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Companies with GREAT customer service... post 'em up

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03bluecoupe

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With all of the companies that get blasted for their customer service, or the lack there of, I thought maybe it'd be interesting to hear about companies with exemplary CS. It would probably help out a lot of folks in the long run.

One that I've had experience with is http://www.weber.com/]Weber grills company[/url] I've had one of their Genesis Silver B gas grills and WSM smokers for 15 years. Both have sat outside uncovered all year round in upstate New York, winters and all. They still look and perform like new, although I did have to replace the burners and ignitor in the gasser once.

But, as for CS. My wifes organization at work was having a summer BBQ in the work parking lot and needed grills. They asked if they could borrow ours.... sure - go for it. So a couple of guys brought over a small pickup and loaded the grill in the wrong way. The grill housing, lid, and hinges are heavy duty cast iron but when they loaded it, the lid flopped open and in a downward arc toward the ground. The lid probably weighs at least 40 pounds and the CI hinges couldn't take the force and snapped. So clearly not any issue with the grill and the warranty had expired anyhow. Well, they felt bad and said they'd fix it so no problem.

They called Weber CS and told them exactly what had happened and inquired about buying a replacement lid. Weber shipped one to my house, free of charge and sent a repair man over to my house to install the new one and take the old one away.

Now THAT'S superior customer service.
 
That really is good service.

Reminds me of the old urban legend of the guy who's Rolls Royce snapped an axle while he was driving through the alps. The guy called RR who flew a new axle and a couple of mechanics from the UK to the alps and had the the car up and running within 12 hours. When the guy got back to the UK he went to his local dealer and asked for the bill. The dealer looked him square in the eye and said "I think you must be mistaken, sir: a Rolls Royce never breaks down"

A more realistic flip side to that story was an interview I heard with some minor celeb who'd worked for an RR dealer in his youth. He was alone in the showroom one day when a customer came in and said his car had broken down. The celeb greatly pleased the customer by immediately grabbing a tow truck, collecting the dead car and bringing it back to the garage. Next day, the celeb was sacked .. because he'd towed a RR in day light when it might have been seen - and a RR never breaks down.

Anyway ..

Nothing like Weber, but I can definitely recommend my (cheapskate) ISP, PlusNet. I had an issue with my BB which I mentioned on their forum. They investigated, tweaked my profile and monitored the BB for a few days, keeping me informed via e-mail and the forum all the way.

Previous ISPs I've been with have had completely useless support lines that charge like $1.50 a minute to talk to some - apparently totally random - fella in India who knows zero beyond what's written in his script.
 
I've been very blessed as far as having great customer service experiences--and I always make sure to let the companies know. I figure most people are only motivated to speak up when they're unhappy about something, so it's a nice treat when they hear from a happy customer.

Most recently, Bank of America amazed me with their customer service. My Visa credit card had been used fraudulently, which I discovered when I logged on one night to pay some bills. All your accounts are listed in a summary page when you first log on, so as my eyes scrolled down the list and I saw a balance on my Visa card, I was perplexed because it should've been zero. :confused: I clicked on it to see what was up. I quickly realized I had not made the charges, so I called BofA. The initial rep I spoke to looked further into it and said there were even more charges, and I was like, WHOA! :eek: He transferred me to the fraud unit, where that rep immediately canceled the account, removed the charges, initiated a fraud investigation [at their end, not that I'm privy to], and arranged for new cards with a new account number to be sent out. Absolutely painless all around. :)
 
I've been quite happy with USAA as an insurance company. Fortunately, DH is eligible as a former dependent of a former military officer (his father was in the Air Force).

I also like my credit union (on what few occasions I've needed their customer service), a particular Ace Hardware in town, and a chain of grocery stores that I'm not sure extends beyond my city.
 
I've had a couple, tech related. Nothing totally special as they were both under warranty, but still.
My HTC Flyer I got super cheap when Best Buy screwed up their pricing system for a moment :). Well, at one point it just wouldn't boot, couldn't turn on. At that time I'd already moved on to another tablet and didn't really care. One day I decided to call HTC and they CSR ran through a couple tests with me and eventually said to send it in. They emailed a packing slip so I didn't have to pay for shipping. Got it back in just a few days, fixed and "updated" to Honeycomb. :)
Samsung was pretty much the same when my Chromebook's screen was flickering. They repaired it and turned it around really fast.
Both times I had good experiences with their customer service for sure.

Edit: Oh, just saw Seanette's post. Yep, USAA is the BEST! Only bank I've ever used (thanks Dad!)
 
Google for me provides excellent service. I hear so much about people comparing Google to Apple saying that "Apple has stores, therefore their service is better." This isn't true. Google provides excellent service as does Apple. I have contacted Google support many times with my Chromebook, and Nexus devices.

Google does only provide support [currently] for their branded products. That includes Chromebook, Chromebox, Chromecast, Nexus line of devices. (If you ever have a problem with one of these devices, contact Google, not the OEM)

I've actually written a few post on my site about their service.

Talking with Google support was really pleasant. They are extremely easy to contact and are really knowledgeable about their products. At first I had to tell the Chromebook team my problems with the device. This sparked worry with the team as the person who I spoke with on the phone was concerned for my safety. It
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Otterbox were pretty nice with my cracked Commuter cases. Probably sent at least 3 cases (worth $35 each) over the time I owned my DHD, and I only paid
 
Our local energy gas utility company gives great customer service, imo, because if there are 12 callers ahead of you, they will ask for your phone number and give you a call back when a rep is available. They are the only utility company I know who will do this.!
 
I think it's hard to find good CS these days so maybe it's a good thing for people to see there really is good CS out there. My example just happens to be AT&T wireless. I've had occasion to go round and round with them in the past but it always turned out well for me. The most surprising example of this is when my cousin dropped his new phone (only had it maybe 30 days). When I called (my account) to inquire about the insurance, I was told there wasn't any on his. I'm pretty sure I asked for that when we bought it but whatever. No insurance. Anyway, they simply said "No Problem" and they would overnight a brand new one to him. I was pretty shocked at that given he didn't have any insurance. I didn't even have to send back the old one. You just can't ask for more than that. In the 2-3 years I've been with AT&T now, I've been treated very well and the service has been great. They also put me on their new family value plan recently (I have 7 lines) and that saved me at least $150 monthly with NO loss of features. Outstanding!
 
Corsair was another good one - when I was having problems with my PSU, I manage to call them for free (using Skype) and I actually got good help, and I would've completed the RMA if I didn't have to shell out
 
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