Another customer service surprise

“Look at this,” says my manager, walking up to my desk yesterday afternoon.

He hands me a battered and filthy box containing a set of Bose Quiet Comfort 3 headphones I’d ordered last week.

“I can’t give it to her looking like this,” he says.

I agreed. It looked like the UPS man had wiped his ass with the box and then danced on it for good measure.

(What can brown do for you? Yikes.)

Over the past year we’ve ordered a dozen or so of these headphones, which have turned out to be popular giveaways with clients and prospects.

Usually they arrive safely and anonymously inside a plain cardboard box. But this time, the headphones were shipped in the original box – a box that now appeared to be shit-stained and stomped on -- and wholly unsuitable for giving to anyone.

“I’ll call them right away,” I say, thinking ‘right away’ will probably mean an hour from now when I finally finish that little 2-hour project I’ve been working on all week.
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I’m a regular at the Bose web site but have never needed to call them until now.

Surprise #1: The 800 number for customer service was easy to find on their web site.

This is highly unusual. Have you noticed this?

Most companies make it extremely difficult to find a customer service number on their web sites. American Airlines is notorious – burying it a whopping four clicks deep. They’d rather you send an e-mail.

"DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL. Thank you for contacting us about [insert generic name they've applied to your unique problem here]. You will receive a response within 24 hours regarding this issue."

The response you receive doesn't address your problem. It addresses what they've decided is your problem -- and in fact, it is YOUR problem after all, so good luck with that.

Oh, and by the way, DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL.
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Surprise #2: A live person with a very friendly voice answers the phone on the second ring. I explain the situation.

“The box never should’ve shipped like that,” says the sympathetic and soothing Bose rep on the other end. “UPS will be there today to pick it up, no charge. And we’ll ship you a new one today.”

Fabulous.

So when have you been surprised by good customer service? And is it a surprise because it happens so rarely? Or because we’ve lowered our expectations?
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I am listening to: INXS – The One Thing
I am reading: Pre-show mailer
And I am: Quiet and comforty