Perfect Service

So the company I work as a contractor for puts a huge amount of importance on giving the consumer Perfect Service. Not just the consumer but fellow associates within the company as well. Example: When I have technical issues with my computer and I call our tech support I almost always get great help. Great help = Perfect Service. They have regular summits celebrating our dedication to perfect service. They encourage associates to hold up other associates who give Perfect Service. Its an awesome culture to work in.

It's not hard to give Perfect Service. It's awesome to get Perfect Service. But it is hard to find Perfect Service.

Most of my life has been dedicated to giving perfect service. As a server I strove to give the best customer service I could, with the result that by the time I left the restaurant I worked for through college 90% of the tables I got each time I worked were filled by regular customers who came in and asked for me specifically and I never made less that 25% in tips. When I worked for doctors offices to start my career I tried to show our patients that I genuinely cared about their problems and did everything I could to ensure they were able to see the doctors as quickly as possible. At my current place of employment I have been lucky and blessed enough to have had multiple phone calls placed, email after email sent, no less than three bouquets of flowers delivered and I can't walk through the halls of our corporate headquarters without being stopped by people who know me.

I love my job. I love where I work. I love going to work in the mornings and I love doing the things I do to help the people I help, which results in helping the consumer get the best experience possible. Perfect Service begets Perfect Service. It's truly rewarding.

But the best thing about Perfect Service is getting it yourself. And I have to tell you, blog reading people...Amazon's customer service has always delivered Perfect Service to me every time I've called them. I think I shared the story of how I got my first Kindle with you already, and I even said that it died a tragic and horrible death and gave its life to save mine. I didn't exaggerate. This is the story:

I was sitting outside reading a few years ago during the summer, barefoot, and when I got up to come inside I stepped on a pebble on the threshold of our back door. Three steps inside our back door is the door to our unfinished basement. Wood steps ending in a concrete floor would not have been forgiving to my noggin and I'm positive that had my dear departed Kindle not jumped out of my hand to allow me to catch myself on the door lintel before falling down the stairs I'd have been concussed at the least and dead at the worst.

When darling Kindle jumped to save me, it flew across my kitchen, hit the stove and tumbled face down on our ceramic tile floor (just realized we have a lot of hard surfaces in our house) which resulted in the screen breaking, which resulted in my anguished wail as I curled into the fetal position on the floor while cradling my dear, darling, life saving Kindle. And for those of you who think I'm kidding about any of this...let me assure you I'm not.

I called Amazon to find out if by any slim miracle Kindle was still under warranty even though I purchased it used. Unfortunately their answer was no, but they were willing to offer me a Kindle 2 (brand new) for $80. Knowing that the Kindle 3G Keyboard was due out in 3 months I declined but I was impressed with the offer. Perfect Service.

When the Kindle 3G Keyboard came out Husband-Man bought me one for Christmas and I was delighted. Raul (I named it Raul. The first Kindle was simply known as Kindle) and I were inseparable. Husband-Man had also bought the cool, non-lighted case at Best Buy for me so that I would have protection for Raul. He knows the wants and needs of his woman, my Husband-Man does. About three weeks after I got Raul, I started noticing that I'd be reading a book and he would just randomly reboot. Not cool! I called Kindle customer service and they immediately asked if I had the non-lighted case. I answered yes and they informed me that there was a defect in the design that caused the battery of my Kindle to occasionally be shocked by the plastic inserts that kept the Kindle locked into the case and offered to credit my account $60 to allow me to purchase the lighted version of the same case...on them. Perfect Service.

Then the following year the Kindle Fire was introduced. Husband-Man, again, knowing his wife's deepest, darkest desires, knew after he was informed by three of our best friends, that I wanted it, needed it and HAD to have it. I got it for Hannukah. Recently I began having trouble with it holding a charge and called Amazon to report the issue and see if there was a fix. They offered me a couple alternatives to try to rectify the problem and we thought it was fixed. Sadly it wasn't.

Today I was 96% of the way through the book I am planning to review for you when all of a sudden, without warning Chuck Norris (the Kindle Fire) died...forever. I called Amazon and they walked me through a few possible fixes and we quickly determined that Chuck Norris was DOA. The rep then sadly informed me that my Kindle was outside of the one year replacement warranty and that Husband-Man hadn't purchased the extended warranty. I was devastated. How could Husband-Man have betrayed me this way?!?!? What was I going to do without Chuck Norris. I was ready to cry, sob and go out and purchase a replacement with Husband-Man's bank card...

Until...the customer service rep said, "But I see here a note in your account saying that you called before the warranty was up to report a similar issue and so I'm going to assume that this was the beginning of the problem and I'm going to make an exception to the warranty rule. You'll have a new Kindle Fire within a few days. May I recommend not naming it Chuck Norris...he apparently doesn't like that."

Once again...PERFECT SERVICE and some humour too!

This is why I am completely devoted to the Amazon brand. They really take great care of their customer. Customer service is everything in my eyes. I'll gladly pay more for a product when I know its backed by great customer service. Great customer service builds life long loyalty and loyalty breeds recommendations. Treat your customers and clients the way you would want to be treated and you can never go wrong.