A Tale of Two Companies...
 

I have been battling priceline.com since June 26th, or about two minutes after I discovered a huge error in my itinerary received via e-mail...and about two hours ago I returned from EXPO after a no hassle, no questions exchange on a defective doorlatch purchased about 18 months ago. If you read no further, EXPO appears to really stand behind their products and value their customers, and priceline.com is the worst company I have ever dealt with.

The priceline issue ("Our customer service supervisors don't take customer calls") arises out of a three day rental for which I was billed $373 and billed almost two weeks before I picked up the car, this after I tried to query a clearly inaccurate calculation for the rental rate. ("We don't refund charges--we have screen captures"..(which they won't share)) An 8-page fax to American Express' dispute department is now sitting on somebdy's desk and the proverbial 100 people an unhappy customer will share his experience with is in process.

As concerns EXPO, after taking apart a sticking passageway door latch and discovering a broken internal part, I called EXPO, who were not sure if I was covered under a 1 or a 5 year warrantee. Regardless, the department manger called me back told me to come to the store ("Don't worry about tracking down your receipt") with the defective parts and "pick up a new one at no charge".

Guess which company understands the value of a satisfied customer?

P.S. Priceline sucks (Google that)

Priceline does not have any money. They are going down the tube. Will be filing for ch. 7 at the rate they are going.

You hit the nail on the head. It's all about customer service. I will go out of my way for great customer service. Another fine example of GREAT customer service IMO is Moen. I have placed warranty claims for their fixtures in the past, and they were extremely pleasant to deal with and had the replacement parts on my doorstep within days, no questions asked!

Anyone remember about 5 or 6 years ago when Priceline tried to get into the gasoline business?

The deal was, you'd go on their website, find a station near you, and buy gas. Then you'd go to the station with your receipt, and get your gas. Of course, none of the stations had a clue what was going on, and it was always a huge hassle. I think it lasted about 6 months before they gave it up.

Great customer service? Always the differentiator.

Bought a pair of Bose active headphones several years back, the week that the QC 2 model came out. Last week, on a flight, I noticed that the plastic was broken on one side, and they wouldn't hold their position. Other side was cracked in the same place. Well past the one year warranty. Bose web site had no parts department. Walked into a Bose store to ask about parts. Sales rep looked at them for 20 seconds, and asked if I would be OK with a new replacement set, on the spot, no questions. No receipt, no problem. He asked where I bought them (another province, also a Bose store). He said it wouldn't be in their system, so here is an exchange receipt, please sign here, and sorry for all the inconvenience. Asked me if he could move the battery over so I wouldn't have to buy another.

That is service.

Since we started off with a reminder about telling xx people about bad service experiences, this is me telling all and sundry about good service.

Great story!