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Outstanding Customer Service!
Feb 25, 2007 17:57
I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge two
companies that have provided me with outstanding
customer service in the past few weeks. Poor or
nonexistent customer service seems to be rampant
these days, so when a company goes out of its way
to make something right for a customer, I believe
that company deserves recognition.
First, Harman-Kardon. A few months ago I bought an AVR435 receiver/amplifier, and fell in love with it. Over the course of time, however, it began dropping audio feeds and freezing up, requiring a power-cycle to recover. I scoured the net for solutions, applied the recommended firmware upgrade, all to no avail. If anything, the problems got worse. However, a quick phone call to their technical support folks yielded a replacement unit at no cost, in near-record time. Hurrah!
Second, Nintendo of America. I've owned a white Nintendo DS Lite since shortly after their launch. I love it as well, even though upon unpacking it and turning it on for the first time, I noticed a dead pixel in the upper screen. "No problem," I thought. "One or two stuck pixels are normal for LCDs these days." And I went about my business. However, the same screen sprouted two more dead pixels a short time ago, apparently on the same row but spaced somewhat far from one another. Newly-appearing dead pixels aren't a very good sign and don't bode well for a display's continued use. So, I picked up the phone and called Nintendo's customer support. After verifying a few pieces of information, I'll be shipping it off to Nintendo's repair center for a repair or (more likely) replacement, free of charge. To top it off, the clock on my one-year warranty will be reset, so the new unit will have a new one-year warranty.
Too often these days, repairs or replacements--even under warranty--seem to have become an area many companies don't wish to address without much wailing and gnashing of teeth. It's refreshing to see a few companies acknowledge that these things happen, and take steps to correct the problem.
I did not expect a replacement in either case. That they occurred (or in the latter case, may well occur) simply cements my relationship with each company as a customer again in the future, because I know that should something go wrong with a future purchase, the company will do right by me. That is the kind of thing that wins my hard-earned dollar.
First, Harman-Kardon. A few months ago I bought an AVR435 receiver/amplifier, and fell in love with it. Over the course of time, however, it began dropping audio feeds and freezing up, requiring a power-cycle to recover. I scoured the net for solutions, applied the recommended firmware upgrade, all to no avail. If anything, the problems got worse. However, a quick phone call to their technical support folks yielded a replacement unit at no cost, in near-record time. Hurrah!
Second, Nintendo of America. I've owned a white Nintendo DS Lite since shortly after their launch. I love it as well, even though upon unpacking it and turning it on for the first time, I noticed a dead pixel in the upper screen. "No problem," I thought. "One or two stuck pixels are normal for LCDs these days." And I went about my business. However, the same screen sprouted two more dead pixels a short time ago, apparently on the same row but spaced somewhat far from one another. Newly-appearing dead pixels aren't a very good sign and don't bode well for a display's continued use. So, I picked up the phone and called Nintendo's customer support. After verifying a few pieces of information, I'll be shipping it off to Nintendo's repair center for a repair or (more likely) replacement, free of charge. To top it off, the clock on my one-year warranty will be reset, so the new unit will have a new one-year warranty.
Too often these days, repairs or replacements--even under warranty--seem to have become an area many companies don't wish to address without much wailing and gnashing of teeth. It's refreshing to see a few companies acknowledge that these things happen, and take steps to correct the problem.
I did not expect a replacement in either case. That they occurred (or in the latter case, may well occur) simply cements my relationship with each company as a customer again in the future, because I know that should something go wrong with a future purchase, the company will do right by me. That is the kind of thing that wins my hard-earned dollar.
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