# in praise of customer services...



## TwiceBlessed (Nov 8, 2006)

There are always posts on here about the bad companies and bad experiences you have when things go wrong.

Just wondered if anyone wanted to post about any they have been impressed with.

This came to my mind as I contacted Vtech recently indicating that the battery cover had become lost on one of DD1s toys and could I obtain a replacement (and asked how much it would be).  They just sent one out   Tomy did the same with my battery for the monitor as this failed quite quickly.

Also, I am intolerant to aloe vera and noted that pampers baby dry nappies were being sold with the selling point that they have this in.  I contacted pampers and asked if they had actually changed the structure of it as I had used them without a problem before.  I asked for maybe a sample so I could check without buying a whole pack...they wrote and said they couldnt send me one nappy but sent me £6 to put towards a packet!

I remember customer service used to be so good that such instances would not be uncommon....but it just seems that more and more companies hide behind stuff rather than help so these kind of examples shine out..

So, if you are still reading this and not too bored, have you had good experiences with any companies recently?


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## professor waffle (Apr 23, 2005)

I ordered DH a big bar of chocolate for ihs birthday from Hotel Chocolat, it didn't come. I rang them a couple of times & they were very understanding. On the final call they agreed to send out another bar on next day delivery FOC. No arguements at all!


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## sallywags (Jun 27, 2005)

Kiddicare have excellent customer service.

Also, the only ebay seller that i have clicked on 'remember this seller' is a kitchen supplier - he has been fantastic. I bought a nigella lawson breadbin (normally about £60) but think he sells seconds, and the lid was rubbish. He sent me another one out without asking for the other one back. I also broke the lid on one of the jars i bought from him, so i emailed him to ask if i could buy another one and he sent it for free.  If anyone wants any kitchen stuff, he is on ebay as homelyaccessories - tell him it was me!! My ebay name is sallywags123.

great thread - you're right, we don't pass on the good news as often as the bad!!


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## ♡ C ♡ (Dec 7, 2005)

I have heard good things about Vtech and Chicco.
ELC were good with us, we were given a toy and it had a couple of the bits missing so enquired to ELC about how we could buy replacements after all the toy was 2nd hand but no they just sent us the bits. 

On the other hand I'm struggling with Kodak,


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## ☼♥ Minxy ♥☼ © (Jan 13, 2005)

What a good idea....makes a change to read some positive customer service stories 

Dec/Jan we'd booked to go to see my parents in NZ and then spend a few days in Fiji on way home...all booked through Air New Zealand...the main long haul flights, the connecting flights from Auckland to Nelson return, then the "package" of hotel and flights to and from Fiji.

Air New Zealand are usually pretty good anyway but one particular lady was outstanding....and I really should've put it in writing to them....is it too late ??!

Had a wonderful time in NZ, weather beautiful and hot.....only to see on the news over there that there were cyclones and major flooding in Fiji....we thought it may be ok by time we were going as we were in NZ for 2 weeks anyway.  Needless to say it didn't, it got worse....the island we were sposed to be staying on was cut off from the mainland, there was a curfew from 6pm to 6am to stop looting, there was no fresh water and the army were holding all visitors at the airport with poor food and water supplies....absolute nightmare.....the floods were over 6ft.

We obviously didn't want to turn up there and be stuck in the middle of all this (can you believe flights were still landing !!)....the whole trip was a 40th birthday present from DP and would've totally ruined the end of it.

Anyway, phoned up Air New Zealand to see what they could do.  The woman I spoke with was amazing.  She said we had time to change our holiday and flights without incurring any losses and she went out of her way trying to find something appropriate for us.  She checked other places we were interested in....checked the weather reports....ensured that we were getting something similar ie beach rather than city break.....I can't believe how much she did.  She was phoning me several times a day with ideas and suggestions and then when we finally booked to stay in Coolum, Sunshine Coast in Oz, she then ensured we got a few extras because the cost was slightly cheaper...like use of the spa and treatments.  We ended up having some chats as well as it was coming up to her 40th so we chatting about where she was going....and sometimes she was phoning after she'd already told me she'd actually "clocked off" for the day !

So, as you can imagine, we were over the moon....had a fantastic time and alot of that was because of such great customer service from this lady.

You wouldn't believe my surprise when I got back to UK to find an email from this lady checking on how DP & me were, had we enjoyed our holiday and hoping I'd had a fabulous birthday.

Now that is what I call customer service...............and reading back over that I actually feel quite guilty for not writing a complementary letter to her managers.....maybe I will, even though it's 9mths ago, I've still got all the info and her name.

N xx


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## sallywags (Jun 27, 2005)

I don't think it's too late hun - you can just say it's taken you a while to get round to it, but i'm sure it will still be appreciated. That sounds like brilliant service - if only all businesses were as accommodating!!


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## ☼♥ Minxy ♥☼ © (Jan 13, 2005)

That's what I think Sally...I've got the dates/names/flights etc so really think I should.

It's awful really, if I've got something to complain about then I have time to put in writing but I haven't when I've got a letter of praise to write....terrible on my part actually  ....so yep, I'm going to draft something over next few days!!


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## fingersarecrossed (Aug 8, 2006)

What a lovely idea for a thread - I work in customer service so bad customer service drives me up the wall but it is lovely to hear the good side of things. I can't think of anything off the top of my head but wanted to say Minxy, DO write to Air NZ, it is lovely to receive praise even if it is a few weeks/months down the line.. particularly at the moment with the recession biting and jobs in travel not very stable, this would look great on her HR file..  

oops you just posted - good on you xx


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## swhattie (Feb 9, 2009)

Natasha - fab stuff with the holiday and the lady who did the booking - lovely to read that is....

I recently wrote a complimentary email to Tesco - it was the first time we'd ordered our shopping online and i was thinking that we'd get the smallest jacket potatos, worse veg etc but when it came the delivery driver was lovely, he was pleasant and kind, he went through the reciept with me and brought everything in and even asked me if id like him to take all the frozen stuff to the freezer (my freezer is outside in the garage) - the food we got was in perfect condition and i was very happy with every aspect of it....


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## lou29 (Dec 5, 2006)

I was going to recommend ELC as well. I had some toys delivered and there were a few parts missing. When i phoned up they said they would resend the toys. When i asked how i should go about sending back the packs with pieces missing she said just keep them as well. They were great. I was really impressed.
Lou.


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## professor waffle (Apr 23, 2005)

Oh I had a good holiday experience with a rep although the initial holiday was a bit of a disaster! We went to Lanzarote in March because I had been so poorly with a cough & after losing the bubs I needed a rest. It was a cheap holiday & I was scared cos the reviews of the apartments we were staying in were very mixed!

It all went wrong from when we arrived in Lanzarote, there was only one case & it was DH's & N' s(there were some knickers & a few bits in there for me). Although we were dealt with pretty roughly at the airport the hotel were fab & promised to chase the ground crew at Gatwick. We met our rep & she promised to chase it too. I was limited to winter clothes so couldn't go on the beach, we had no towels or nappies for N & no toothpaste & toothbrushes. We bought the basics but being a larger lady there were no clothes for anything other than a stick insect, our rep was fab  (I was in tears by this time)& sorted out some t-shirts for me & tried to sort out a swimming costume for me too. When the case arrived she found us & paid over some compensation without us having to ask for it. 

We bought her & the friend that lent me the clothes a bottle of wine each to say thanks & when we got to the airport to go home some of us had been bumped onto another flight - this flight was special charter (private co) so we were treated like royalty, lots of leg room, smaller plane which wasn't full etc & I think the reps had picked who to bump off the original flight. It still wasn't the best holiday but the service we had was fab - can't remember the name of the Co but it was the cheaper wing of Thomson!


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## Stalyvegas (Oct 14, 2007)

I'll praise Little Life.  A couple of years ago I bought an Arc 3 sun tent/travel cot - its the bees knees, I love it but after a year of near constant use the poles were failing. I rang to ask about buying replacements and they just sent me a whole new set no charge, no postage etc...

Another year down the line and I broke the 2nd set of poles (user error   ) and they sent me another set! Love them....

R
x


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## clairelh1 (Sep 8, 2004)

Oh good thread!  My SIL loves kitchen stuff so off to check the ebay seller now. 

Nothing too special but I have really friendly and helpful service from SKY the other week - particularly surprising as I was cancelling a package.  My dad rang them too the other day and said how helpful they were. 

Claire
x


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## TwiceBlessed (Nov 8, 2006)

another nomination from me for my local garage...

for not charging me a penny for the last 3 things they did for me....last one was actually to reinflate my p&t buggy tires as I couldnt get the machine to work.......


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## C0nfused (Apr 13, 2007)

I've just had some fantastic service from the Tesco Direct team.

I'd bought a camera from the website and bought along side it the memory card that was on offer. When I received it, the camera took micro sd cards not SD cards as advertised in catalogue and website. I sent an email to them about this and today received an email offering me £30 as a gesture of goodwill, and they are addressing the matter in their catalogues/website.

Thank you Tescos for your quick response and for addressing the matter. 

Jen x


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## TwiceBlessed (Nov 8, 2006)

tesco direct brought me

subsitute passata which after accepting I realised I couldnt eat due to ingredient issues.
not enough nappies....ordered the special offer on the tesco ones and they didnt have enough so substituted one pack pampers I ended up paying £7 for 64 instead of £8 for 96.  Phoned and told them and they have refunded me for all the nappies and the passata.  Not much but nearly £11 not to be sniffed at!


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## fingersarecrossed (Aug 8, 2006)

another thumbs up for Tesco - my groceries arrived today minus 1 item that it said was in the order, minus 8 items 'not available', 2 of which were part of special offer and with 2 items that were short dated and not mentioned as such on their list (which it usually would be).

I was just in the mood for a fight   (can you tell it's that TOTM!) but when I phoned customer service, they didn't quibble. Refunded me for the item that didn't arrive, the special offer items, the short date items and my delivery charge, oh and gave me a tenner off my next order.   Well done Tesco - we need more companies like you 

(But I won't tell you about the Tesco Metro I popped into only to find the yoghurts I picked up for LO were nearly a week out of date - NOT good stock control!!)


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## Guest (Nov 28, 2009)

I do all my grocery shopping online and whilst occaisionally Tesco do screw up, their customer service is quite good.  We got charged twice for the same shop - the credit card co didn't want to know, the local store said it was impossible for that to happen however customer services said 'of course it can happen when humans do the payment!'  I like her style...I work in this IT area myself so knew that already 

My local T-mobile shop is pretty good as is Next.  I've usually only found that level in certain shops in Bond Street, not the high street.  Online, JojoMamanBebe has been excellent for us.


PS I've found Hotel Chocolat can be a bit lazy on rectifying errors that they have made


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