The following is a true account of real events. Only the names have been changed to protect the guilty.
In a world where there’s a carbon copy McFood joint across the street from a StarCups Cafe, it’s easy to become Just Another Customer of these faceless corporate giants. It’s equally easy for Just Another Customer to receive customer service that is mediocre, at best. It is in this world that we as consumers have to stand up and not just complain about poor customer service, but laud companies that provide a customer service that is great.
Herein is a list of five companies that I consider deserving of recognition for the customer service they have provided to me. As always, your mileage may vary.
Hewlett-Packard
It may come as a surprise, but I’ve experienced more than one happy moment with HP’s customer support. First of all, HP is starting to trust us to not be complete morons. This is evidenced by the fact that in some cases, HP support will ship out a specific replacement part to the customer. Along with that replacement part HP sends a set of instructions on how to replace it. Another piece of evidence that HP might care about keeping customers is limited warranty extensions. Recently, a friend mentioned to me that his HP laptop’s wireless card spontaneously quit. I did some research, and found that because this was a widespread problem among several HP models, they had voluntarily extended the warranty of those models to cover this problem. These are customer service acts that all PC manufacturers should pick up on.
Canon
Before I owned a DSLR, I had a Canon Powershot A-series camera. Canon offered waterproof enclosures for this line, for about the same cost as buying a new camera. I discovered such an enclosure on eBay, along with a broken camera for pennies on the dollar, so I bought it. Not knowing what to do with the camera, I started doing some research. It turns out, Canon has several programs to help their customers with broken equipment. Much like HP, Canon has issued a selective warranty extension for on some models of camera. As luck would have it, the camera I had purchased was included. I called Canon’s customer support line, and my camera was repaired for free. I didn’t even have to pay shipping. If you’re not lucky enough to have your camera’s repair covered by the free warranty extension, Canon isn’t going to leave you out in the cold. Canon has a loyalty program that allows you to upgrade your broken camera to a newer refurbished model for a large discount. This is a company that is dedicated to customer retention.
Logitech
I’ve featured my good experiences with Logitech here in the past. To make a long story short, I had a trustworthy VX Revolution that eventually died. I called Logitech’s customer support. The support tech walked me through a set of recovery steps, which ultimately proved fruitless. When recovery failed, the tech asked for the part number and serial number off the mouse, then my home address. After I gave the information, he simply said, “Okay, I put the order in. You should be getting a shipment confirmation in two days, and a new mouse shortly after that. No need to send the broken one back.” Logitech should be a model for other companies to follow in standing behind their product quality.
Costco
Nowhere else in my life have I dealt with a company that has been so incredibly consistent at providing a great customer experience. I barely even need to mention Costco’s commitment to great prices and the company’s solid array of service offerings, but Costco also offers several key advantages for anyone interested in making a technology purchase. First, Costco allows 90-day returns for many electronics. That’s a huge loss to the company, because you can bet your gizmo is going to be obsolete by the time you return it, but Costco realizes that their profits won’t go away if they care about customer satisfaction. On top of this, Costco extends warranties on computer purchases and offers “Costco Concierge Services” free tech support for helping to deal with any problems that arise with your purchase. This came in handy for me with one of my computer purchases when Costco’s concierge advocated for me, the customer, instead of allowing the manufacturer to point the blame for a hardware failure at Microsoft.
Icrontic
This isn’t self-congratulatory back patting. Icrontic tops my list for great customer support experiences because I’m not just a staffer for Icrontic, I’m also a member of the community. Icrontic’s community provides great free tech support, one of the most polite and friendly forums on the web, and experiences that develop into true friendships. What more could you want than people who genuinely care about you when you’re looking for help?
“Customer service is dead. Long live customer service!” Such a statement could really be the mantra of consumers everywhere these days. Judging by your average counter experience in the average fast food restaurant, customer service truly does seem dead. Some experiences have convinced me otherwise, however. There are definitely companies out there that go above and beyond for the customer. It’s no coincidence that the companies that consistently go that extra mile are the very same companies that achieve success.
Do you have an opinion on any of the companies I’ve highlighted? Would you like to share a customer service experience about another company? Sound off in the comments!
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