Here’s a happy story from someone who bought a “Box of Crap” (this is what we call a box that looks new, but contains the wrong item or a used item, due to return fraud). Instead of accusing reader Ryan of some sort of crime, Home Depot simply issued him a gift card. Hooray!
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Happy Endings: Adidas Upgrades Your Tragically Leaky Backpack
By 10.22.08
Here’s a nice story from reader Aaron. His Adidas backpack soaked up a ton of water and ruined his books and papers, so he complained to Adidas. They referred him to their backpack manufacturer, and they replaced the backpack with a better one for free.
By 10.7.08
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“If Radiohead can do it, so can we,” writes GOOD on their subscription page. They’ve temporarily changed their subscription model from $20 annually to pay-what-you-can, as long as it’s at least one dollar. If you’re on a restricted budget but want the hard copy version of GOOD, here’s your chance. [GOOD]
By 9.15.08
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“I ran out of the house with my baby in my arms,” said Joshua’s mom, Evelyn Rodriguez, 27, of Woodside. “I had to make it to the hospital.”
American Express Helps You Even If You Screw Up The Paperwork
By 7.21.08
Joe wants to thank American Express for fixing an incorrect charge on his bill even though he completely forgot to send in the paperwork. Aw!
Having Your Credit Card Stolen = Accidentally Free MP3 Downloads From Amazon?
By 5.6.08
Amazon.com apparently has a glitch whereby if you have 1-click ordering set up to buy MP3 downloads, and you forget that you canceled your credit card because it had been stolen by a random French person, you’ll end up with a bunch of “free music.” And, if you’re an honest person like Jeff Somogyi, when you try to contact Amazon to pay for the music, they’ll chuckle at you.
Frontier Waives $100 Ticket Change Fee Due To College Exam
By 2.12.08
Matt writes: “Back in December, we had booked a family trip in May for the four of us to Costa Rica to celebrate my sisters graduation from college (and also a long-overdue family vacation). Unfortunately, after booking the tickets, the final exam schedule for my college was posted, and of course I had an exam which conflicted with the travel dates. We needed to push the reservation back exactly one week, and had concluded that it would probably require the obligatory $100 change fee per ticket. Ouch.”
By 12.18.07
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37signals, the company behind the affordable online project management service Basecamp, has some of the fastest customer service we’ve ever seen: twice over the past year, they’ve responded in near-real-time to support questions with helpful, non-canned responses. We’re so used to big companies that sacrifice customer service in the name of profit, or small companies that aren’t prepared to handle queries, that it’s nice to come across a company that does it well. [37signals]
Amazon Sends "Best Customer Service E-mail I've Ever Received"
By 12.11.07
On Black Friday, Amazon.com held a raffle of sorts. Essentially, they had several awesome items at insane prices, and people were randomly selected to get these details. One of these items was a really nice laptop, regularly $1000, discounted to $300 for 250 lucky people. I was not one of those lucky people. That didn’t stop me from winning in my own sort of way.
Costco Finds Item You Accidentally Left In The Parking Lot And Holds It For You
By 12.6.07
I wanted to let you know that Costco customer service is awesome. Last Sunday, My family went to Costco to shop. I saw they had a good deal on a chair mat. Right before we checked out, I went back to get it. As we were headed to the exit, my wife figures out they overcharged her for something. So (with help from a CSR) we split up so I could load the car. Well, I put the chair mat somewhere and forgot about it. (probably against the car) I realized it later that night that I had forgotten it, and had written it off. Today, I went to Costco to get a prescription filled and I thought I would ask about it. Apparently an employee found it, logged it, and put it back on the shelf. The CSR told me to get another one off the shelf and gave me a note to get through the cashiers with it. The cashier then radioed to the receipt checkers, so I didn’t even have to wait in the exit line!
Well, damn. That’s really nice! Good job, Costco.
L.L. Bean Answers The Phone When You Call And Other Minor Miracles
By 11.19.07
I’m a fan of L.L. Bean, but don’t actually own a lot of their products. It’s only recently I got into them. When the Boat & Tote lunch bag came out, I really had to have one. Of course they sold out and were back ordered (they’re very cute lunch bags!) I placed my order on October 7th, when the items were all said to be backordered until October 29th. Well, that date came around and they still didn’t have enough to fulfill the pre-orders, so I got a charming little e- mail telling me they were backordered again until November 2nd. This time round they actually shipped (with free shipping on any order!)
One Laptop Per Child Has Good Customer Service
By 11.14.07
We opened the following email with trepidation, thinking it might be a horrible customer service story about a charity.
Chipotle Offers Excellent Customer Service Along With Free Burrito
By 11.2.07
Every Halloween folks from all over this great nation of ours put tin foil on their heads and go to Chipotle for a free burrito. The conceit is that you are “dressed like a burrito” for Halloween, but the good folks at Chipotle don’t really care if your costume required things like “skill” or “effort.” They just fork over the free burrito if they see tin foil. Bless them.
Update: Why I Did Not Cancel Comcast
By 10.25.07
Remember “Mr. Pants,” the guy that was canceling Comcast? Well, a Biblical-grade swarm of technicians descended upon his home like locusts with service trucks. So he’s keeping them.
Illuminations Candles Has Excellent Customer Service
By 7.12.07
Reader Marcy writes to tell us about Illuminations candles and their excellent customer service.
Get Your Defective Laptop Replaced By Sending Well-Written Emails To Steve Jobs
By 5.1.07
We have, on occasion, heard tales of people emailing Steve Jobs and magically, as if carried on the wings of angels, a new laptop appears at their door, along with 12 lbs of really good salami, a bubblegum machine, and one of those rare Star Wars posters that everyone wants. Apparently, there is a little bit of truth to the legend. Don’t worry vegans, there’s no salami.
UPDATE: "Comcast Bullies Customer for Cash, Breaks His Hard Drive, Drills Huge Holes In Walls And Baseboards"
By 3.20.07
Remember Jason? He had the Comcast tech from hell. The cable installation tech asked Jason for cash, drilled holes in his baseboards, broke his Media Center PC, installed the wrong router…
