Best Companies You've Found

I think the way a company deals with its employees is a good indicator of how they value every person and not just the executives who make the big bucks. That's why you see people loving places like Costco and hating places like WalMart.

Smaller, local companies often give the best service because they live and work in the same community as you do. The smaller banks have much lower fees and much more human customer service than the mega-banks, for example. When so many people do their business on line, they are saying they value price and speed over problem resolution and individual attention. So while shopping at Amazon or anyone else on line seems convenient, you pay for it in the end if you have a problem. And you may be supporting someone who values profits over any individual customer.

You probably saw the news stories on the guy who spent 20 minutes on the phone trying to cancel his cable service and getting nothing but arguments? That's because the guy on the phone is paid according to how many cancellations he can avert. I think it was Comcast but I've had horrible and similar experiences with Verizon - they suck you in with a low price, then gradually raise prices or decrease service, then when you complain they fight you for a while, and eventually give you a discount. What if they just made their prices and service fair to begin with?

So for me, the few dollars more I spend with a smaller, local company is more than restored when that money stays in my community, and when the staff is paid a living wage and can put more money back into the community.

I think a big part of it depends on the specific store...
For example, I used to work at a company. The store I was at was highly rated for customer satisfaction. Our manager seriously made the customers the first priority. Even when the customer was the O. in the wrong, and we didn't technically have to appease them he would go the extra mile, and take small hits to ensure long-term satisfaction. (Do refunds after the time was up, refunds without receipts, refund customer-damaged merchandise, we even had competitor's numbers listed by our phones, so that if we didn't carry what the customer needed we could find out if a different store did.) Every couple of months, he would buy the employees pizza/subs/whatever and we would have a meeting about customer service, and what we could do to ensure the best experience possible at our store. During the worst of the economic crash, our store stayed open when literally every other store (except O.) of the same type went out of business in our city, as well as the surrounding areas. We actually wound up expanding the store... The company bought a building and renovated it, more than tripling the size of our previous store.

Less than a year after that I moved across the country. The company I worked for had a store in the area I was moving to, so I transferred. The manager at that store would nitpick the slightest detail of customer's problems. We would get in trouble if we spent too much time talking to the customers, and the general atmosphere of he store was not welcoming at all. We were required to PUSH the merchandise we were up selling as well as memberships (not just suggest, as we did at the previous store.) we were actually penalized if we didn't meet our quotas for suggested sales, which made customers feel uncomfortable during checkout. It didn't surprise me in the least when that store location was shut down because it couldn't make a profit. :/

So, location can play a huge part. :)

It can also depend on who you talk to... When I got out of the military, I was using Sprint for my phone. Well, the area I moved to didn't have service; I would have to drive 30 minutes to get a signal. When I called customer service, the guy I talked to told me I would have to pay a huge cancelation fee to get out of the 6 months left in my contract, along with a list of other fees. (About $350 total...) even though my area was supposed to have service. I made SURE of that before I signed the contract, because it knew where I would be living and I knew I would be discharging before the contract was up. The customer service rep was extremely demeaning toward me, and was acting like it was such a nuisance to have to talk to me, and practically called me a liar for claiming that I had been told I would have service. I didn't settle anything with him, and called back a few days later. The lady I talked to this time was very understanding of the situation, and processed my cancelation very quickly for free. A few weeks later, I got a $200 check from them refunding the time I had been paying for but unable to use my phone.

My son had a really good experience with home depot this week. He and his wife bought there first home. They closed yesterday. They rented a truck from home depot. It was a pensky truck. The paperwork was filled out wrong. When the truck was returned the man on duty caught it and gave my son a $400 refund. My son was very appreciative and you can bet it will be remembered.

Your (not you literally) attitude can determine a lot of how you're treated by a business. Regardless of their policy.
Best Buy has always gone above and beyond for us.
Lowes is another with great customer service.

Costco! You can never go wrong with Costco. They have the best customer service.

My car mechanic is the best!! Earlier this year I had a problem getting my car smogged because the check engine light had been on intermittently for several years. It's a very long story, but after having spent several hundred dollars and weeks of dealing with the Toyota dealership, he ended up doing about $300-400 worth of work that he would not let me pay for. He and his team are the best! Now that is customer service!

Nordstrom, Costco, Trader Joe's and Apple.

I love Lee Valley Tools for their variety and value. Very good customer service, but the shipping can take a few days longer than other mail-order companies I've used. For me, that's never been a problem.

But I want to RAVE about an experience my husb and I had yesterday at our local county offices, where we went to do a property search for my mother. A friendly clerk came out from behind her counter to show us how to use a computer set up for public use. She said she'd have to charge us a few dollars "if" she did the search for us, but she essentially did the search for us – told us what search terms to enter, which links to click. We were done in 5 minutes, but probably would have needed half an hour to figure it all out ourselves. And no charge. Sweeeeet!

I have been very pleased with Trader Joe's. They have very helpful employees with great attitudes. When I made a return, they were very helpful and went out of their way to make me happy. I am usually very pleased with Costco (especially vs. Sam's), but I have a problem with O. of their home installment vendors and they don't seem to be stepping up to help. We recently had a bad experience with Southwest Airlines (misrouted), and their gate agent really stepped up to help. A letter to their customer service department was also handled with respect and an attitude of admitting the problem, apologizing and trying to make up for the situation. I do agree that I think that it does depend on the local management - I have found differences in the customer service levels in Target & Kohl's.

I agree on Bed, Bath and Beyond; their coupon policy is crazy good and every single employee seems to adhere to it and know it. Staffers also seem to know the stock in their own store well and can locate things quickly -- not true of all retailers!

Also just had a very good experience with a hotel, the Four Points By Sheraton, NYC Manhattan Chelsea location. Very engaged staff, extremely concerned with an issue in our room, took my cell number to call me while we were out sightseeing to let me know the issue had been fixed. They also e-mailed me, before our stay, when I had a question, and their reply was very fast and helpful. So before I even got there I had a good impression. Not a "product or service" answer, but the hospitality industry can be full of crummy service and crummy "product" (rooms) so this was a very nice change.

I understand that L.L. Bean will take back any product, any time, for any reason -- even years after you bought it, even if you, yourself, messed it up or damaged it or stained it. My friend swears they will replace the item, with no questions asked. She is a huge fan of that policy.

i-robot has been wonderful about replacing at no cost their scooba/ roomba. little to no questions asked, a new O. shipped to me, and return postage for the defective unit.

on the flip side, i'd really much rather have a high priced robot that worked and worked well.

best,
F. B.

Zappos!! and I had a GREAT rep helping me at Plimseur Approach (foreign language CDs) today about a bunch of products I ordered but needed to return..not only did she go above and beyond helping me extend trials and apply payments to different things and return others..she stayed calm and cheerful. I have a few good local mom and pops too-although SOME mom and pops are TERRIBLE near me and it's like they don't even feel they're really running a business...like salons and stuff... Target has been pretty helpful at times and so has Lowe's, but when companies are MASSIVE I assume they have "room" to solve problems..So far I'm pleased with Wegman's which I just started using.

I'm glad you didn't ask who has bad customer service because this box would be tooooo small. World's Worst: Dish Network.

I have been extremely pleased with Sony. Our LCD/LED TV was only 16 mos old when the picture started going out. Even though it had a warranty for 18 mos, I was expecting to go through some serious wrangling to get Sony to cover the fix. Surprisingly, I called, explained the problem, gave the serial number, and a brand new TV showed up 3 days later. They took the old O. away, and restarted our warranty. I couldn't believe it. It was really that easy, and they were extremely apologetic.
It was a far cry from Samsung. Who refused to fix our TV prior to this O., even though there was a defect they knew about. I got so much lip service from Samsung, and in the end, they left us high and dry with a huge piece of junk sitting in our living room. I will never buy another Samsung product again just because of their shady tactics and horrible customer service.
Sony may be a little more pricey than companies like Samsung, but in the end, you get exactly what you pay for.

Excellent customer service: Nordstrom, Costco and AirTran (and I usually hate airlines).

Horrible customer service: Sony - it is virtually impossible to speak with a person (at all), let alone a person with the authority to declare a computer a lemon. I will NEVER purchase another Sony product.

I have never had a problem with any company I have dealt with. I don't know if it is how I pick companies or how I deal with them.

I don't think it is all a company's fault when people get bad customer service. I know when I worked with the public it was everything in my power not to snap. People are so rude, so mean, and the ones that are tend to have not been wronged but want something for nothing.

Anyway I approach customer service exactly how was most effective when I worked on the other side of the counter and people seem to always be reasonable. Of course I am reasonable so maybe that is why I see the service as good.

For me, ya know to answer the actual question, I love dealing with Costco. For our O. year anniversary we bought an espresso machine as a gift to each other. About six months later it started shutting down like it had no water. I called the customer service line and they sent packaging to mail it back, they would fix it, take about a month. Before I shipped it off I asked Costco if they had any in house warranty. Yup, if they have it in stock they will just exchange it. So I ran home, boxed it up, brought it in, had a new O. that day!! Love Costco!

I have always liked Kohls for their customer service. When I return merchandise, the sales staff never asks why I am returning it and if I forget to bring my 15% coupon, they still give me a discount. I bought a pricey hair straightener from Kohls and when it broke seven months later, they issued me a full credit. Now, I also am an MVP who spends thousands on my Kohls credit card yearly, so that may have something to do with how they treat me. Also, there is always a salesperson on the floor if I need assistance and most of the time, the cashiers are cordial. The other retailer that I prefer is Target. They have great customer service in comparison to their competitors.

Two popped right up for me--Keurig and Fredrix Art Canvases. Received excellent customer service from both when I had a problem with a product.

I agree with Trader Joe's and Apple. Super considerate.

Bed, Bath and Beyond accepted my return without a receipt, no questions asked! I was stunned. And they have helped me with purchases.

And Proflowers.com truly stands behind their flowers, replacing any you are unhappy with. They also know their product and can recommend the perfect type of flower for your purchase.

Our local Staples is wonderful. Others not as much. I stay local.

Great question. I hope these companies realize that they will always get my business.

I can't really point out a company. I find it just depends on the location. For instance, I have a favorite Aldi, Walmart, Walgreens & Homeland that I go to on a regular basis, where the employees are nice and helpful. I've been to other locations for each of those companies where the customer service is terrible.

Our fridge died recently and we had to get a new O.. The hubster wanted to look at Lowe's. I expected to see some kid working in appliances who didn't know anything and didn't want to be there, but the guy who helped us was actually really knowledgeable about all the units they had for sale and was also really patient with all our questions. It was a great experience.

The biggest thing I've had to return lately has been a sun oven from Global Sun Ovens. They were very accommodating and replaced the oven we bought in short order.

Great customer service? Comes from YOUR (you the customer, not just you) attitude as well, in my opinion. I believe that if you go in with a positive attitude and a smile on your face - and yes - even talking to people on the phone with a smile makes a difference.

Companies that I've never had a problem with:

Kohl's - bought a purse last year - the strap broke two months later - maybe not even that long - took it in (didn't have my receipt) and they replaced it NO QUESTIONS asked.

Went shopping there recently on vacation - found a pair of shoes that I LOVED - didn't have them in my size. An employee came and asked if I needed help - said yes - told him what I needed - he called other stores and got the shoe for me.

Zappos - great way to buy shoes!! Never had a problem returning or getting an item.

Costco - the lines can be RIDICULOUS - however - I've never had bad service.

Bed Bath and Beyond - while pushing a cart through their isles can be a nightmare - since they have soo much stuff - but when I need help? There's someone there. I tried to use my text message discount - it was NOT coming up - they gave it to me any way and it was a "save 15%" coupon.

Lord & Taylor - bought a purse on-line - didn't read that it was a cross-body purse and for me? I can't stand them - took it in to the store and had my money back that day.

I love Costco! When our local O. was torn down and they rebuilt it, expanded, and built a gas station the employees were sent to other stores for the duration until they could come back. They all still remembered us, remember the kids, even bring up things they remember we like. Of the insane amount of people that come into Costco, to actually remember that was amazing! I love Costco policies. Exchanging things is so easy. They stand behind their products.
Trader Joes is another store I love. The staff is so nice, even to the kids. They know what's in the store, are good at offering recipes and ideas which is a cool thing.
I am getting a little tired of some of the staff at Target. I know some of them have been there a while yet they never seem to know what they are doing or where anything is. But...with that said, there are still some that are great. The funny story was on a recent trip to the zoo. A guy was working there and I just could not place why he looked familiar. He remembers us because he works at Target! He's a very nice guy.
O. store I hate with a passion is Best Buy. They never have what you are in there for, the staff is unhelpful, if you can find them at all. Their system where you make your purchase online then pick it up at the store has failed nearly every time we've used it and has actually resulted in multiple charges until they finally fix it and refund all the charges made in error. Nearly every time we've done it they don't actually have the item in store we bought through the online system! Returning anything is worse than pulling your fingernails out. We don't go there unless we have no other choice or there is an exclusive we truly must have.
The other favorite places I have are actually small "mom and pop" places. Our favorite pizza place is amazing!