up for thorough hair removal, but that didn’t work with the latest Logitech gaming mouse he bought. Consumers can’t open it up. Fortunately, it has one key feature: it’s made by Logitech. [More]
Complaint About Disappointing Noodle Bowl Results In Bounty Of Noodles For Customer
By 10.19.12
Consumerist reader Scott is a big fan of the noodle bowls made by the folks at Nongshim America. But when he recently went to heat up a bowl, he was let down by the half-full product he encountered. The way the company responded certainly made up for the disappointment. [More]
Noodles And Company Takes My Complaint Seriously, Then Sort Of Stalks Me
By 10.15.12
Dustin was disappointed in a promotion at the restaurant Noodles and Company. He’s on their mailing list, and they shared a promotion offering free salads. Who doesn’t like free food? All you had to do was be online and go to the restaurant’s site at a certain time. That’s not so hard. He was poised at his computer five minutes before the free salads hit, refreshed the site and got… a page saying that all 500 salads had been claimed within seconds. That was impressive. He sent the company a sad e-mail, and wrote up a quick account of what happened for us to share his disappointment with the consumerverse. [More]
