What companies do you think provide consistently good customer service?

[GoldKey]

Any companies, retail, internet, resturants, etc. Lets see how common good customer service really is or isn't.

Here is my list (these are all specific to the Tallahassee, FL stores)

Target
Nancy's Hallmark - This one is great, the other Hallmarks here don't provide anywhere near the level of service
Cici's pizza - shocker to me, this is one of the cheapest resturants anywhere and their service is great. Shows sometimes you get more than you pay for. I often get better service here than at resturants where just the tip amount is more than the entire meal at Cici's.

[Jeff Rutledge]

Hmmmm...great question.

I'll have to ponder for a while. Off the top of my head though:

handheldcanada.com
Wal-Mart
Home Depot

I'm sure there's more...

Oh yeah, WestJet has got the best service I've ever experienced. I fly a fair amount and I don't even bother checking Air Canada (or their discount carriers) anymore. If WestJet flies there, they're who I'm taking.

[Steven Cedrone]

Costco, Home Depot...

Steve

[Kati Compton]

You guys get good service from Home Depot???

Oh my. Maybe it's just around here, but the people at Home Depot have not been very helpful to me at all. It's really hard to find an employee at all, and then if I do, they don't know where stuff is. Like Teflon tape. Or plain copper wire. Whenever I need something that I don't know anything about, I go to one of the local old-school family-run franchise hardware stores like Ace or True Value. Those employees actually USE the products. Home Depot is great if you want something for cheap, but most employees are high school or college kids that haven't ever used anything from the store.

[Don Tolson]

I'd have agree with WestJet, Home Depot, and HandheldCanada.com. (Costco is very good about returns, but lousy when it comes to helping you make a purchase).

To that I have to add a handfull of 'mom & pop shops' that I have known to grow and love. They're just local, but they take very good care of me and my family. They just know that if they treat their customers right, the customers will come back and bring others. And they're right -- for these types of things (bicycles, 'evening out' restaurant, haircut, car broker, auto service, etc.) I won't go anywhere else, no matter what the price.

[Jeff Rutledge]

It's really hard to find an employee at all, and then if I do, they don't know where stuff is.

Really??? That's the exact opposite of my experiences. I moved to a new house in January and have since become a regular at Home Depot. It doesn't matter what time I go, there's always a flock of orange aprons ready to help. And I've found that they seem to know their stuff. Well, since I'm not a handy-man by any means, maybe it's all relative. :mrgreen:

[Jeff Rutledge]

To that I have to add a handfull of 'mom & pop shops' that I have known to grow and love. They're just local, but they take very good care of me and my family. They just know that if they treat their customers right, the customers will come back and bring others. And they're right -- for these types of things (bicycles, 'evening out' restaurant, haircut, car broker, auto service, etc.) I won't go anywhere else, no matter what the price.

I'm with you there Don. Wherever possible, I try to spend my money at smaller shops, especially local ones. Like you said, they know how to take care of the customer because our patronage directly lines their pockets. It takes a unique character to be able to run a small business. I dont' have it myself, but I have great respect for those who do.

[GoldKey]

I am going to have to agree with Kati, our Home Depot is pretty lacking in the service department. Can almost never find an employee who can help. I narrowly missed being seriously injured by a tumbling palet of 4x4's in there this weekend. The Wal-mart here is horrible also.

Local businesses are great. In addtion to the better service you usually get, the profits usually stay in your community which is a real positive for the financial health of your community.

[Jeff Rutledge]

Hmmm....interesting.

It looks like there may be a gap between Home Depot in the US and in Canada when it comes to service eh?

[Kati Compton]

The Wal-mart here is horrible also.
Hmmm... I thought it was just the Wal-marts up here, and the ones further south were friendly & such. I don't shop there much - the hunting gear puts me off. I prefer the more "upscale" Target. ;)

[doogald]

I've always thought that LL Bean had exceptional customer service. Both mail order, on line and at the retail outlets.

[GoldKey]

The Wal-mart here is horrible also.
Hmmm... I thought it was just the Wal-marts up here, and the ones further south were friendly & such. I don't shop there much - the hunting gear puts me off. I prefer the more "upscale" Target. ;)

Wal-mart seems to have the most intelectually challanged staff (tied with Kmart). The local target has alot of college kids and career employees, so they are pretty good. I just wish they would open a SuperTarget here too so I could buy my groceries there. I share a love of Target, so much so that I have stock in the company.

I've lived in the "south" for about 12 years now after moving here from the "north", Miami. For the most part, I find "southern hospitality" to be a myth.

[ctmagnus]

I like the service at True Value here. The owners were on the first (iirc) of the current bunch of True Value ads in Canada. Radio Shack here's, good too.

[trachy]

I can't believe my eyes! A bunch of geeks talking about Home Depot, Walmart, and Mom and Pop stores! :-)

My best online retail experiences for buying hardware and software have been with NewEgg (http://www.newegg.com). If you don't believe me, check out Reseller Ratings (http://www.resellerratings.com). If you guys haven't heard of Reseller Ratings, consider yourselves enlightened. It's the place I always visit before buying from a new online vendor.

[GoldKey]

My best online retail experiences for buying hardware and software have been with NewEgg (http://www.newegg.com). If you don't believe me, check out Reseller Ratings (http://www.resellerratings.com). If you guys haven't heard of Reseller Ratings, consider yourselves enlightened. It's the place I always visit before buying from a new online vendor.

I agree on New Egg, I have used them before and they are usually great. Plus, you cant beat their prices. But, I am a bit disappointed with a problem I am currently trying to resolve with them. Fedex misdelivered my order from them cause a 3 day delay in getting my order. Fedex accepted responsibility and credited them back for the shipping charge, but New Egg does not want to refund it to me.

[lurch]

I've always thought that LL Bean had exceptional customer service. Both mail order, on line and at the retail outlets.
I fully agree with this! My wife ordered boots, they were stolen from our apartment front door before we got home, called LLBean, new pair of boots came in a few days!

Also, Lowes (a competitor with Home Depot) is awesome, well, fairly awesome anyway.
Galyans (sports store) is extremely good too.

What really gets my attention with any store is how willing they are to work with me. I absolutely love places that just without even a second thought say "absolutely sir, just go pick out a new one and we'll exchange it" or really go out of their way to make things good again.

[Jacob]

I like buy.com - except the fact that they signed me up for a mailed catalog.

I hate sam's club service - am I the only one that feels like they treat you like they assume you're stealing something by checking your receipt when you leave?

[trachy]

I hate sam's club service - am I the only one that feels like they treat you like they assume you're stealing something by checking your receipt when you leave?

Yeah, what's up with that? That, and I hate having to show my member card at the door and at the register. What do they care if the general public comes in and looks around? Doing so might actually encourage people to enroll. What a novell idea...

I'm a marketing genius. Just ask me. :lol:

[David C]

As someone who works in a retail store, I like to say this about customer service.

1. It really depends on your luck. Sometime, you catch someone on their good day, and they are really nice. Where as on other days, they just got pissed off by some dumb idiot customer, and they really rather go home early.

2. Corporate culture is important on how customer service treat people. But, then, how realistic is that? Most top level corporate officer only care about numbers. Show me a company that pays sales people base on the level of satisfaction given to customer instead of percentage over quota. There is no such a thing. Most sales people are only interested if you are going to buy NOW, because they need to hit quota. You are no use to them if you are a customer that is happy, and will come back LATER. They might not work here anymore, who cares.

3. The amount of knowledge varies. But how do you expect some one making less then $8 an hour to care, and read up about the product? Most people only work in retail store for one reason. They have no better choice. You are lucky if you meet a college student working in retail. They are in fact smarter. Problem is, once college is done, it's bye bye retail store. Plus, they don't really care. There are lots of other stress to worry about, like party tonight and cram for finals tomarrow. Retail is a dead end job that is not worth spending too much time in.

[othell]

am I the only one that feels like they treat you like they assume you're stealing something by checking your receipt when you leave?

Best Buy and CompUSA do the same thing. Its a simple procedure that gives them an extra layer of inventory control.

You shouldn't take it personally though....

I used to work for CompUSA though... So I'm quite biased.

[Pat Logsdon]

Wal-mart seems to have the most intelectually challanged staff (tied with Kmart).
I agree. I just flat out won't go to Wal-Mart anymore, for that exact reason.

As far as great service goes - I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Nordstrom!

I've also been pretty happy with Sears' Craftsman tools - can't beat a lifetime warranty, and you really can exchange any Craftsman tool whenever you want to.

[Jacob]

am I the only one that feels like they treat you like they assume you're stealing something by checking your receipt when you leave?

Best Buy and CompUSA do the same thing. Its a simple procedure that gives them an extra layer of inventory control.

You shouldn't take it personally though....


Maybe in your neighbourhood.. but in mine they don't.

The local best buy and compusa near me have alarms that go off if you're trying to steal something. The compusa has a guy standing there who says goodbye to everyone and is there to catch someone if the alarm does go off. He doesn't check your receipt. I don't mind that, although I don't love the whole idea of greeters


I don't take it personally, but I DO think it's piss poor customer service, no matter how big a stupid grin they have on their face when doing it.

[disconnected]

I've also had good luck with LLBean; the phone people are really good about finding items when you've misplaced the catalog and have no item number.

I've also found most Talbot's phone people to be very helpful. I was ordering something from a catalog, and I guess the call center was right at the warehouse; the lady offered to go find the item and measure it for me. Oddly enough, the clerks at their retail stores tend to be a lot less accomodating; some of them seem to feel they're doing you a great favor to take your money.

Another company that is good about returns is Eddie Bauer. Whether your purchase was in a store, an outlet, catalog, or online, you can return it to any of their stores, and I've never seen them give anyone a hard time, even if the item looks like it's been worn for years and run over by a truck. Once I received a box from them that had been damaged and partially opened and had one item missing; I thought I'd have to file a UPS claim, or send them a picture of the box or something, but they sent me a replacement item with no questions asked. Another time they sent me something in the wrong color; when I called, they apologized and, as the item was sold out in the original color, they credited my account and told me to keep the one they sent me for free. Actually, I've heard the company has had some financial problems; maybe they're too nice.

[DimensionZero]

To bring an old discussion back a little, the Home Depot out here totally sucks.

Well, I'm a night owl so I go later in the evenings and it's nearly impossible to find an organe dude anywhere. The cashiers tell you to find a service rep and if you find one, they run off to find someone in that department... and WHEN the proper guy comes over, they either can't help me (don't know where an item is, don't have don't know where to go get it) or they run off to find another guy and if they can't then you're outta luck.

Generally the first guy I ask at least has an idea of where in the store to head... But that's usually as far as I get..

Like I said, it could just be that I go later in the day and there's less staff and the people who are there are probably tired/grumpy and wanna go home...

[GoldKey]

Well, I'm a night owl so I go later in the evenings and it's nearly impossible to find an organe dude anywhere.

Lesson learned last week. Don't wear an orange t-shirt into HD. I got asked for help by no less than 6 customers in 10 minutes and I didn't see an actual employee the whole time. I was actually able to help two of the customers. I think I should have gotten an employee discount. :D

[maximus]

My (+) list:

Citibank.
Dell. (Got 2 versions of WM2003 from them, without even asking).
H.E.B. (Back in Austin, Texas) Superb service.
Walmart
DBS Bank, Singapore
Cold Storage, Singapore

My (-) list:
Best Buy (Austin, Texas)
Carrefour
Real Estate Agents in Jakarta, boy they s*cked.

[ctmagnus]

I got asked for help by no less than 6 customers in 10 minutes and I didn't see an actual employee the whole time. I was actually able to help two of the customers. I think I should have gotten an employee discount. :D

That happened to me once, only in a Computer City, back when it was still a thriving chain.

[ctmagnus]

...
Dell. (Got 2 versions of WM2003 from them, without even asking).
...



I got two copies of Pocket PC 2002 from Compaq, same situation. But since ipaq.net sprang to life, I've started wondering what happened to the other one. :confused totally:

Oh yeah, I've generally had fairly good service from Compaq (1 800 OK COMPAQ) except for the two occasions, but it seems to me that those two occasions are a fairly small percentage of the total number of times I've called them; one of them, the guy must've been hired an hour earlier and the other time I was on hold for ~ half an hour.

[Kati Compton]

My (-) list:
Best Buy (Austin, Texas)
Carrefour
Real Estate Agents in Jakarta, boy they s*cked.
Okay, I'll bite. You've mentioned real estate agents being bad in multiple threads. I've just purchased a house, and was happy with mine. What happened with you?

[maximus]

I've just purchased a house, and was happy with mine. What happened with you?

Last saturday, I moved in. Made the monthly payment. Everything was OK.
Sunday, I wake up in a rat hole. And I mean that literally. Rats were running around the apartment. And the real estate agent verbally assured me that the apartment is pest free. DUH.
Monday, I noticed that I was additionally billed for 2.5% of the ANNUAL rental fee. The bill noted 'Housing research related fees'. Called my agent, apparently they 'forgot' to mention that fact upfront. Normally, that fee is paid by the building owner. But since the building owner dont want to pay the bill, the real estate agency choosed to bill me. I will NOT pay that. I mean, if the fee is 2.5% of my MONTHLY rental fee, I might just take it. But 2.5% of ANNUAL rental is silly.
Tuesday, I cancelled the rental. Going back to square one. Lost 1 month rental.

[mjgroff]

Purely considering their repair/exchange service, I think Compaq Canada and their national repair center in Hull Quebec provide excellent service. They have lightning fast turnaround and competently fix problems. Of course, I wish I never needed to use them but that is another issue.

[Kati Compton]

Tuesday, I cancelled the rental. Going back to square one. Lost 1 month rental.
Ugh. That sounds pretty upsetting.