Want to win an autographed copy of the Outstanding! book? See below!
An email came to us that you should only read if you love outstanding customer service stories. Enjoy!
John,
I love the QBQ! book and its message. Whenever I experience a moment of pure personal accountability as a paying customer, I think, These people really understand their own role in this whole thing!
Well, it happened again.
Maui Jim is a maker of great products, namely sunglasses. I’m a big fan. My favorite pair had a little hiccup when a tiny nut broke off of a tiny screw, so I contacted them.
Below is my email to them, a result of the whole experience. I hope you share it with your followers, because this is exactly how an organization should be run!
Carey
———————
I have owned a beloved pair of Lahaina sunglasses for more than 5 years. They are just PERFECT!
I sent them back to you to replace the small nut that secured the nosepiece to the lens. Let me tell you the many reasons I’m so happy with your company right now:
1. Amazing product. Quality and style get no better! Maui Jim is a brand I trust.
2. When I called, I spoke with a young man who exhibited all the qualities a company dreams about for its employees. Patience, empathy, a positive approach all around, and extensive knowledge of the return/repair process. When I hung up, I felt good because I had all the info I needed to get the repair done—and I trusted your company even more.
3. Your online form gave me clear and complete instructions about what I needed to do, how to do it, and what to expect when I shipped my glasses to you.
4. When you received my shipment, you let me know it had arrived and you were getting on it ASAP.
5. Before you sent my glasses back, you let me know they were coming and when to expect the shipment.
6. After 5+ years of use, the case had started to degrade (cracked interior, loose exterior). When I received my repaired glasses, a new case cradled them like a gift box—at no extra charge!
7. Best of all, a note letting me know that if I had questions or concerns, I could contact the very person (Samantha) who worked on my glasses at a specific phone number! I have never seen that before! I’m definitely going to reach out to her and thank her for her great work.
It is obvious that Maui Jim’s management has placed the customer first in your corporate culture. For this, you have earned a customer for life!
Carey, a customer note like this is incredibly rare! And one that every organization should want to receive. Though the QBQ! book’s message totally applies, what you have described is exactly what we write about in Outstanding! 47 Ways To Make Your Organization Exceptional.
So, a signed copy of Outstanding! is now on its way to you!
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Stories are great teaching tools and your Maui Jim story is … outstanding!
22 Responses
Love reading stories like this! Being in customer service myself, from grocery store clerk, hotel front desk clerk and now in the telecommunications industry, I try to give positive feedback whenever possible. Many people tend to just give negative feedback and I know we love hearing positive comments from our customers!! Great story and thanks for sharing!!
Shari, you’re spot on! Thanks for the thought!
I’m a Nurse with the Department of Veterans Affairs and excellent customer service is one of my pet peeves as a Nurse. I’ve learned that the first person that interacts with that Veteran affects every person after that interacts with that patient. A person can even tell if you are smiling over the phone when you are communicating with them. Customer service is not just when dealing with the exchange of money. But customer service is anytime you are interacting with people in general.
Kim! Um, may I say … AMEN!
I truly enjoyed the story of a GREAT example of providing the BEST customer service possible. Not always does the experience go so well. Sometimes we forget that we not only have external customers but we have internal customers in our organizations. Hearing positive feedback or how we have impacted a customers experience is not expressed enough that is for sure. Not only do we often hear complaints, we tend to forget to treat our internal customers with the same commitment to expectations. I am not sure why we fall short providing great customer service to internal customers (co-workers) but I have an idea that we are spending more time focusing on external customers experience that we loose sight of the internal customer. As most of us do with our family that are the closest to us. We sometimes treat the people that are the closest to us the worse. Anyway, I wanted to express this thought and ask for some feedback and thoughts. We should all strive to provide CS like Maui Jim’s employees were able to display. Way to Go!
Tim, couldn’t agree more. Sometimes we treat neighbors more politely than family! Not good! Thanks for sharing!
Feel good customer service stories are so nice to receive!! Yay!
Better than Red Bull, reading this at work and could not wait for the next phone call to come in, I wanted someone this excited about my service.
Susan, not much makes me laugh – but you just did! Thanks!
It’s always nice to know that customer service is alive a well, because it often seems like a dying art. In the process of writing a similarly glowing letter myself for a sales representative and service engineer who have recently gone so very above and beyond to fix errors made by their third party vendor. I want their upper management to know what a difference they have made!
Makes me want to buy a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses! That’s even after I enjoyed the Maui Jim basketball tournament they sponsored recently which I enjoyed watching on TV. Where can I buy a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses – online only, or in a retail store?
Julie, thanks. I found stores by going online … I suspect you can too. Be good!
I too have experienced the same Outstandig service Carey received from Maui Jim! There are many lessons to be learned from this company.
Good to know, John! Thanks!
Great customer service story! I don’t directly work with the customers, but I support our customer service team. I do what I can to help them give outstanding service.
Robb, thanks for commenting. Appreciate it!
Stories like this get me PUMPED! I am a service “nerd” and love stories like this. I manage a hotel and I read from QBQ regularly at our team huddles.
Mike, thanks for being such a loyal supporter of and believer in QBQ!
I absolutely loved this story…from beginning to end, the appropriate steps were in place, and, best of all, the customer was HAPPY WITH THE OUTCOME. That’s truly what it’s all about. Thanks for sharing.
Barbara! Thanks for the kind words. It is a fun story, for sure! Be good!
So it may be weird to do this, but I will anyway. I am the Director of Customer Care at Maui Jim and we received this feedback from Carey and it really struck a chord with myself and my team. We do strive to have world class customer service, and to take great care of every situation and individual we interact with. In that effort we do receive fan mail somewhat regularly, but the values which Carey noticed in my team are some of the more subtle skills which we are focused on. So thank you for the recognition and thank you for promoting this behavior in others. As a manager I love the praise for my team, and as a consumer I love that there are other companies out there striving to rejuvenate customer service.
Preston, thanks! So glad this story found its way back to the source! Wonderful!
Thanks for practicing QBQ! even if you’ve never heard of the QBQ! book. Or our Outstanding! book!
Happy to send you a couple!