Customer service

[Donnie]

I am willing to pay a little more if I know the craftsman and get good service. The only way I will deal with someone who does not have good customer service, is if I can't get the product anywhere else. Even then I may just do without. Nothing bothers me more than someone acting like they don't care if they get my business or not!

[ardchoille]

I rank quality quite high on my list of priorities and I'm willing to let customer service slide on rare occasions. Another thing to think about is the fact that many people who have had a bad experience with a vendor will exaggerate the story, so I usually investigate stories of bad customer service (how many others had the same experience? etc) before making a purchase.

[Amoskeag]

"You never know where someone was an hour ago"
This advice was given to me by a friend who was upset by something that happened to her son in scouts. She was very angry but didn't take it out on me because she had had a horrible day and there was no way that I could realize that I just happened to be the last straw. Wow! Being a total knee-jerk reactionary, this floored me! Very good advice!
I voted for the no service-no business option because I feel that politeness should be a part of everyone's life. I'm a performer and customer service is almost completely what I do; no one will hire a crabby musician (at least not a second time). I do think that we owe folks the benefit of the doubt, however. To write off a merchant after one email or phone call seems too harsh and I won't do that. If one turns into many without result I will make my dissatisfaction known and invite all within the sound of my voice to share my boycott.
Steve is right. We live in an age of "instancey" and I, for one, run the risk of being spoiled by it. It's hard to patient when you don't have to be! That is why I shun the big chain stores and pay a dollar more for a can of paint at the local hardware store. I'll probably get five dollars worth of customer service and good advice in the deal.
I ordered an inexpensive acrylic kilt from a company who' service record is legend here. I placed the order on a Friday night and the kilt was on my doorstep the following Wednesday. What really amazed me was the Monday and Tuesday of that week was Christmas Eve and Christmas. How can I argue with that? By the same token if I were to order a custom 8 yrd tank from Scotland I need to be prepared to be patient.
I guess the bottom line is that I like to reward nice people.
Bob