service additions and update (lyn)

So in my imagined role of consumer response evaluator, I've added a couple more.

BED, BATH & BEYOND

The Problem

Sometime in the last two years I purchased a small Oxo salad spinner from Bed, Bath and Beyond..  I love this little gadget.  It’s a much better design than the one I owned years ago where you had to pull a string to get your lettuce to spin.  So the other day I was making a salad and the push mechanism on the spinner broke.  I thought I’d call Oxo to see if they offered a new top.  I considered just ordering one from Amazon.  But then I thought, why not try BBB?

The Solution

• I call BBB and explain the problem:  I have a broken salad spinner that I bought sometime in the past two years from them, and I don’t have a receipt or any other documentation to confirm this and of course I have no idea what I paid for it.
• They tell me I can bring it in and they will give me a store credit or I can replace it.
• I go to the store with my unboxed salad spinner.
• The Customer Service rep replaces it with the ease of  someone who handles this kind of problem many times daily.  No questions, No explanations.  No lengthy rationales.  No arguments. Nothing!

The Rating
Highest possible.  They must have trained with Zappos.

DUANE READE

The Problem

A few weeks ago I bought Colgate Pro-Clinical Daily Whitening Gel.  I am pretty loyal to Crest, but Colgate was on sale for $2.99, so I bought four tubes. I bring them home and open one with difficulty.  The cap is impossible to get off, and when I finally do, the turquoise gel squirts all over the sink and onto my clothes.  Four times a day the cap comes off and four times a day more toothpaste oozes onto the counter and sink.  It’s always a mess in my bathroom.  After going through one and half tubes, I finally decide to toss the remaining two.  Or better, I’ll try returning them.  I know it’ll be a big battle, but figure it’s worth a try.

The Solution

• I go to Duane Reade, without a sales receipt or any other proof of purchase.
• I begin to explain my problem to the cashier manager when he cuts me off by holding up his hand (palm facing out) to indicate STOP and says, “Ma’am, if for any reason you are not satisfied with a product here, we’ll take it back.”
• I buy four cans of gel shaving cream for Alexander and end up getting $2.16 back.

The Rating
Maybe it was Duane Reade who trained Zappos?

LE CREUSET UPDATE

So, was it worth:

• the $38.40 to return the pieces (on December 8^{tth) ?}
• the wait (almost 6 weeks to get the replacements, not the 2 to 4 weeks as originally promised)?
• the difficulty reaching Le Creuset to follow up on the status (at least five unanswered calls and emails over the course of two weeks)?

My two new Le Creuset pieces arrive today.  Brand spanking new.  The third piece is on backorder and will ship when available. 

Was it worth it?  Absolutely!