In the past I have ranted about examples of poor customer service, such as the iPhone 3G launch by Apple, or the exclusive selection of AT&T as the iPhone carrier by Apple. I thought it only fair to point out an example of excellent customer service I experienced today at Les Schwab.
With all the snow we have had in the Seattle area in the past week, snow chains are almost a necessity. In anticipation of the storms, I purchased chains for each of our cars. Since chains were in short supply, I had to visit more than one store to find the correct sizes for each car. I ended up at a very busy Les Schwab store in Redmond, but was greeted within a few seconds of entering the store and after just a couple of minutes had a brand new set of chains.
Well, the chains worked very well for a couple of days, but after repeatedly putting them on and taking them off, the rubber connector for the chain tightener snapped. Undoubtedly, I was pulling too hard on the connector when it snapped. To me it is obvious the part is under-engineered and therefore prone to breaking. In fact, for my second car, they sold me a slightly different version with a much improved rubber connector attached to the chain tightener. I decided to take the chains back to Les Schwab to see about a refund or replacement.
Arriving at the store, I was again surprised at how busy the store was, but in less than 15 seconds, I was being helped by en employee at the counter. After listening to my complaint about the poort design of the chains, the Les Schwab employee offered to immediately repair the chains. He left the counter to go find a replacement connector. As my son and I stood at the counter waiting, in the space of no more than 3 minutes, we were asked by 7 Schwab employees if we had been helped or if we needed anything while we were waiting. After about 3 minutes, he returned to the counter and informed me he was having trouble locating a replacement part, and so I would not have to wait any longer, he would simply swap the chains for a brand new set. I was amazed.
It is a testament to Les Scwab (died in 2007), and the current Les Schwab management, that every employee understands the importance of the customer and ensuring a positive customer experience.
I imagine that Les Schwab will weather (pun intended) the current economic downturn better than many of their competitors because of their relentless focus on the customer.
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