Amazing service from a business.

December 1, 2006 10:16 AM

I'm looking for examples of over the top service from a business. The idea being "I got way more than I paid for." If you've had an experience that truly impressed you, please share.
posted by davebush to work & money (37 comments total)

You'd do well to check out The Consumerist. Though they mostly focus on negative customer service stories, when a company provides great service they tend to post about it as well.

For instance, they have a story about Kitchenaid replacing a broken 4 year old mixer practically for free.
posted by owenkun at 10:20 AM on December 1, 2006

My SO & I bought round trip tickets on the Lake Express ferry from Milwaukee, WI to Muskegon, MI in October.
On Sunday when we were to return to Milwaukee they cancelled the boat due to weather. They not only refunded the return portion of the ticket but provided a free bus to take us to the ferry terminal in Milwaukee.
posted by Floydd at 10:30 AM on December 1, 2006

I have a few. While working in a theatre many years ago, we were having a funky problem with an old Avab lighting control board. Naturally, this started happening on opening night. We called the company earlier in the day and they were very helpful but unable to resolve the issue. The guy said that he'd escalate the issue quickly. A few hours later we ended up getting a phone call from someone somewhere in Sweden - turns out it was one of the original designers of the system, and he had encountered the particular issue that we had only a few times. I don't remember the details, but the guy ended up working with the senior lighting designer for at least an hour and resolved the issue.

A few more recent ones.
* Fobus holsters. I had a question about a holster I bought for my Glock 22. I emailed the company and had a reply with a phone number just a few moments later. I called the number, and it was the factory manager who happily answered all of my questions and said to call back any time.

* Cheaper Than Dirt. I bought some ammo and FedEx Ground kept missing the delivery date. It showed up as "Out for delivery" for three days! The customer service manager from Cheaper Than Dirt got on the phone with FedEx Ground to help me track down my package.

*Cabela's - great company to deal with. I bought some ammo from one of their stores in East Grand Forks, MN. I didn't realize that I had purchased the wrong stuff until I was in Nebraska. I stopped by the store in Kearney, NE and explained the situation. Even though I had purchased the ammo in an entirely different state, they happily exchanged it.

Maybe it's karma. when I worked for AT&T Wireless, I would frequently do way more than was required. If someone needed a new phone and was willing to go to a local store, I'd call the local store in their area and have the store manager set up the phone while I activated it. The customer would then show up in the store and have their phone already activated and ready to go. Voicemail pre-programmed and everything.
posted by drstein at 10:31 AM on December 1, 2006

A few years ago I was on the Channel Island on Guernsey. I drank a bit much on my last night there. The next morning I headed to the airport to catch my flight out. On checking in, they couldn't find my name. I re-read my ticket, and it was for the previous day.

BA got me on that day's flight with no extra charge. It was a good thing to, as I had to make a connection in London for my flight back to Canada.
posted by vansly at 10:39 AM on December 1, 2006

Unless there's a reason why you need these stories, this seems like it's pretty much chatfilter. If it doesn't get deleted, here's mine (and even if it does get deleted, because I like telling this story):

I joined a Curves gym a couple years back, and went faithfully for awhile. Then my life kind of got messy and fell apart, and I got out of the habit and got lazy, and didn't go at all for several months. I was still paying for it, of course.

When I finally went back, the owner checked my records and realized I hadn't been in for a few months. She suspended billing on my account for 3 months, letting me use the gym for free to make up for the time I'd been paying for it and not using it.

I was incredibly pleased and impressed.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:47 AM on December 1, 2006

Our regular auto repair shop refused repeatedly, in the face of insistence from me, to find things wrong with our car.

This was just the most recent example of the outstanding service we've gotten from AutoQuest in Redwood City, California.

For instance, they've always been at least 30% lower than other shops in terms of cost, and the quality is always impeccable. Most recently, we blew a head gasket. Three other shops quoted us roughly $1100 to fix it. AutoQuest did it for $720.

In terms of the argument, I took our most recent used car purchase in to them for a post-buy onceover. They did it, and found a couple of things that needed fixed, and noted a couple of things to watch out for. I said "okay, is there anything that you'd replace or is there anything we should do right now?" and Dawn said "Nope. It's a good car, and there's nothing we can see that needs the work right now. You're good for another 20,000 miles, at least." I said "surely there's something. I mean, like the radiator, or something that needs work." Dawn said "Nope! Doesn't need it, we're not gonna do it, and you should save your money."

How often does a car repair place argue you out of spending money with them?
posted by scrump at 10:49 AM on December 1, 2006

Interestingly enough, Taco Mayo. Once, when I returned home to find that my order was missing a particular side of potatoes, I went through the website feedback to express my disappointment later, since I was too busy to return to the store.

About five days later, I get a short personal letter from the regional manager apologizing for the inconvenience, along with a gift certificate for Taco Mayo worth two meals. The fact that it wasn't a form letter was the impressive part.

Also, ramencity.com. After ordering a fairly large ($60+) shipment of ramen, the shipment had not arrived within two weeks. I asked their customer service about this, and they immediately sent a second shipment with an apology letter. The original shipment ended up arriving a few weeks later. That they would go so far as to replace the order just really blew my mind. Needless to say, I've stuck with them since, even if I could save two or three dollars elsewhere.
posted by Saydur at 11:05 AM on December 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

jacqilynne - yes, there is a reason I'm asking. I'm involved in marketing and currently very interested in conveying the value of great service to some people. The experiences shared here have value to me in that regard.
posted by davebush at 11:07 AM on December 1, 2006

I was at a 3 day conference in a hotel many years ago and the lunch was your standard salad, side, entree buffet line. I was just making conversation while in line that having some bacon bits would really make this salad good. Low and behold 5 or 10 minutes later while I was at my table, a waiter showed up and put down a big bowl of bacon bits just for me on the table.

Then on the third day (we skipped out on lunch for the 2nd day), that same waiter came and found me and repeated the gesture without any prompting from me. I had my own magical bacon steward. That was awesome.
posted by mmascolino at 11:16 AM on December 1, 2006

i was at the westin dublin and decided [at 2am] that i'd like to see the Colin Hay show in another town the next night. when i asked at the desk for advice on how to get to the small hamlet, he not only found directions to the pub, he found the cell number of Colin's tour manager, confirmed the details, gave me the number, and called ahead to get me and my wife seats up front. [even though it was general admission]
way above and beyond, and the show was great. [of course the desk manager had nothing to do with that]
posted by rubberfish at 11:28 AM on December 1, 2006

About five years ago, I bought a refurbished Epson 1270 photo printer from one of those closeout places (CheapPrintersRUs or something like that.) It arrived DOA. I called Epson customer service, spent 15 minutes on the phone trying a couple of resuscitation techniques, and finally the agent told me they would send me a new one. They overnighted it, from CA to NY. I got it the next day.
posted by chocolatepeanutbuttercup at 11:36 AM on December 1, 2006

I left my wallet in a nyc taxi cab a few years back. The driver found a business card of an acquaintance in it, called her, she called me, he came to manhattan drop off my wallet (with all money and cards in it) ON HIS DAY OFF and he lives in Jersey. And, he flat-out refused to accept 20 bucks I offered him as a reward.
posted by np312 at 11:36 AM on December 1, 2006

For pure, unadulterated, reliable consistency, I doubt anyone could beat CostCo. Their return policy is basically, "If you bought it from us, at any time, and you are no longer satisfied with it, for any reason, return it for a full refund." There are people who buy TV's from CostCo and return them 10 years later when they finally die. Their return policy is the sole reason that, when I need to spend more than $500 on anything, I check to see if they carry it first.

To give an example that is apparently all-too-common these days, major television manufacturers like Sony or Panasonic will not accept returns on plasma televisions that suffer burn-in. Apparently, playing a video game for 6 hours straight on a plain-jane tube television is fine and dandy, but on a plasma it's "user neglect." CostCo will happily take it back and give you a full refund. In this day and age, that is simply astonishing.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 11:57 AM on December 1, 2006

A few years ago, I got an air filter from Brookstone as a gift. It stopped working after about a year. I took it into the mall store in a plastic grocery bag, without a receipt or even a box. My expectations were lowered. To my surprise, they gave me a brand-new one off the floor, no questions asked. It was even a newer model with more features, since the old one was no longer made. They may be an expensive and gimmicky store, but that was damn nice.
posted by smackfu at 12:39 PM on December 1, 2006

After walking about three blocks away from returning a rental car to Nextcar, the lady from behind the counter there, driving the same car, suddenly pulled up next to me beeping and waving. When I walked over she rolled down the window and handed me the gate opener remote I'd left on the visor.

Local bar (one at which I am not a regular - they don't know me) brought me a free replacement for the pint that slid off the edge of the (stupidly-designed rounded-edged) table, smashing glass and spilling beer everywhere. Then when I did it AGAIN just a few minutes later, they gave me ANOTHER replacement, after looking at me and saying "you really don't seem drunk." (Replacement of the replacement was in a plastic cup. They let me mop up the second mess myself, which made me feel better. I really wasn't drunk, just dumb.)
posted by zoinks at 12:49 PM on December 1, 2006

A little thing, and I'm not sure it's really "service" per se, but I've been quite happy ordering from smaller "indie" record labels because they tend to throw in freebies like promo cds, stickers, buttons, etc. I'm definitely more inclined to order directly from the label in the future.
posted by backwards guitar at 1:13 PM on December 1, 2006

I also had a NYC cab driver track me down and give me my wallet back, intact. Took him some digging to do so - found the number of a friend of mine, tried calling once, we lost his number, tried calling again a week later and we hooked up. He did accept some candy and a meal I picked up for him from the corner store.
posted by lorrer at 1:22 PM on December 1, 2006

My web host keeps giving me more features and storage space even though the price remains the same. I understand this is pretty common nowadays, as they're all trying to compete with each other, but it's a pleasant experience.
posted by edlundart at 1:26 PM on December 1, 2006

I bought a cheapo wood dining set from Target, but one of the chairs was broken. I mailed in the "my chair is broken" form to the OEM, and they called me when they shipped out the new chair!

Well, I got exactly what I paid for, but I didn't have to ship back the broken chair, and I was extremely amazed that they would take the time to inform me that my new chair was on the way.
posted by muddgirl at 1:34 PM on December 1, 2006

My family and I went to Walt Disney World for the first time this summer. When making dinner reservations through Disney's service, the lady on the phone made amazing suggestions and kept looking for reservation times and table combos which would work with our group in connection to where we wanted to be on each day of our trip. To make 5 reservations she and I were on the phone for over an hour. She remained cheerful and helpful throughout. Additionally, she inquired if anyone in our party had any dietary restrictions. I do (must avoid all seeds and nuts) and she noted it on each reservation.

When we arrived at each restaurant to make our reservations, the host or hostess confirmed the dietary restrictions and stated "a chef will come to speak with you." I was surprised by this. The head chef of each restaurant did come to speak with me to find out the extent of my restrictions and advise which foods I should avoid. This was wonderful. It became mind blowing when we dined at two locations with buffets. The chef took the time to walk down the buffet, explaining each and every offering. We were able to determine what was safe for me to eat and what was not. I learned that some items I thought would have been safe might not be safe for me.

One chef was concerned that I didn't have enough food options available to me and offered to fix me my very own meal. I assured him there was more than enough for a satisfying meal. He came back halfway through our meal to check and see if I needed anything.

Finally, anytime we spoke to a Disney employee, they were friendly, polite and knew the answer to our questions. We never had to find another employee to answer a question.

I can not tell you how much this time and effort by all involved was appreciated. Because of their level of service, we are planing another vacation to Walt Disney World. I totally forgive the fact that the rides deposit you in a gift shop and they know how to encourage you to spend more than you intended. The service received was the best I've ever seen.
posted by onhazier at 1:36 PM on December 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

I just GAVE what I think was some OTT service: I had a small order from Italy and the customer hadn't paid the additional shipping charge. It was possible to do this under my old system but at the time he placed his order I was switching my site to a new, better system, with more options for customers.

So I wrote to him and gave him two options: he could just PayPal me the additional shipping charge and I'd send the order out, or he could shop at the new site instead. I set up a voucher for the amount he'd paid and gave him the code (his name) to use to apply the credit to his new order.

I sent off the email and didn't hear back from him either way. I figured he might not speak English well enough to read the rather complicated email I'd sent about it. So I cobbled together an email in broken Italian explaining the situation the best I could. (NB: I don't speak Italian.)

Turns out he had just been away and spoke English just fine...he reordered from the new site and ended up getting lots more than his original order.

I think we all ended up happy.
posted by bink at 1:39 PM on December 1, 2006

I had ordered a big bag of candy from a wholesale candyseller on eBay. It was a surprise for my boyfriend, and as I made the Paypal payment, I wrote a note asking if he could add in a card that said "love, tiara" on it. I wasn't expecting him to do anything.

My boyfriend got the package and gushed about the card - he thought I had made it! Turns out this candyseller took a piece of coloured card, wrote "Love Tiara" calligraphically on it, and even added some embellishments. What a nice touch!
posted by divabat at 3:39 PM on December 1, 2006

Little things mean a lot: instead of the usual "your order has been shipped" e-mail, cdbaby.com sends an amusing form e-mail, about how your CDs were tenderly placed on a satin pillow and hand-carried to the shipping dept., where they were given a big sendoff with confetti, etc.

These are from local small businesses. 1) A family-owned decorating place did a few jobs for me (bathroom flooring and wall tile, carpeting) over a couple of years. When they wallpapered my kitchen/dining room, the owner came over and beforehand and spent several hours patching and smoothing the plaster and refused to let me pay him.

2) My ancient well pump stopped working, and a well installer/technician came out ON A SUNDAY, fixed the pump with a small adjustment, and wouldn't take money. This sort of thing builds enormous customer loyalty.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:43 PM on December 1, 2006

My vet has regularly refused to take money from me when her assessment has been that my animals need surgery. So, I didn't pay for the appointment where she diagnosed my rabbit with a lump, and I didn't pay for the check-up two weeks later. She also offers greatly discounted checkups ($15) once a year to the pets of college/university students. And she talks to my partner and I as if we are capable adults who can understand her and make responsible decisions (!).
posted by arcticwoman at 5:03 PM on December 1, 2006

After two years, my Coffee maker started dribbling coffee, so I called Hamilton Beach to see if I could order a replacement washer. The support person said 'We'll send you a new coffeemaker. Ship it back. Here's the address." The new coffeemaker came with two extra washers(Over a year and it hasen't started leaking yet).

Sent an email to Phillips after a pretty expensive($15) halogen track fixture bulb croaked after 10 hours use: They fed-exed me two replacements.
posted by Orb2069 at 6:41 PM on December 1, 2006

Small, but meaningful:

I bought a pair of new clogs at a brick and mortar shoe store in my neighborhood (after calling ahead and having the clerk pull my size, which was very nice of her) and decided to wear them out. It was pouring down rain and as I started out the door, a salesperson up on a ladder doing something with a light fixture noticed my new shoes. He offered to take them in the back and scotchguard them for me, since it was raining and he wanted my new shoes to stay "nice and shiny" longer. I was touched and charmed and so happy with the overall experience that I will definitely give that shoe store as much of my (not inconsiderable) shoe buying business that I can.

I'm still chuckling at mmascolino's personal bacon steward. What I wouldn't give...
posted by jennyb at 7:01 PM on December 1, 2006

My dog has had to have several surgeries. The vet or his office always call several times during them. "He's just going into surgery", 2nd call "He's doing just great" 3rd call " He's going to be just fine, you can pick him up at 3:00" Last year he had to have stitches on New Years Eve when they were supposed to close at 1:00. The vet was still there at 3:30 when I went to pick my dog up. They could easily have sent me to the emergency vet.
I love these people and not only will I take my animals there forever and recommend them to others but I'm much happier handing over my credit card because I feel that they deserve every cent.
posted by BoscosMom at 7:45 PM on December 1, 2006

Here's a recap of a dinner I had with my parents at Season at the Four Seasons in SF last Friday:

We ordered drinks to start and skipped the starters to save room for dessert. We were chatting away not really thinking of it and the maitre d' came over with some salads for us because our dinner was taking so long. It wasn't, really, we hadn't even noticed. And we had a bread basket - but these were little mini-salads of greens, toasted hazelnuts, blue cheese and beets. The our entrees arrive: oops. My father had ordered the filet mignon but they brought him lamb chops (I ordered the lamb chops but they came just fine, as did my mother's filet). Apologies! All around! They, of course, take it away to correct it. In the meantime they bring him a little bowl of their risotto and assure us that dessert will be on the house and should they get a souffle ordered up?

The filet arrives. Apologies continue and not in any way that could be annoying. Just very "We are sorry - no excuses. Please enjoy more free food." and quite friendly. We finish dinner and the desserts arrive. Three of them: the souffle, some profiteroles with vanilla ice cream, and pumpkin custard with chantilly cream. Everything tastes better when it's free, no doubt, but we would have ordered these anyway. The meal ends with some lime sorbet bonbons covered in white chocolate and coffee.

What did we pay for? Two entrees - mine and my mothers and our drinks. Above and beyond and since I've now told this to you and every other person I know I'm sure they've gotten more than their money's worth on those freebies and we are very much looking forward to going back again.
posted by marylynn at 9:11 PM on December 1, 2006

The Honda Dealership where my wife and I take our car to be serviced recently gave us a new transmission for free. No charge for parts or labor. I don't know why they did it. We didn't buy the car there, although we have been getting it serviced there regularly for the last 50,000 miles or so, and I did previously buy a different new car from them. Maybe they were embarassed that it needed a new transmission after only 90,000 miles? Or they figured that since I mentioned my wife was pregnant, we'd be upgrading to a minivan soon?

This dealership has a reputation for providing great customer service, and I tell you, in this case it worked for me. If my next car is a Honda, I know where I'm buying it.
posted by alms at 9:15 PM on December 1, 2006

When I was a video store clerk, I once delivered a movie to a guy's apartment. He'd reserved the movie but he didn't have a car and even though he lived right around the corner, it was raining.

I also once went to someone's house to collect some overdue tapes. I'd spoken to them on the phone. They wanted to return the them, but were likewise car-less.
posted by Clay201 at 9:32 PM on December 1, 2006

I once called Hellman's (Best Foods) Mayo to ask them if it was alright to eat the mayo I had. Some of the oil had separated on the top and I was a poor college student and I NEEDED that mayo! They asked me where I had stored that mayo, suggesting that I had stored in in an area in my fridge that was too cold, declared it fit to eat, and sent me a giant wad of free jars of mayo coupons! My wallet and my big fat thighs were super pleased.
posted by Foam Pants at 9:40 PM on December 1, 2006

When I was looking at colleges, I got a business card promotional CD from the Yale admissions office, and, not knowing any better, stuck it into my (slot loading) G4. Oops. Yale reimbursed me the cost of fixing it.

A Verizon tech support rep suggested a fix for my problem, gave me her hours and direct line to call her back to see whether the fix worked, and when I didn't call her back the next day she was on shift, called me to ask whether my problem was solved.

I tried to buy an $50 item on Amazon with a $50 gift card--unfortunately, Amazon put a $1 hold on the card to validate it, so I was turned down for being overlimit. I called them and the rep lowered the price on the item for me so I could order it with the card.
posted by phoenixy at 10:27 PM on December 1, 2006

One time I stopped for gas at a Costco, and saw that a customer had run out of gas about half a block from the gas station part of Costco. (He had already pulled into the Costco parking lot but, as you know if you've ever been to Costco, the parking lots can be enormous.) One Costco employee single-handedly pushed the guy's car to the gas station so he could get gas.
posted by jayder at 9:27 AM on December 2, 2006

L. L. Beans is said to be famous for their customer service. A coworker told me his wife successfully returned a backpack that she had used for ten years.
posted by of strange foe at 7:42 PM on December 2, 2006

Some of my best "over-the-top" customer service experiences have been with a Saturn dealer in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Since there are only two Saturn dealers that service the entire province (and the other one is across the bridge in Halifax), some clients can end up driving up to 4 hours across the province to get to them.

I was working on a client project in Montreal at the time, but wanted to lease my new Saturn from Nova Scotia, since I am aboriginal and if I had it delivered to my address on the reserve, I would be eligible for my tax exemption. We did our preliminary research here in Montreal and arranged the majority of the stuff over the phone with Saturn Dartmouth.

When the time came, we travelled down there by Via Rail. The manager of the dealership actually came to pick us up from the train station himself. We got the final paperwork done in about an hour, The manager and us were ready to begin the 4 hour drive to my reserve, however I wanted to be able to stop in Truro to at least say hi to my parents. We were following him in our new Saturn, when we received a call from him on our cellphone to pull over.

He said that since the next day was a holiday in the province (Nov. 11) and that we had just completed such a long trip, that this wasn't really indicative of the way Saturn does things. So he told us to continue up to my parents, stay there and rest up and that he would meet up with us on the morning of the 12th, to continue the drive. That touch of real concern and humanity was such a refreshing change.

And the customer service from this particular dealership has continued to be as good through the years. Whenever I had to drop in for servicing, they would free up a desk and chair for me to work from with my laptop, even allowing me to plug into their phone lines for dial-up internet access to continue my work. They have even allowed me to use their phones to call my Mom (long-distance), whenever I did not have a cellphone with me. Saturn dealers have also always washed my car free of charge, whenever it has been brought in for servicing.

As a result, three years later when I was ready to purchase a new car (rather than lease), I went back to them. I did most of my paperwork with them over my cellphone, while stuck at the airport waiting for a flight that was delayed by over 4 hours. They arranged multiple custom work for me ahead of time, ordering a custom stone guard for the hood, and bringing it to a local shop to have the tinting done for me so that it would be all taken care of when I arrived. Once when I needed to come in to get the windshield replaced due to a small crack caused by a stone thrown up by an eighteen-wheeler, the manager himself drove us over to the windshield shop they recommended nearby. When we got there he realized that we would be car-less for the day, while we waited for the windshield to dry/set; and promptly offered his *own* Saturn vehicle for our use for the entire day so that we could get errands done while in Halifax/Dartmouth. Now *that* is thoughtful customer service!!

Their exceptional customer service has made us a big fan of Saturn cars & service. One of the local dealerships here in Montreal follows in their footsteps, to the point of bringing me the paperwork to sign and pay for my servicing in the comfort of the luxurious waiting room, rather than forcing me to walk all the way to the service desk, since I walk with a cane. They also make sure to park the car immediately outside the door for me when I leave, rather than out in the parking lot. Small things, but they make an amazing difference to me and I never hesitate in explaining to people why I have become such a fan of the "Saturn way". Hope these examples prove helpful to you in your research!
posted by Jade Dragon at 4:03 AM on December 3, 2006

4 years after buying a small kids trampoline, the elastic 'rope' had disintegrated (due largely to having been left out in all weathers and consistant use). I rang the manufacturer to see if they could supply a replacement. A new one was on my doorstep 1st thing the next day and they refused to take any payment, not even for postage. Fanatastic.
posted by hmca at 2:19 PM on December 3, 2006

When I was in college, the vending machines near the computer lab I frequented were stocked with cookies and turnovers made fresh by a local company. Those turnovers got me through some late nights, and the cookies were downright addicting. So one night at the beginning of finals, I visited the compnay's website and sent them an email telling them how much I enjoyed their cookies. What can I say, I was an poor, giddy college student. Anyway, about a week later I got a call from the Campus Business Office telling me they have a package for me. I thought it was a mistake, but no, the company representative had dropped off a box of 3 DOZEN cookies for me and my friends to enjoy during finals. I *totally* did not expect that! It was awesome.
posted by sarahnade at 6:08 PM on December 3, 2006