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The real deal
By Abbe Miller
Over the holiday season, I was in the market for a new piece of furniture and while inundated by the thousands of different online options, I stumbled upon a small acrylic fabrication shop's Web site that seemingly had exactly what I'd been searching for. Immediately, I picked up the phone to try and get the skinny on ordering it. To my surprise, David Zaborny, the company owner, answered the phone. His friendly tone quickly persuaded me to do business with him. The lack of an annoying automated answering service, prompting me through a thousand different menus was another plus.
As with any substantial purchase, I had a lot of questions to ask and a lot of details to hammer out as I was informed that a certain level of customization could be offered. He wasn't put off in the least by the amount of hand-holding that I would need to finalize the design. So during the next few hours, David and I e-mailed back and forth with questions and answers concerning dimensions and materials, all sprinkled with the occasional commentary on the weather. After nailing down the specs, he said that he'd have someone start working on the piece in the matter of an hour or two and that he expected to have it shipped in two days' time.
Considering his Web site didn't offer a place for remitting payment, I asked him his preferred method. Unlike any transaction that I have ever been involved in, he said, "Why don't you wait until it shows up. I want to be sure that you're happy with the piece before you pay for it." I about fell out of my seat upon hearing the statement. I assumed that his trust came from the confidence he had in his work.
I was right. Less than a week later, an enormous box filled with at least 7 million Styrofoam peanuts arrived at my door. The item inside was exactly what I had hoped for. Before situating it in my apartment, the first thing I wanted to do was get a check in the mail. It's a rare occasion to actually be excited to pay for something.
And just today, a message showed up in my inbox. David had e-mailed to make sure I was pleased with his company's work. I responded by letting him know that I'd never encountered such tremendous customer service or such quality workmanship.
The extension of trust and the care in his work had me thinking about the state of customer service in general. For so many years, people have set customer service on the back burner. It's come to the point where something that should be expected turns out to be just the opposite--the totally unexpected. A company can leave a major impression if even a mild level of customer service is delivered in any way, shape or form.
What do you think?
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