It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
I have had several customer service experiences lately that I wanted to share.
The first is with Lawson Kline at Lawson Outdoor Equipment. I have ordered lots of things from Lawson in the past. Recently, I ordered a couple packages of his Mini Biners and a package of Mini Jars. Lawson processed this order quickly and shipped it via USPS First Class to my home. The package never arrived. When I checked the tracking number the post office stated is was delivered. Hmmmm.
This kicked off a two week long search involving multiple calls to USPS customer service, online complaint forms, 4 instances of promised call backs with no follow up, elevation to regional customer service, and being told that the postal carrier left the package next to my non-existent door into the garage. I used my Go-Go Gadget skills and realized that they mis-delivered the package to my neighbors house, whose parents were collecting his mail, as he was out of town. I then relayed this info to the post office who finally tracked down the package with that info and asked his parents to deliver it to my house for them. Ridiculous.
In the interim, I had contacted Lawson ONCE to make him aware of the situation and asked him to set aside the items I had ordered in the event I needed to re-order. Without asking, he apologized for the issue (not his fault) and sent a duplicate order out right away.
I received this order Friday, and the original order Saturday. I contacted Lawson and asked him about returning one of the orders, since they both arrived. He said, "Keep them and put them to good use." USPS take note; that is EXCELLENT customer service.
My second instance was with Gen Shimizu from Yama Mountain Gear. I ordered one of his Cuben Fiber Stuff Sack Kits. Upon starting to make some of the sacks, I noticed I was going to be a little tight on the transfer tape. As I had only made half of the sacks, I thought I would wait and see how it turned out. A day later, without contacting him, Gen sends me an email and says that he miscalculated the amount of tape needed and wanted to make it right. I replied saying I noticed that I might be short. A couple days later a package arrives with another roll of transfer tape. Again, EXCELLENT customer service.
So, I write all of this to say, there will always be a place in this world for the small cottage gear manufacturer who provides excellent customer service. Thanks again Lawson and Gen. Good work.
Disclaimer: I am a customer of these two gentlemen and their respective companies. I am not affiliated in any other way with them or their businesses. I paid for these products with my own money, and was not asked to review or mention these actions by them. This is my personal experience.
