Unusual customer service ... (Remington)

[jokeworm]

I say unusual .. because it was actually much better than expected.

Having decided a few months ago that i would grow a beard in my effort to fully immerse myself in my new-found fully-fledged long-awaited legal American citizen status ... I figured that i should probably buy myself some kind of a beard trimmer to stop the beard from taking on a life of its own.

I ended up with a Remington trimmer ... had a nice little beard guard and a slider on the side that you could set anywhere from one to nine depending on the length of trim that you liked.

Have been using said trimmer for a few weeks now and all has been going swimmingly ... after each trim i take off the "guard" and rinse it out and leave it on the sink to dry off ..

Time for my weekly trim this week and the guard is missing (i can only assume that it had fallen off the sink into the trash bin and had been taken out with the garbage sometime last week .. ) so i went to the Remington site to source a replacement guard ...

Having browsed the site i ended up using the "contact us" link as the guard piece was nowhere to be found on the site ... that was early Sunday morning. I politely asked where i might buy a replacement guard, how much said guard might cost me and how much shipping would be on top of that - and how could i make payment .... (I had expected $4-5 for the replacement piece .. and an extra $3-4 for shipping)

Today i got the following reply ...

"Thank you for contacting Remington, we are sorry to hear that you are no longer able to use the attachments to the MB-300. You will receive the replacement
attachments as a onetime complimentary offer within 10-15 business days.

Thank you,
Remington Consumer Service"

That was all .. simple easy and right to the point and all within 24 hours of sending them an email ...

You always read so much about how bad customer service has gotten lately .. and its almost impossible to recall a time when i was last taken aback by a reply from a "contact us" email that i had sent from a website (in fact its unusual nowadays to even get a reply)

So i figured I'd come here and share with you guys .. and let you know .. if you are ever on the lookout for a new razor/trimmer/whatever ..

Remington still appear to have at least one person in their customer service department that knows what the "customer" in customer service still means.

Very small thing - very low cost - but had a big impact for me and will ensure next time I'm looking for any kind of product that Remington makes .. they will now probably be my first choice.

:up

 

[Cyclone]

Yeah, there is this company called NortherStates which makes child gates. We have two of their self closing models and they really are very good. Well, there is a problem where after a lot of wear and tear a plastic cam inside the gate wears down causing the gate to not fully latch when it self closes. You just manually put it in place and its still as good as any non self closing gate.

Well, I called them up and they sent me out a full repair kit with replacement parts and instructions. I have three kids four and under an have had these gates in full use for 3+ years now. Every year I call them up and they send me out two repair kits no charge.

On the flip side of the coin, my Kodak digital camera's cheap little battery door's latch tab wore down and wouldn't stay closed. This piece is a cheap single piece of plastic which can't cost more than $.15. Well, Kodak won't send your or sell you the part, you have to send in your camera for a $130+ servicing. So I ended up buying a new camera. And it wasn't a Kodak the next time.

My Canon Camcorder HV20 broke, I was able to warranty fix it no problems. Contact them, got the RA, shipped it out. I was able to check the RA's status on line. Received the HV20 back in about two weeks.

 

[bhelms]

I had a similar good experience with Coleman. (Their overall excellent customer service and ready availability of parts is one reason I do almost all my outdoor equipment business with them!). I had a Coleman RoadTrip LXE roll-around gas grille that I used primarily for tailgates, and some camping events. Due to my fault (and in some part a design flaw) I damaged the lid. After a season of looking at that blemish I tried to order a replacement lid. On this occasion that part did not appear with those that were available on-line, leading to an e-mail exchange. The part had to be special ordered, and they sent it to me at no cost to me (had to have cost them at least $30 as it originated in, of course, China). Due to poor packaging the part arrived damaged, worse than the one I was replacing. I was reluctant to "complain" since it was sent to me gratis, but I did want to resolve my original problem. Coleman responded by sending me a whole new grille at their sole expense !! Not only was I "wowed" by the above-and-beyond service, but my scout troop was the new owner of a slightly-used, lightly damaged grille! That's really knowing the meaning of exceptional service. I'm happy to share this story with any who will listen. (I have yet to "thank" Coleman - lost the orignal problem tracking information - but will do so soon...!)

Yes, there are still a few companies out there that "get it"...!

BRgds...

EDIT: Forgot to mention above, but the retail price of that grille was commonly ~$150...

 

[sluggo]

I had a similar good experience with Coleman. (Their overall excellent customer service and ready availability of parts is one reason I do almost all my outdoor equipment business with them!). I had a Coleman RoadTrip LXE roll-around gas grille that I used primarily for tailgates, and some camping events. Due to my fault (and in some part a design flaw) I damaged the lid. After a season of looking at that blemish I tried to order a replacement lid. On this occasion that part did not appear with those that were available on-line, leading to an e-mail exchange. The part had to be special ordered, and they sent it to me at no cost to me (had to have cost them at least $30 as it originated in, of course, China). Due to poor packaging the part arrived damaged, worse than the one I was replacing. I was reluctant to "complain" since it was sent to me gratis, but I did want to resolve my original problem. Coleman responded by sending me a whole new grille at their sole expense !! Not only was I "wowed" by the above-and-beyond service, but my scout troop was the new owner of a slightly-used, lightly damaged grille! That's really knowing the meaning of exceptional service. I'm happy to share this story with any who will listen. (I have yet to "thank" Coleman - lost the orignal problem tracking information - but will do so soon...!)

Yes, there are still a few companies out there that "get it"...!

BRgds...

I have had a Cuisinart "Grind and Brew" coffee maker for at least 5 years now. Everytime something breaks I call them and they send me a replacement unit with a full year warranty on it. Even on the times that I have been at fault and turned it on with no pot to catch the coffee and shorted out the clock or whatever. I call to ask if there is anything I can do to fix it and they nicely tell me that a new one is on the way and that I should return the old one. I don't know how long they can or will continue to provide me with a new one each time, but if it ever lasts long enough to wear out on its own, I know what brand I will replace it with. There will always be a Cuisinart "Grind and Brew" in our home.

 

[jokeworm]

some good stuff here .. maybe we should start a "companies that GET IT" website to share the positive stories.

 

[bhelms]

Good thought! Perhaps one already exists (never checked) but if not, one should!

Since I am quick to complain about bad products or service, I think it is only right that exceptionally good service be recognized as well, and I have quite a few to add to that list. My father taught me I will only get that for which I ask. When I am "wronged" by a company I generally have to ask for satisfaction, and the outcome is very much dependent on how I ask. So there are probably lessons to be learned/shared there as well...

 

[Agonizing Fury]

some good stuff here .. maybe we should start a "companies that GET IT" website to share the positive stories.

Good thought, another site that may or may not exist that should is a listing of businesses that support our troops by shipping to APO/FPO addresses (if you don't know what this is see this website ShipitAPO®.com - What is an APO/FPO Address?). When I deployed to Bosnia, then Iraq, then Iraq again I was amazed by the number of businesses that would not ship APO/FPO addresses, and then a few that went above and beyond to ensure that I received my packages. One in particular (I wish I could remember the name, but it currently escapes me) was a small business that didn't state one way or the other for whether or not they shipped to APO addresses. I contacted by E-mail and he said that he does all of his shipping via UPS, but that he would be more than happy to take my package to the post office during his lunch hour so I could order the product. That's what I call above and beyond.

 

[jokeworm]

Replacement part arrived well packaged and intact this afternoon ... less than a week from initial contact to replacement in possession ...

:thumbsup: