Monday, November 8, 2010

Customer Service is NOT dead! {Shameless Product Plug}

Okay, I know that this is a cooking blog (that has been severely lacking in the cooking, of late!), and not an infomercial, but I had such a GREAT experience with GE customer service the past two weeks, that I felt compelled to share. It is my hope that by generating some great publicity for a company providing superior customer service, other companies will be more inclined to follow suit, placing their customer satisfaction over their profits.

I haven't been shy about my love of Shelby (my GE Profile double oven range), from the day she showed up on my doorstep. But, ours has been a relationship of love and hate. I just LOVED what she was supposed to do for me, but I HATED the fact that she could rarely do it. First, the convection system wasn't working appropriately. No big deal, cute little repair guy came out and replaced the sensor on the spot. Problem solved.

But then, my cakes weren't cooking. 45 minutes later, they'd still be raw inside, but burnt on the outside. Then, when they finally did cook, they sunk in the middle. There is little in life more depressing than making the extra effort to make a cake from scratch, and seeing it fall as soon as you pull it out of the oven. So, the cute little repair man made another trek to my home. It seemed that Shelby was in need of a new control panel. The week before I was scheduled to make 2 pans of Halloween Treats for a party. But, no worries, he told me, it only takes 3 days to have the part shipped, and he could come back out, pronto.

Alas, it was not to be. When I called to check on the status, I was informed that the control panel, Shelby's heart and soul, was backordered! For two WEEKS! When I lamented to the agent on the phone about my troubles, she immediately transferred me to Julie, a fabulous customer service specialist, who searched and searched, trying to locate an extra part somewhere, anywhere, for my beloved Shelby. When she was unable to find a part, and I was beginning to think that all was lost, she uttered six words that shocked, surprised, and delighted me.

"Let's get you a new oven."

Yes, I will let that sink in for a moment. A giant corporation, an oven that was now 5 months old, and well past the 90 day return policy, absolutely no screaming or yelling from this feisty Southern gal, and still, a BRAND SPANKIN' NEW OVEN!

The entire process was wonderful from start to finish. It did take 7 days for the new oven to come in, and I did have to make my Halloween treats without the benefit of an accurate oven thermometer, but just like Julie promised, last week, I had a brand spankin' new oven delivered right to my doorstep. Not only that, but the wonderful delivery agents unhooked my old oven, took it out to the the truck, then completely unwrapped, set up, and installed the new one, making sure she worked like a charm (which she did).

I could not be happier with the customer service I received from GE, and I really felt that service so great deserved a glowing, public review. Thanks for bearing with me there!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, this glorious new oven is still going to be known as Shelby. They have the same heart, the same soul, and I think Shelby (the first) would have wanted it that way. Not to mention, I'm not creative enough to come up with another name that conveys such beauty, and marvelous engineering.

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