Reader Matt tells the story of how an Apple store manager broke a little rule so as not to dash the hopes of his 10-year-old daughter, and, in the process, made a little bit of retail magic happen. [More]
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OXO Saves Day, And Possibly A Finger
By 9.29.11
A few weeks ago reader Elizabeth bought a discount “as is” mandoline slice from Bed Bath and Beyond. It didn’t have the food holder so she bought some cutting gloves from Amazon, which fit her, but not her husband. In vain, she searched for the replacement parts online. So she sent OXO an email asking if she could buy one directly. She was pleasantly surprised by their reply. [More]
Milk Storage Bag Company Does Right After Mom Finds Defect
By 9.9.11
After Jessica discovered holes in the plastic milk storage bags in which she kept her breastmilk, she emailed the manufacturer, Lansinoh, about the defect. Jessica got back a heartfelt apology. On top of that, they also sent her several times the amount of replacement bags than she would have ever expected to make up for the defective bags. This makes Lansinoh the newest entrant in our “Above and Beyond” hall of fame. [More]
The 30-Year Quest For A Doctor Who Dalek Pencil Topper
By 8.10.11
Amanda is just thrilled to bits after finding the Doctor Who Dalek pencil topper she had been searching for for 30 years. Even better was the awesome customer service provided by Kulture Shock, the Amazon.com partner that sold her it. [More]
TWC Is Surprisingly Cool About Cutting Monthly Cable Bill
By 8.8.11
Reader Wonder_Kat is amazed at how TWC went out of its way to stop her from canceling cable service by letting her get it for only $15/month. [More]
Restaurant Apologizes For Mistake With Free Chocolate Cake For New Mother
By 8.3.11
A little bit of kindness will get you far. A little bit of chocolate cake will get you even farther, as one restaurant manager, a husband, and his wife who had just given birth found out. [More]
TWC Tech Saves Boy From Drowning
By 8.1.11
Usually just getting a cable to tech to show up at the right time is worthy of a trophy, but last week a Time Warner Cable went above and beyond the call of duty and saved a 7-year old’s life. [More]
Philly Utility Goes The Distance So Your Car Doesn't Blow Up
By 7.28.11
Claude has a cool story about how Philadelphia Gas Works went the extra mile to make sure his girlfriend’s car wouldn’t explode after a gas leak started nearby. [More]
Zappos Saves Best Man From Going Barefoot At Wedding
By 5.19.11
Though he initially only chose them for being the cheapest, Zappos has won a customer for life out of reader Jay because they saved his butt, or rather, feet. He’s the best man in a wedding this Saturday and thanks to UPS routing his package to the wrong place, he wasn’t going to have the shoes he ordered in time for the big day. Then a call to Zappos got his problem solved in a way that far surpassed his expectations. [More]
M&M's Is Really Nice After Accidentally Triggering Your Mint Allergy
By 5.10.11
How do you win over a customer after you’ve just accidentally triggered their mint allergy? M&M’s have figured the answer: lots of apologies and lots of free coupons. [More]
Cafe Press Sends You Free Shirt After You Ordered Wrong Size
By 5.3.11
Shelley is really happy with Cafe Press! She recently lost a lot of weight and ordered what she thought was the right sized shirt, but when she got it, it didn’t fit. Hey, she’s still getting used to her new thinner size, so cut her some slack. That’s exactly what Cafe Press decided to do. [More]
FitBit Replaces Gizmo For Free After You Drown It
By 4.22.11
Daryl killed his FitBit, a device that is essentially a fancy pedometer and sleep tracking gadget, by letting it go through the wash. Normally this would be a time of sadness and woe and would necessitate shelling out for another one. Instead, after contacting customer service, he received some surprise and welcome news. [More]
Busted Swingline Stapler Gets Replaced Without Hassle
By 3.10.11
The other day I was talking to a cab driver who has an air-conditioner that’s still going strong after 18 years. Now when he buys new ones that are from the same brand, they only last four years. He blames it on the company switching manufacturing from Germany to China. Indeed, in this day and age of racing to the bottom of cheap, wherever you look on the shelves, it seems it’s a never-ending seas of “they don’t make ’em like they used to.” But even still, reader Jospeh never expected his metal Swingline stapler to fracture outright. And he was likewise surprised, this time, pleasantly, when they replaced it for him swiftly and painlessly. [More]
Tweeting Disney's President Over Missed BOGO Nets Free Gift Card
By 2.4.11
Jonathan was at first stoked to get two Oswald the Lucky Rabbit plushies for $28, usually $16.50 each. He was going to give one to his sister and keep the other one. Then a week later buyer’s remorse struck like a piano dropped from 30 stories above, squashing his hopes into the size of a quarter. There was a new deal – buy one get one free! So he reached out and Tweeted someone, Disney Store President Jim Fielding. [More]
8 Year Old Snow Boots Crack, Columbia Replaces
By 1.25.11
Most companies don’t even seem to care about you 8 weeks after you buy something from them, so Gabe and his mom were pleasantly surprised when Columbia agreed to replace a pair of cracked snow boots that were 8 years old. [More]
Alaska Airlines Delivers Your Bags In 20 Minutes Or You Get 2,000 Free Miles
By 12.30.10
Reader Andrew is happy to report that taking advantage of Alaska Airline’s guarantee that you’ll have your bags within 20 minutes of landing is pretty painless. His bags didn’t show up after 35 minutes and when he called in they gave him a choice of two different “we’re sorry” options. [More]
Costco Replaces Scotch Bottle, Saves Christmas
By 12.13.10
Travis has a rich tradition of an annual bottle of scotch at Christmas, a tradition that was nearly shattered along with his bottle when it slipped from its box. Luckily Costco has an even longer and richer tradition of being really cool about refunds. [More]
Kiplinger's Dubs Consumerist "Best Consumer Blog"
By 11.9.10
Kiplinger’s picked Consumerist.com as “Best Consumer Blog” for their annual “Best List” featured in the December 2010 issue. Flip to the top of page 80 and you’ll see they say we are the “always useful, frequently fun and deliciously snarky place to get the latest on a wide array of consumer issues.” Awww, shucks. [More]
