As happens almost every day, a toddler hit the pavement. Another skinned knee, another whimper, another bandage. I pulled out a no-need-to-cry-Mommy-has-just-the-thing Dora Band-Aid. Dora can fix anything! I cleaned the knee, and went for the Band-Aid. Hmm…that’s weird. There’s no adhesive on that, it just fell apart. And the next one, it’s not sticky, just falls out of the wrapper onto the ground…what’s going on here? 10 Band-Aids in, and I realize that we have a bad batch. You can imagine the devastation on the three-year-old’s face when she realizes there is no Dora Band-Aid.
Before I threw the box away, I looked for that little “Questions? Comments” fine print on the back and shot an email to Customer Service. I left out the part about the toddler devastation, because I wasn’t expecting $1 million in damages.
The very next day, I got an email saying they were so so sorry and were sending me some compensation. Oooh, this is getting good. And within 2 days I had this nice note and a coupon for $5.00 off any Johnson & Johnson product. That is fabulous customer service, and I appreciate that.
And then, to be fair, I went to another product’s website and sent in an email about how much I loved it. I don’t like to just be negative. I always email Safeway’s Customer Service when they handle a big promo well.
Have you ever emailed/called Customer Service about a product? Was your feedback good or bad? What was the response?
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I love customer service calls! Yesterday, I called about our water filter that fits on our sink. The chrome is chipping off and it looks terrible. Because I always keep receipts and original packaging, they are sending me a replacement unit (for free of course). Excellent customer service experience! Thanks for your blog. I follow it daily!
Sharon
http://www.hereswhatifound.blogspot.com
I recently wrote in a complaint to a Johnson’s based company as well and they also showed me fabulous customer service and tried to make amends for the problem.
I called Melissa & Doug once because a set of wooden pots and pans I had bought my daughter had paint chipping, and I had bought them less than a month before. Customer service was fantastic. They didn't have any pots and pans at the moment, but said they would sent another item for our daughter's play kitchen. A few weeks later, we received a set of wooden fridge food. I was so surprised that they went to such lengths to keep their customers happy. I will continue to purchase items from them!
I recently emailed Healthy Choice to compliment them on their new & improved frozen entrees (they used to taste really bad IMO–stopped buying them for years). Bought some as part of a Safeway promo and they were SO good. They responded and said thank you, and they were also sending me a coupon. Nice!
Also recently emailed CVS to compliment one of their stores. My comments trickled down all the way to the local store manager. He called and left me a VM saying thanks for the comments and they would work on getting a scanner (something I suggested)! I was wowed!
Have not had such good luck with All You yet, though…
I agree! Always write to customer service! After suffering through a week of Palmolive Eco+ dishwasher detergent and nasty white stuff on the dishes, I wrote to Colgate-Palmolive to let them know their product was not up to snuff (it took an entire box of those steel wool soap pads to get the residue of my pots). They sent me an envelope full of coupons for other products and a check to reimburse the cost of the detergent. It took a week. They also told me to make sure I let them know if any medical bills were incurred from ingesting the residue (because I mentioned my DS’s diarrhea). Fabulous customer service!
We almost always use Luvs diapers since they're usually cheaper, even when the Huggies and Pampers are on sale and we have a coupon, plus they work really well for my kids.
Well, a month or so back, the tab started breaking off the diapers for my son – not when we were putting them on, but usually sometime during the night which meant we were changing pjs and sheets quite often. I finally complained to P&G customer support, telling them how much we love Luvs, but that we were certainly disappointed and inconvenienced by this batch.
Before I'd even received the automatic generic "thanks for the comment, we'll address it ASAP" email, I received an email from a real person apologizing and saying that compensation was in the mail. Indeed, a few days later I got a $5 off coupon for diapers and a $1 off Tide washing machine cleaner coupon.
When the _next_ box did the same thing except with more frequency, I wrote again. That time they sent me a $5 off Luvs coupon and a $10 off Luvs coupon!
Not only did I get really cheap diapers, but now my son can say the words "diaper broke" with clarity.
Reminds me, I need to write them again to tell them thanks!
I emailed Coca-Cola when I found an empty but sealed can in my 12 pack. They asked me to send them a few quality control numbers and then sent me a coupon for a free 12 pack of Cokes. It pays to let them know how their product is turning out.
customer service individuals seem to take great pride in their jobs and helping the consumer
I wrote to Polyform to tell them that the Sculpey clay my daughter tried to use for a school project was hard and cracked rather than molding. I just wanted them to know and that I returned the product to the store for a full refund. They sent me a replacement anyway along with a sample of their new “ultralight” version. At more than $7 for the package I thought this was great service and my daughter will be able to use it for a future project.
Not really a customer service call for a product, but awesome customer service nonetheless. We ordered an office lunch from Chipotle restaurant. They missed a couple of items from our order (totaling maybe $5), and when we called back to have the amount credited back to our credit card, they instead offered us a free meal–10 free burritos (our original meal included only 4)!! We were skeptical, but called to cash in on those about a month later, and sure enough, we got our whole meal free–8 burritos, some chips and guacamole and a drink! I was beyond impressed.
I’m so glad to hear so many positive experiences with customer service. I am usually fighting over the phone with cable or cell service and pulling my hair out with frustration. Maybe the key is the co with actual products, not services.
I called Kashi when a box of the cereal bars had one inside that was already opened and all dried out – I guess it didn’t seal properly. They were so nice and sent me a coupon for a free box.
I also had to call Burt’s Bees once b/c my then 1 year old daughter opened a tin of Res-Q-Ointment and then rubbed her eye! I called to find out if there were any ingredients I should be worried about, etc. They were so helpful and stayed on the phone while I checked/flushed my daughter’s eye (she was fine after we washed it out).
Thanks for the reminder to make GOOD customer service calls too! I always mean to, but never seem to get around to it! I needed the kick in the behind!
I wrote to P&G awhile back to complain that my daughter's Pampers training pants were stuck together and leaked that nasty stuffing if I tried to tear them apart and use them. They quickly sent me a $10 coupon and some samples/coupons for other P&G products. The next week, I went to Target and saw that they had the same training pants on clearance. Generally, I buy generic but this was $11 for 60+ pullups. Anyway, when I looked at the box, I was horrified. They weren't Pampers, they were Huggies. I emailed P&G and apologized. They told me thanks and encouraged me to keep the coupon. I was too traumatized to write Huggies at that point, but I did use the $10 coupon for a free pack of Pampers.
A couple of months ago I had BOGO free coupons for Crest toothpaste. It had a picture of an orange toothpaste, “Bursting Bubblegum” flavor. I had read a very good review of this particular flavor in Real Simple magazine, both from dentists and children so I REALLY wanted to try this particular one. I live in a good-sized city and checked EVERYWHERE and could not find it. I finally used the coupons for a different kind, but was really disappointed so I e-mailed Crest to let them know that nobody in my town carried that kind! They kindly e-mailed me back thanking me for the input and asking for my address so they could send me some coupons. I hadn’t even asked for any! They also encouraged me to let my local stores know that I would like them to carry this product. Anyway, about a week later I got two coupons for a FREE Crest toothpaste! I did finally find this particular toothpaste at one store (a local Schnuck’s brand) and got two for free! We can’t wait to try it!
I spent 20+ years answering customer support calls.
Yes, I like to send an email to companies when the service is something I want to bring to their attention.
One situation that comes to mind is Outback Steakhouse. There was a problem with my dinner, they offered a solution and we’re still customers!
My two best experiences were with Melissa & Doug and Target. We had a Melissa & Doug toy whose paint chipped off badly with very little play. After I called, 2 days later there were replacement toys on the doorstep waiting for me.
Once the tabs came off of about 5 diapers in a pack of Target diapers. I took them back and they replaced them with a name brand!
On the other hand, I had a horrible experience with Shade Clothing. All of my tops from there are terrible quality, developed holes, and I contacted customer service only to get a reply that they should be replaced 1-2 times a year. For $12-18 each for undershirts, that's crazy! I actually wrote about it here: http://anniemm.typepad.com/running_with_perseverance/2009/05/shopping-reviews.html
I got a bad bag of Cool Ranch Doritos a few months ago. There were huge clumps of seasoning in the bag, all over the chips, and everything was stuck together. They were truly inedible. I almost just threw the bag away but instead called. Frito Lay listened to the problem and sent me a postage paid envelope to mail the chips to them. I also got 3 coupons for a free bag of Frito-Lay chips. After they received my chips, I got another nice letter and 3 more coupons! I used all the coupons when chips were BOGO so I got 2 free bags per coupon!
I emailed Toms of Maine when they sent me an expired for 6 months coupon in a box of toothpaste. They said they had no coupons to replace that one but would send me a trial size toothpaste instead. Kind of bummed me out, I would rather have the coupon.
I have gotten coupons for praising Heinz, Amy’s Kitchen, and Dannon Activia (a free 4 pack, whoohoo!). Also waiting on some others. I started doing this a couple weeks ago and have found it to be a great resource for coupons!