Great Customer Service

Lately, I've been noticing outstanding customer service from some of the providers that I use.  The service in each case was so good that I wanted to document the experience.

Restaurant - One of our favorite places to eat is a local ethnic food restaurant.   I've known the owners for thirty years and the restaurant is among our top choices for special events.  On special event meals, we usually get a free desert as a gift from the restaurant.   For my last birthday, the desert was put on special platter that played "Happy Birthday."

My daughter couldn't wait until her birthday for the special platter.  However, the restaurant made it her birthday even a more special day.  Not only did they give her a desert on the "Happy Birthday" platter.  They put helium balloons on her chair, gave her a nice present, and put a double helping of her favorite appetizer in our take home order.

Needless to say, we gave the wait staff a really big tip (40%) for the great celebration.

Battery store - Early in 2012, my daughter's  car started to run slower, even though the battery was supposed to be fully charged.  I took the battery the the local authorized dealer, which was a battery store.
The owner explained it was likely the battery, but didn't push selling one. He checked out my battery and said it measured OK, but he couldn't be sure.  He said if I bought a battery and I didn't need one he would gladly take a return.  I decided not to buy one at the time.

Later, my rechargeable toothbrush stopped working and the battery was soldered in, making it very difficult to change. The owner said he would change it for only the cost of the battery and if it didn't work (which was a 50/50 chance), he wouldn't charge me.  He changed it, it didn't work and he didn't charge me.

I was impressed with the service.  Later on, I purchased the motorized car battery.  And then I bought a laptop battery, even though it was cheaper on the Internet.

Software company - I use a well known brand name security software.   Three years ago, I used the chat and remote support to correct apparent security problems.   Typically, the customer service representative would determine if it was related to the software or not, but would always solve the issue.  If the issue took longer than usual to solve, the representative would add a month to subscription.  

Based this level of service, I've decided to stay with this security software company, even though there is freeware or cheaper software available.

In the above cases, less expensive providers are always available.  However, due to the level of great service, I will continue to use their services and not shop for other providers.

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This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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