Good and Bad

An example of bad customer vs good customer service service learned from recent experiences.

United Airlines won't refund my stolen items. What's worse, they won't even talk to me about it. I have to email them. I spent time on the phone going around in circles with people who wouldn't talk to me about it, then finally someone gave me an email address and that's all I get. I emailed back and forth and they won't tell me anything further than the fact that they won't reimburse me. Apparently when you buy a ticket they tell you that you shouldn't pack anything of value in your suitcase because they aren't responsible. I'm still emailing them back and forth, but I doubt anything will come of it.

As for the good example, I am so totally thrilled with the company that built my hair dryer. I know it's trivial, but it's so refreshing when you come across a company that stands behind their product and their customers. Almost 2 years ago I bought a hairdryer and in recent months the concentrator nozzle has been melting. It had gotten to the point that a couple of holes were in the sides. I searched everywhere online and in a few stores to find replacement nozzles without buying the whole dryer again for over $50. So I emailed the company on the side of the dryer and found out that the dryer is made by Helen of Troy. I emailed Helen of Troy back and forth a few times and they told me to send the entire dryer back to them, and they'd replace it for FREE! All because they didn't have any replacement concentrator attachments and the dryer was less than 2 years old :) Boy that made my day. I will definitely be buying their products in the future!

And as another example of bad customer service, in my search for the replacement nozzle, I called a beauty supply store here in town to see if they could order replacements. I talked to someone who was obviously busy, but she told me that they had a catalog and could order the part if I came into the store. I made the 20 minute drive out there that weekend, and they took one look at my dryer and told me that they couldn't order it. I made the comment that it would have been nice to know that before I wasted an hour of my day making the trip out there and they told me that I should have called first... errr!