Customer Service with the “WOW” factor

<p>Good customer service should be the norm and not the exception.</p> <p>Sadly for the most part, good service is lacking as is evident by the number of negative reviews on this very forum.</p> <p>So, when an organisation consistently gives you excellent service, it is to be applauded.</p> <p>Chris Carthew, the manager of Builders Warehouse in Port Elizabeth clearly believes in going the extra mile for his customers.</p> <p>This time, he actually went many extra miles.</p> <p>At the beginning of May this year, I e-mailed Chris to enquire whether spare parts were available for a Black & Decker Dustbuster which I had bought from Builders Warehouse a few years back. The nose cone was cracked probably due to it being dropped.</p> <p>The following day, I got a response from Chris. There were no spare structural parts available but he would escalate the request to his national buyer, Rob Reid, who deals with the Black & Decker agents. Maybe there was a spare cone lying around which they could let me have. Rob, in turn, escalated the request to Black & Decker the following day.</p> <p>A week went by without any response from Black & Decker. I sent Chris an e-mail thanking him for trying but that judging from the lack of response from B&D, I assumed that they could not help.</p> <p>As far as I was concerned, that was it.</p> <p>But Chris persisted and contacted B&D again that same day.</p> <p>To cut a long story short.</p> <p>Black & Decker eventually found a nose cone which they offered to courier to my address in Port Elizabeth.</p> <p>Four weeks later I still had not received the part and once again e-mailed Chris to give him an update and to thank him for his persistence but as this was turning into a major complication, I asked him not to worry as I had given up on the promised Black & Decker spare.</p> <p>Naturally Black & Decker responded with the standard excuse: “We could not get hold of you to deliver the part”. I received no voice message, no e-mail, no SMS and no whatsapp messages.</p> <p>But Chris refused to give up. He organised for the part to be delivered to Builders Warehouse in Port Elizabeth where I could pick it up at my convenience.</p> <p>Yesterday, I collected not only a nose cone for my damaged unit but in addition, a brand new out of the box dustbuster.</p> <p>All Free of Charge.</p> <p>All I can say is, WOW!</p>