Mark Gibbs has just experienced excellent customer service. He is amazed.
Normally when I write about customer service and tech support it’s to point out just how badly these functions are executed by major organizations. This week, I have just the opposite to discuss. In the 10 days I have experienced not one but two examples of excellent customer service.
The most recent was yesterday when I got a call from Bill, the UPS delivery guy who serviced my last address (I just moved about some 6 miles within my town). Bill called me from his truck because he had a package on board and, knowing I had moved, he wanted to get my new address (my cell phone number was on the waybill).
Bill said he would ensure the package was re-addressed to be delivered the next day, but even offered to have the depot hold the package in case I needed it that night! At this point I think I heard angels singing …
Bill deserves a huge pat on the back from his management for this because it is the kind of attention to business that customers don’t forget. I must write to UPS and tell them.
My second customer service revelation is a follow up to the column I wrote a few weeks ago wherein I took Sprint to task for not caring whether I remained a customer or not (my phone broke and the company was going to charge me more for a termination fee than a competitor was going to charge me for two new phones).
From the huge amount of feedback the column generated I obviously hit a nerve (as well as with Sprint management, not that it did any good), and last week I discussed what you had to say.
Anyway, the upshot was I looked at other cell service providers to see what deals I could get and in the end I went with Credo, which is, oddly enough, a reseller of Sprint service!
I’d been aware of Credo for some time as it runs highly visible and very effective activism campaigns for causes such as Greenpeace, Amnesty International, Doctors without Borders, etc. The way Credo finances this work is by routing 1% of all call charges to the causes it supports, which has generated more $65 million since 1985. Which causes are focused on is decided by the company’s board and employees while the actual allocation of funds is determined by online customer voting.
This is a very different approach to business and corporate social responsibility than the majority of large businesses and one that I find appealing.
As for the deal in switching to Credo, I was able to score two BlackBerry Curves for $50 each along with one basic Samsung phone at no charge, get a service plan that was on par with what I’d been paying Sprint, and (this is the kicker) Credo covers early termination fees up to $200 per line (this is handled as a credit to your account once you provide documentation of what the ETFs cost you).
Now, all of that was financially compelling but little did I know that Credo is, in my experience, apparently unique among cell service providers: The company actually seems to understand the value of customer service!
Once the equipment was in my hot, sweaty hands I called the activation service and after following a mercifully short menu a human being answered. Yes, a real human being who I could understand, who didn’t keep thanking me for everything, and who actually understood how to get the BlackBerrys programmed! But it gets better …
As I was transferring numbers there was going to be the usual delay involved. Until the transfer completed the application for connecting to POP-based e-mail service wasn’t installed. No problem I thought, I shall wait.
While I was waiting a Credo customer service rep called me to see if the process had completed. Yep, you read that right: The rep called me! The mountain not only came to Mohammed, it brought cookies.
Since then I’ve had a couple of reasons to call Credo customer service and every time it’s been the same — easily accessed, competent, well-informed and friendly staff who know what they are doing. This is not short of miraculous (I’m hoping it’s not a sign of some forthcoming apocalypse) and it was totally unexpected.
These kinds of surprising and outstanding customer service experiences really should be applauded. If you’ve experienced really great customer service, let me know … Credo and UPS can’t be the only companies that get it right.
Gibbs was amazed in Ventura, Calif. Service your surprise to backspin@gibbs.com.
