In a world where delivering on customer expectations is surprising, and over delivering is unheard of, I am pleased to report two such over deliveries in a period of 48 hours.
Think Outside
I have a rockin cool Bluetooth keyboard for my Smartphone. It allows me to type nearly as fast as I do on my computer when connecting to my mail on a trip or in a waiting room. It has a cool little flip stand that holds the phone upright, laptop style. After much use and much travel, the flip stand cracked. While not the most expensive part of the product, it’s a bit more complex than a simple piece of injection molded plastic.
I emailed Think Outside, explained my problem and asked how much a replacement would be. After the standard auto-reply message, I got a reply from someone on their team within 8 hours saying they would forward my request. A few hours later I got a message saying they would send me a replacement in the mail, free of charge. (This was on a weekend, mind you) Two days later, I received not one stand, but two in the mail. Impressive.
Moen
A small plastic part on my bathroom faucet broke, and after a bit of a struggle on the Moen Web site, I found and ordered the correct replacement. I requested FedEx ground delivery and after three weeks it still hadn’t showed up. I tracked the package and discovered that the package had been delivered, but to an entirely different address. My address info was correct, but the FedEx driver decided to get creative. I called FedEx and they told me they would send the driver to pick up the package from the wrong address and then re-deliver. They also told me that I needed to submit a claim online in parallel. The next night I got home to discover that the driver had come to my house to pick up the misdelivered package. So another call to FedEx. The next day the driver came back to my house, again. The third call, I asked FedEx to have the local office call me. (No call ever came) After weeks, I hadn’t heard anything and called FedEx again. They told me my claim had been denied and I’d get a letter in the mail. I asked why the decline and was told the shipper had to submit claims, not me. So for a comedy of errors and a problem that was 100% FedEx’s fault they weren’t at all willing to help me resolve the issue. Total time spent: 6 weeks.
So I called Moen, relayed my irritation and apologized if it was coming through. The rep apologized profusely even though I made sure she know it wasn’t Moen’s fault at all. She told me she’d send me a replacement package overnight, no charge. Total time spent 6 minutes.
Terrific stories, terrific companies.
