Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Customer Service

If you purchase something and it malfunctions or breaks how many calls does it usually take to get the company to remedy the problem? Many times they never fix it and you end up with a bad attitude and a broken product.


I found the exception!!! Tyler and Ann bought me a Whirley Pop popcorn maker for Christmas. I was sooooo excited because my old one was REALLY old! I don't remember if it belonged to my great-aunt Sharon or whether she just gave it to my Dad...but after MANY years of use Dad gave it to us. We used it for 7 years and the bottom was so bad that it didn't sit flat on the stovetop! It was time for a new one...so I was very excited when I got one from Tyler and Ann!


The first time I used it the wire stirrer stopped turning the popcorn halfway thru the batch of popcorn! This is a little panicky at the time because you're suddenly afraid you're gonna burn all the popcorn! Mike messed around with it and told me he thought he fixed it. After a few more panicky batches we realized that it was a factory defect.


Monday night I emailed Whirley Pop customer service and told them about my defective popcorn popper. I figured it'd take several emails and calls, maybe a receipt from Tyler and Ann, and then they'd tell me to send the defective lid to them for replacement. I was SHOCKED when I received the following email on Tuesday morning:


Hi, I do apologize for this inconvenience to you. I will be sending you a complete new lid assembly to you. Please dispose of the defective lid, but do keep the pan. You should receive your lid within the next 5 to 7 business days.

Thank you.

Natalie Frew
Customer Service
Wabash Valley Farms
800/270-2705
www.popcornpopper.com


WOW! Now that's taking care of your customers!!!

7 comments:

suzspeaks said...

That is impressive! Yea for Whirly Pop. I've been wanting something like that...I think I've found it!!

Rebecca said...

Good to see that there's good customer service somewhere...I'm about to battle it out with ATT in a few minutes. Thanks for the info about Target. I've heard that they also have a $150 return max from your registry. And...why do people buy you stuff and then NOT give you the receipt?!?

Ledbetter Fam said...

Wow! That is great. Thank you for sharing. I like it when people share positive things about companies. I think we sometimes forget that if we can focus on the negative things we ought to be just as willing to share the good things. Thank you, Staci. I'm glad that you got that plug in for Whirly Pop.
JB

Anonymous said...

I wonder if any of your friends still think of it as "Hastings Popcorn" when it comes off of the stove instead of out of the microwave.

Mom

Anonymous said...

Your experience reminds me of mine with Wearever cookware. We bought a set soon after we married. After about 10 years, the handles began to crack and break off. I contacted Wearever and they said to keep the lids, throw away the pans, and they would be sending me a new set and they did at no charge even for shipping. They were still good when Ginger married (I had my mother's Saladmaster stainless steel set then) so I gave the sauce pans to Ginger as she did not have any cookwear. I kept the roaster pan (the one I cook roasts in all the time).

Jana Kay said...

Hi Staci! In answer to your question on my blog...Travis is the Director of Training for a petroleum engineer company. He is one of the head men at this small company. He also has some representation out in LA for a screenplay that he wrote. He is working on a new one right now too! He has a small company called Scheduling Direct with a friend of his also. This company is web based. It is an online scheduling solution for any business. It is pretty cool! So, that is what he is up to now.

Rebecca said...

I actually only had to scrape up the snow in the immediate area to make that snowman...can you believe it?!?

I have had Jude for almost 7 years. He actually turns 7 next month, but I didn't get him until he was about 4 months old. He's 1/2 huskey, 1/2 yellow lab.