Good Customer Service

In past posts, I've complained about companies who have poor products and poor customer service.  Today I want to share a couple of experiences we've had with good customer service:

Last year Bill bought some waterproof boots from L.L. Bean.   He left them in the box for quite some time and waited until his older pair was completely unwearable.  A few short months into wearing the new boots and the sections started separation (rubber from leather).  We could not find a receipt showing when we purchased the boots.  However, upon contacting the company, they not only provided information on the purchase date, they also offered to replace them, free of charge.  All we need do was print out the shipping label (postage paid), put them in a box, and ship them out.  A couple of weeks later, the new boots arrived.  On top of that, they honored their current promotion of providing a $10 gift certificate with purchase.

Source

Another company, Kohler, has given me great service.  Our kitchen faucet came with a life-time guarantee; however, I've come to learn that that doesn't always mean much.  With Kohler, they're true to their word.  I had already had them replace the spray nozzle on the unit.  Last week the hose cracked so I called them for a replacement part and they were ready to accommodate me.  While on the phone with the representative, I also mentioned another problem I was having, thinking they would say it was an issue for a plumber or try to wiggle out of responsibility in some way.  (Actually, I really did think it was a plumbing issue and not the fault of the product.)  To my surprise, the representative told me that there wasn't a part that could fix that problem and that they would be shipping me a brand-new unit.  No problem at all.  It arrived via UPS today.

So while I rail against companies that don't honor their warranties or have vague ones that don't really mean anything, I'm so glad to share my positive experiences with companies that know what good customer service is all about.