I’m so impressed when a company gives great service. It is the sad state of affairs these days that most companies, large or small, are either mediocre or terrible at servicing their existing customers. Case in point: I wanted to add HBO to my existing Comcast Cable service. I logged in to Comcast.com, found the “add service” link (after much searching), and clicked it – only to be directed to the “Welcome new Comcast customer – what is your address so we can see if we offer service in your area?” – what a wasted opportunity.
This post, however, is about the fantastic service I just received from Blundstone, makers of distinctive leather boots that are part of the Australian national uniform (no, there isn’t really a national uniform in Australia, but so many people wear Blundstones that you’d assume there is!). My lovely wife Angela bought me a pair of Blundstones on a previous visit to Australia, and I’ve been wearing them a lot in the recent cold and wet weather. After only a few weeks of wear, the soles started to separate from the uppers, and it became apparent that there had been a manufacturing defect.
I exchanged a few emails with Blundstone’s Australian headquarters (because they were purchased there, not here in the USA), and they just informed me that they would send me a brand new pair! This is especially amazing because based on the photos of the disintegrating boot soles that I sent them, Blundstone determined that the boots had been manufactured in 2001 – we bought them only a couple years ago, and apparently they’d gotten stuck somewhere in the distribution channel. This long period of storage was what caused them to fail so quickly, yet Blundstone HQ didn’t tell me “tough luck, next time don’t buy old boots” – instead they said “yeah, someone screwed-up along the way, but we’ll make things right with” – awesome!
So, in this world of nearly universal crappy service, Blundstone is a rare company that really takes care of their customers.
