Help Wanted, Help Found

Hines Plumbing ...these guys are like a good (not great) relationship; the end result is satisfying but you might be doing most of the calling! Jack the owner is very upfront about cost which is helpful if you are on a tight budget like we are. We have called them for a number of issues from a leaking sink to a flooding basement. I have had to call a few times to confirm appointment times or even get them to come out but since we have a relationship already I haven't given up and called someone else. Persistence here seems to get me the guy in the end, right? But I'm paying them...wow, lots of joke potential there right? My only true disappointment was when they assessed the front water and sewer lines needed to be replaced they didn't warn us what the yard would look like when they were through. Destroyed. War torn. Embarrassing. Sure, they tried to do a bit with the dirt pile and spread some grass seed after I asked, but they sure aren't landscapers! I al...

Help Wanted: www.borders.com By Heather Curlee Novak with Lee Burdorf, Guest Blogger My friend Lee sent me this story about his experience with Borders Books online: I ordered a book online from Borders.com. I feel badly about their closing the store here and having problems. So, I thought I would give them some business. When you order things online you usually get an instant confirmation by email. When I hadn't received the email confirmation after several hours, I decided to call Borders to see if there was a problem. After sifting through several recorded messages, I got a live human. But he obviously was in a foreign country, probably India.* I could barely understand him and it took forever to explain to him my problem. I was on the phone with him for an agonizing 20- to 30 minutes and he was still unable to find my order. Finally, I asked if I could speak to his Supervisor. A woman came on the line and told me they had my order but for some reason it hadn'...

This story is from my friend Sara from her trip to Germany. This is real "Raving Fan' service. As a matter of fact I do have a Customer Service story. While in Munich earlier this month I stayed at the BAYERISCHER HOF. I slept in the first morning. When I finally got down to the lobby it was beyond the breakfast hours. I asked the Concierge where we might find a coffee at this time of day. He named a coffee house on the town square. As I looked blank he whipped out at map to show me where to go, Then he said "No. It is too complicated. My colleague will show you. Also, as they might be busy at this time, I'll call to get you a table." So he called and his colleague,Tina, took us to the door. I thought she would point us on our way. But NO. She began walking with us, down the street for two blocks, then across a sweet little park, turned right, across this new street and on a few buildings, in the door, into the elevator, up to the "first" floor an...

This customer service experience story is from my friend Dana. She is a web savvy and customer service oriented woman I met eons ago in Chicago who runs "Words To Sweat By" out of San Jose California. Find her funny motivational workout gear here . This is the story in Dana's words: What should have been a quick trip to Sears turned into a two-hour long debacle. We went into the tool section to buy (you guessed it) a tool chest for my DH. He knew what he wanted but also needed to fiddle for a couple of minutes to confirm. After 20 minutes someone finally came to help him, but then once he had decided (10 minutes after that) it took another hour and half to complete a transaction. Because we had started working with one sales person, it appeared we couldn't be helped by another and the one who had helped us kept helping others and telling us "one more minute". When he was finally ready to help us, he took the numbers that we wrote down, but didn'...