04.18.08
Above And Beyond Customer Service Experience
Good customer service seems to be lost in this day and age, so when something happens above and beyond, it's worthy of writing about it.
Above And Beyond Customer Service Experience
Some of you may remember the horrible shopping experience I had a couple weeks back when trying to buy an exhaust for my Viper. I ended up buying the catback exhaust, as well as high flow cats from PartsRack…who specializes specifically in Vipers. The owner, Jon, went out of his way in all aspects of the sale to really help me out and make sure I was getting everything I needed.
He kept me up to date, and gave me various options to help reduce costs of shipping. On top of that he gave me a multi-part discount, and threw in an extra little freebie part I had asked for ($40 value). I received a call a day later letting me know the high flow cat I had ordered that he had was actually damaged (didn’t affect the performance), and that he would give me the better/more expensive ones (which cost over $100 more) at no cost if I wanted. While I appreciated the offer, I decided to wait it out because the more expensive ones would give a raspier sound…and wouldn’t make a difference performance wise unless I was pushing out over 650hp.
I received e-mails with tracking numbers, it was pretty much everything I wanted out of an online purchase. The above and beyond experience is when I received an envelope in the mail which included this:
Jon had sent me some freebies, a little Blue/White Dodge Viper keychain, diecast toy, and sticker. This was awesome, considering that’s my actual car! The business card included said “Compliments of JonB at PartsRack”. This is going above and beyond, and while this little package may have cost Jon like $10 or whatever, it will definitely keep me as a customer…and I will recommend him to others. We can see it was enough for me to make a post about it!
While this is not something I would expect every retailer to do, I think it’s definitely something that niche retailers should think about. PartsRack sells parts specifically for Vipers, his business is considered very niche. It’s important to do things like this to stay in-tune with your customers. Sometimes not being a huge retailer, Jon may not be able to offer the best prices, but he knows his stuff and can make sure you are ordering what you need, and you will get taken care of.
Well done Jon! I know I’ve learned something.
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Derek
04/18/2008 6:00 pmThat is very cool! This is a great reminder of how to do business, as you have found a great shop to do business with and the extra effort on their part will reward them many times over.
Scot
04/20/2008 7:34 pmWhen I was doing business on e-bay (selling niche items) I would always include a chinese-style box of chocolate covered fortune cookies.
Even if shipping was delayed or anything else, my customers would always leave exceptional feedback and I think it even actually increased sales.
This is good thinking on his part, he gets it.
Jim
04/24/2008 4:49 amReally? Maybe Partsrack is only compensating for the negative reviews they are receiving. I read some review sites giving negative feedbacks about Partsrack (i.e. delayed delivery, incomplete sets, etc.). I don’t know what to believe anymore.