Customer Service At Its Best – Thanks SmugMug.
The other day I wrote about different ways I had wasted money in 2007 and how one of the ways was that I was charged for another year of photo storage by SmugMug.com…even though I had not used the account in 8 months or so. I had forgotten I even had the account – until I was charged for another year. It was my fault as I should have been paying more attention to my open accounts, and I was resigned to the fact that I had to pay the $29.95 for another year even though I don’t use them anymore.
But then came a comment by Andy Williams from SmugMug, left on that post I mentioned above. He wanted to refund my money, even though the terms of service automatically renew each year. So I wrote to the email address he mentioned, and sure enough he emailed me back and told me a check was in the mail for the $29.95.
Andy did not have to do that – he did not have to leave a comment or promise me a refund at all. But that is what sets a company like SmugMug apart from other companies; they realized that just by giving someone back their money it would go a long way towards good will, which it has. If only more companies were aware of their actions when dealing with new customers, existing customers or previous customers…it would make a world of difference in helping us consumers choose which companies to do business with. So thank you SmugMug!
Another fellow personal finance blogger who has had a good customer service experience lately is FiveCentNickel, who had a great experience with his local burger joint. Other companies, read this post as well – this is how we like to be treated!
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Isn’t it nice when something like this happens? If only more companies put their customers in a higher priority. Cheers to SmugMug.
I had a similar experience with Tom’s of Maine. (And yes, I realize that their products aren’t cheap, but it’s one of my indulgences.) But when I encountered issues with one of the fragrances, Tom’s stood by their refund policy and sent me a check (including tax) with a generous sample of soap.
But unfortunately, they misspelled my name on the check. I called after hours and left a voicemail, half expecting a non-response. The next morning I received a voicemail from them apologizing for the mistake and an assurance that a new check was in the mail. It arrived a few days later.
They were friendly and polite throughout the process and apologized when the mistake arose. I miss customer service like this!
That’s pretty cool Clare – I miss service like this too, I hope companies one day start to realize how important it is!
Definitely a nice job by Smugmug, always good to have someone else to file the in the “good guys” department. Now what will you blow the big thirty buck windfall on?
Maybe a subscription to Smugmug?
And now that I read this, I will consider doing business with them in the future. I’m sure others think the same thing. Sure they didn’t have to give you $30 back, but because they did, they likely bought themselves some new business. They’ll probably find that the $30 was very well spent.
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