Customer Service

Ever notice how customer service has gone in the toilet?  Is it because we are so plugged into our computers?  Has the digital age made us forget how to deal with each other?  Buy it online, return it online, review it online...
I have been a huge proponent of customer service to the nth degree.  I have been involved in customer service from multiple facets.  
I have had the distinct opportunity to have worked with customers in their homes.  Not  as a salesperson, but the contractor doing the physical work.  People have a love for their home and it was very important for me to make them comfortable with what was going to happen.  Sometimes this did not agree with what they had been told prior.  I walked them through it and helped them to understand why it was going to be a certain way.  This was usually a comfort to them.
 I spent about 5 years in the service department of an HVAC company, as a CSR/dispatcher.  Let me tell you when people don't have heat or cooling, they are very irritable. 
I have  always done the best I can to please the customer.  I don't feel, for the most part, this rings true in everyone.
I just had a very pleasant experience with a store that I blogged about here.  The store was Sur la Table, in Seattle.  The service in question was the purchase of a Sauté pan.  I should have noticed the box looked open before I left the store, but didn't.  The pan and lid had a couple of light scratches.  It is stainless and has a 30 year warranty.  We  use stainless utensils in the pan, and has left several light scratches inside already (normal for a stainless pan).  So this wasn't a big deal. 
We e-mailed the store, and told them what happened.  They said to bring it back and they would give us new one and take 10% off the price (their response was very prompt, as well).  We explained that we live almost an hour and a half away, and the inconvenience was not worth it.  They told us they would credit the card we used to make the purchase.  This is all site unseen, mind you.
This was not the first purchase made at this store, nor will it be the last.  Hooray for customer service!
Anyway, enough rambling for today, tomorrow is just a short sleep away...