Is anything as powerful as great customer service?
The other day, I hopped on the One Step Ahead website to order a set of My First Touch and Feel Picture Cards for my son. (I love you DK!) They were running a deal for those who purchased 2 sets, so I got suckered in and did so: one First Words set, one Farm set, and charge it please thank you very much.
Or so I thought.
When my package arrived the following week, I opened it to find 2 boxes of first words. Not a farmer in site. Oops.
So back to the One St
So back to the One Step Ahead website I go, egg on face and all. Here’s a paraphrase of how the live chat went down:
Rep: Roll automatic “hello how are you what can I do for you” text.
Me: I could have sworn I knew how to work a website, but guess what just came in the mail. And here’s the thing: I’m irritated at the very thought of paying for shipping here, there, and here again – just to get what I meant to order in the first place. Is there anything I can do?
Rep: Let me check your order.
Brief pause
Rep: I’m showing that you ordered what you got. But here’s what I can do as a courtesy: I’ll go ahead and send you the farm-tastic cards you dreamed of, and we’ll simply ask that you donate your superfluous box of cards to a good cause.
Me: Seriously?
Rep: Seriously.
Me (out loud to my sister, father, mother, and niece, who were all standing nearby, and subsequently to pretty much every person I’ve spoken with sense, including the vast wide net of the blogosphere): Listen to what my new favorite company of all time just did!
Ladies and gentlemen, the most valuable PR currency on earth is positive word of mouth. And you can’t buy it for any price. You’ve got to earn it. And One Step Ahead just showed us how.
PS The cards are on their way to The American School for Women and Children, one of my mom’s favorite charities back in Ohio. And I’m looking for ways to pay it forward all over the place. Who’s up next?