Friday, July 19, 2013

Customer Service: A Dying Artform

I don't know about you, but I have been unpleasantly surprised about the lack of Customer Service from companies, just in general. I get the feeling nowadays that they feel that they have your money, you have the product and if there are any issues or problems, it is because I have an issue or problem, not because of their product.

I've run into this everywhere. Athletic shops, clothing stores, electronic stores, online stores, household wares stores, race promoters...everywhere. It just makes me feel so disenchanted with companies general ability to assist their customers and help them to have a positive experience with their product.

On the flip side, I have encountered a few companies that do everything they can to make their customers happy and possibly assist in making their purchasing experience with them a  good and positive one. I had one of those moments this week and I wanted to share it with you.

As you may have read in past months, I am a subscriber to the monthly delivery box service StrideBox. They create boxes to be sent out monthly that includes products that are geared towards runners. It could be anything from pre- and post- fueling foods, mid-run fuels, hydration products and gadgets that make things easier for the runner (ie. lock laces, Klitch).

I normally blog about what is in the box each month and talk about the different products. The July box was centered on hydration, good thing too considering the record heat that has been sweeping the country. During my blogging of the box, I noted that there were 6 hydration items on the list and my bottle only contained 5 of the 6. No biggie, maybe you weren't supposed to get all 6 and only a mixture of a few of those. Cool, no big deal to me. I didn't write to StrideBox asking if this was a mistake or make any angry, fist pumping rhetoric on my blog about being cheated out of a sample. It was what it was and I didn't give it another thought. 


Until I got a parcel in the mail on Wednesday. I hadn't ordered anything, so this was an unexpected parcel. I looked on the outside and saw the return address as "StrideBox". I was confused, why would they be sending me anything. Then the lightbulb went off, did they read my blog entry? Is this the missing sample?

I opened the envelope and found this...


I. Was. Floored. I never expected them to send me the sample that had been missing out of my box, I didn't ask them if it had been a mistake, they just sent the sample because they wanted to make sure I had a positive experience with their company and it spoke VOLUMES to me. That is fantastic Customer Service, that is going above and beyond what is asked of them and it is just plain classy.  I immediately went to Twitter and sent a tweet thanking them for my mail delivery, giving them A+++ for their Customer Service. I think I would like to add another couple of +++'s, just for good measure.

Thank you StrideBox for sending me the sample that had been missing from my box without any prompting, it really was a wonderful surprise and just reaffirmed to me that there are still great companies out there that do care about the customer experience. You have a satisfied customer in me and I will continue to sing your praises to anyone and everyone I can. Just Keep Running indeed!

15 comments:

  1. That is amazing customer service! Go StrideBox! :)

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    1. Right!?! Never had anything like this happen to me before and I'm just still surprised.

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  2. I wonder how they caught it. Maybe it was as simple as them running out when packing the boxes and shipping without to meet a deadline? Then when they got the samples they sent them out. Good on them for the follow up!
    I'm with you on customer service. I bought a t-shirt at Wet Seal this past week and noticed that they have a policy of only issuing store credit for returns. What is that about? And Lululemon, which is on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of price point only has a two-week window for returns. It's like these places are taking less and less responsibility for their product.

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    1. I wonder how they did it too. Maybe they had a list of people who didn't get them and then sent the sample when more came in, who knows. All I know is that they took care of me in a most unexpected way and I am appreciative.

      That is terrible! All the more reason for me not to shop at those two places! I understand a company's want to protect themselves, but they are nothing without customers. The more they alienate themselves from their customers, the more likely that they won't get more or returning customers.

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  3. WOW! That is fantastic! A+++ for Stridebox! Too cool.

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    1. Very cool and classy. And a hand written note! Who does that anymore!?!?

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  4. They are a great company...when my Klitch broke after only 3 uses, they sent me another one...I did post about it on Twitter, but not in an angry way..just mentioning it

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    1. That's awesome! They really do know how to take care of their customers! Kudos StrideBox!

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  5. You are right..that is not normal today. Glad you are enjoying them.

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  6. Wow! That is awesome!! I have had some really great customer service from Newton Running and 100% Playharder this past week! I am glad to hear that things are getting better in this area, as sometimes it can be so bad!

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    1. So true, service can leave something to be desired. I'm glad that you got some great customer service from Newton Running! I love it when big companies pay attention to the happiness of their customers!

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  7. I love their note, especially that it was handwritten!

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    1. That really impressed me, no one does handwritten notes anymore. It was a very nice touch!

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  8. Customer service is a lost art! I have come to REALLY appreciate (and find myself shocked too) when companies not only meet expectations but exceed them! I always try to contact them back to let them know my appreciation. :)

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    1. My thoughts exactly! It's nice to know that there are companies out there that do take the time to make things right for their customers and that's why I wanted to tell everyone about my great experience with this company!

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