It’s always nice when a company manages to exceed your expectations. Customer service is king.
I was on the hunt for an upgrade to my office equipment; I was tired of waiting for my laptop to catch-up to me. So, begin the research.
After reading too many reviews and agonizing between two finalists, a back-to-school sale on my (close) second choice put a deadline on the project. I now needed to pull the trigger in a matter of a couple days if I wanted in on the sale.
My first choice, however, presented a problem. The manufacturer’s website had some inconsistencies with the technical specifications for the model I wanted. One page promised more processing power and capacity while a different page on the same website said it had some more antiquated electronic bits.The model with the better equipment was my first choice; the one without fell outside of my requirements. Compounding matters, third party reviews published about six months ago referenced the impending arrival of the higher-spec unit.
My hunt for the better-performing model in both online and physical retail locations was unfruitful - they all had the lower-spec’d units.
So, I went back to the manufacturer’s website and entered their customer support chatroom. I asked where I could find the top-performer, pointing to the discrepancy on their website.
The answer I was given was the higher-spec model was not available in Canada and there was an error on the Canadian website.
Uhg.
I suggested to the rep they should update their website, closed the chatroom, and then pulled the trigger for an online order on my second choice.
Decision made. Time to move on.
I should have waited.
About 24 hours later, a more senior representative from the manufacturer called me to follow-up and apologize for the error on the website. He also advised he had found a model with the higher processing capacity and could help ensure I got my hands on it.
By this point, I had already taken delivery of my new laptop and was up-and-running. I have no regrets, but have to acknowledge that dedication to customer service. The easy thing to do would have been to let it go, but someone took the extra step to find an answer to my question.
It was a healthy reminder that good customer service can trump other missteps, at least for me.
So, if you’re in the market for a new laptop, I have a recommendation for you…
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