31 August 2010

American customer service, as accessed abroad. aka Kenneth Cole is great.

I spent the weekend celebrating a birthday by going to DiscWorldCon for a weekend away with my husband. It's a celebration of Pterry Pratchett and his world and I may talk about it later.

But I started with a lovely conversation with Kenneth Cole customer service. As I have been decluttering, one of the first targets is damaged or broken items. This suitcase had a broken wheel. We had thought about taking it back with us to the US this summer to have it repaired, but the thought of dragging it along without a wheel, while traveling en famille, was insupportable (ah, Steampunk, it's catching).

So, I called their customer service. Who gave me the number for their warranty service for luggage (as opposed to The Luggage). When I called the number, a got a voice-mail telling me for a faster response I could use e-mail, as the person in charge would not be available.
I sent an e-mail and got back an out of office reply. I also said that I did not have a receipt and could only make a guess as to the store I got it in (although I knew the approximate time period).
Within 5 minutes the person whose e-mail it was got back in touch with me and asked for a specific piece of information that was attached to the suitcase.

I sent that and reminded her that (as per my address), I was out of country and wouldn't want to return the suitcase for warranty work until next back in the US: I was calling only to see what I would need to do and whether there was a possibilty of having it repaired in Europe rather than in the midwest.

She waived the requirement and said that she would get a replacement suitcase right out. Wow.

That is just amazing. I had thought the cost of shipping and repair would be too great and that I would just discard the suitcase and feel bad.

Instead I had several great experiences with people who knew exactly how to direct me and were generally chatty and friendly while looking up information that I required, someone who helped me out while not even at work, and who actually took my personal circumstances into consideration.

It was great and in celebration, while on the way to shop so that my (unbelievably great) in-laws could have food for the weekend, I stopped off at the recycling Hof and T2 and I recycled it:).

7 comments:

Expats Again said...

This is good to know. We have a set of Kenneth Cole. So far, so good, but it is goof to know great service still exists.

Anonymous said...

Wow that is a great story - can you even imagine getting service like that here!

hexe said...

I have found LL Bean to be the same way - great customer service is hard to find and much appreciated.

J said...

I've had very good experiences using online chat functions with REI, Hertz and (of all companies) T-Mobile USA.

lytha said...

thank you for commenting on my blog today. i also read lots of yours and learned a lot about you. but just now as i clicked your name i learned one more thing: you love both princess bride and blade runner! awesome! i showed blade runner to my man recently and the violence really freaked him out - germany is different, i didn't realize how sensitive people are to violence here.

also, i asked my man about paper bags and he says they exist here. i just have no idea where.

anyway, to address your comments, i'll make it easy for you and do it here, if i may.

whenever i need to access my money in america, i find the cheapest way is to get 500 E at a time from a cash machine here. day after day after day....: )

not only did i find round up (and have to sign my life away) but i found a company called "realchemie.de" and they give it to me in concentrate form, cheap! and weed n feed too, in liquid concentrate!

i'd love to read that book you mentioned! i hardly read anymore cuz of the lack of english books in the house. just last month i re-read brave new world cuz my man had it in english. stunning how many modern films steal themes from this book!

heck i just want a slow cooker and real blender. then i'll be set!

thanks for the info about cat vaccines/worming. it's all new to me.

i don't believe i'm allowed to shop at metro, from what i hear, you have to be a restaurant owner. that was the same back home, eons ago, that costco was for businesses only - remember that? i've never heard of selgros. i'll keep my ears open.

thanks for visiting and i am a little envious of you that you have adapted so well so quickly. i feel a bit lost here still and lately depressed cuz i cannot find work. it would help if there were americans in my area but i haven't found them yet.

~lytha in NRW

lytha said...

i have to jump in here too cuz i recently had a great experience with merrell hiking boots. the boots i bought last year in america fell apart but i didn't have the receipt (amazon) so we contacted the europe office and they requested photos of the shoes and the id number printed inside. then the shipped me a new pair!

i love american customer service!

~lytha
p.s. i just tried to answer all of your comments and i overwhelmed the blogger capacity, so it's gone. i'll have to retry...

lytha said...

G in Berlin,

I just posted and lost a really long response to your comments so I will try to make this short: )

First I found out we have the same movies listed in our profiles - I had recently shown my man Blade Runner for his first time and he was sickened by the violence. I had no idea how numb I am to it until then.

Transferring money: the best way I've found is to get 500E every day at cash machines. That's what I had to do again last week for my new stall.

I buy my Roundup and Weed'nFeed both in concentrate (liquid) from a firm called Realchemie.de. Much cheaper that way! I did not like the fact I had to sign my name to get it at Obi. I don't like this 40K E fee if you get caught misusing it. I am one of those who believe Roundup is very safe, one of the safest chemicals out there, heck, I read an article that said how much RoundUp is allowed to be in our food.

That book sounds great, I wish I could find more English books. I recently found Brave New World on my man's shelf in English, and read it in one day.I never realized how many modern SciFi movies take themes from this book!

Electronics: I am still hoping for a slow cooker and a real blender in my life!

I haven't found good deals on real steaks (like what we could get at Costco). Most of the steaks here are pork. When I bought pot roast, it cost me 20 E!

Although there is a Metro around here, you must be a restaurant owner to shop there. Just like Costco back when it first opened. *sigh* someday.