Customer Service

Nine days ago, I made a post where I cursed my foolishness when I ended up washing (and thus destroying) a Bookmans credit slip, thus being out $45. All that was left were a few small scrappy pieces of orange paper.
Of course, this was completely my fault, and I completely understand when one of the staff at the local store said “Well, without the amount actually printed on the small bits of papercredit slip, we can’t replace it.” If I were in their position, I’d probably do the same — I’d be concerned about frauds and liars.
Imagine my surprise when a few days later, the self-described Web Monkey at Bookmans posts a comment asking for my address, and saying she has something to send me. After doing some basic checking to ensure she was, in fact, a Bookmans employee, I provided my address. Today, I received her envelope: it contained a $50 (!) credit slip (with a handwritten note on it saying “Warning: not laundry proof!”) and a few bumper stickers.
Now, over the years, I’ve dealt with good and bad customer service. Some have offered what I would consider to be excellent customer service, while others have offered customer “service” in much the same way that a bull “services” a cow. Bookmans just blew them all out of the water. Not only did they proactively seek out my issue (when I called to ask, I had done so without giving my name or number, the only record of the question was here on the blog), but they took my word on the amount I had accidentally destroyed, and even gave me $5 more. They did all this even though I was completely to blame, and I didn’t expect even the slightest bit of reimbursement for my own foolishness.
Never have I seen customer service quite so incredible. Truly, my hat is off to them.
They even have a highly competent Web Monkey, who evidently regularly reviews her server logs. Always a good thing. (Hey Heather, if you’re reading this, there’s a new version of Google Analytics code that you should replace the existing urchin.js with. Just FYI.)
If I wasn’t already a loyal Bookmans customer (both for their excellent prices, selection, locations, and people, but also for their unwavering support and defense of the First Amendment), I would certainly have been converted as of today.
At the risk of sounding like some sort of commercial shill (which I most certainly am not), if you’re in an area with a nearby Bookmans, I strongly encourage you to check them out.