Tag Archives: Customer satisfaction

Leitner Headsets Stands Behind their Product

2 Comments

Although my blogs are often related to the Toronto area or the region I live in, SQM is an international company, so I’m always excited when I have the chance to spread the word about businesses in other areas of the world.  Today, I’m glad to be able to put a spotlight on a company that is based in the United States and ships its product to many other countries. 

Since I spend a good chunk of the day on the telephone, a number of years ago I decided that instead of straining my neck, I’d start using a headset (on a related note, wow does it make a difference….it is much more comfortable).  While I have had several different headsets over the past decade, last year my business partner hooked up a wireless version that is built by a company called Leitner Headsets.  The base is actually plugged into the phone, but the headset itself has no wires attached and is charged when sitting on the base. 

While the headset is quite comfortable and reliable, over the past couple of months an issue has come up where the headset disconnects, lights flash, and it doesn’t work.  Since the headset wasn’t even a year old, I was getting mildly irritated, as I thought it would be a pain to fix, since the product was from the United States.  Nonetheless, I decided to call up Leitner Headsets to see what could be done.  On the first call, I was quickly connected to a gentleman, who immediately found my account.  He was extremely pleasant to deal with, and since he seemed to be quite knowledgeable, we ended up trying to troubleshoot to see if he could guide me through fixing the problem.  At the end of a short call, he told me that someone would check back with me in a couple of days to see if the issue was resolved, and if it wasn’t they would simply send me out a new headset. 

The very next day, the initial problem occurred again, but before I called them back, I decided to wait to see if I would get a call.  I didn’t expect anyone to call me back, but sure enough two days later, on the day that they said they would follow up with me, they actually did!  This second employee seemed confident that she could fix the issues, she asked if it would be okay to take me through some additional steps before sending me out a replacement headset.  Since the staff have a-can do attitude and the issues weren’t mission-critical, I was fine with giving it another shot.

Again, the fix seemed to work for a couple of days and then I started running into the same issues again.  A few days later, I received another follow-up call, and when I explained to them it was still broken, they immediately said that they would send me a new headset. 

After the call, I received a couple of emails, including a note indicating that my headset was on the way, as well as a status update, and although they indicated that it may take up to a week before the new headset would arrive, three days later I received the package.  Even the package showed me that I was dealing with a customer-centric organization, as there were two stickers on the outside of the box.  The first indicated that the package was “picked with customer love by Mitch” and “thanks for being a loyal customer since 2018” 

But that’s not all!  On the day that I finally got around to opening the box, much to my surprise, the company includes a handful of candies in the package  I can’t recall every receiving an added surprise, like this, and this small gesture certainly put a smile on my face. 

For these days where I’ve often said that successful companies stand behind their product, Leitner was great at troubleshooting and when they realized that wasn’t going to work, they sent me a replacement with no fuss, meaning no stress on my end. They have a great product and clearly a great culture that is focused on customer service.  They are a pleasure to deal with, and I highly recommend them for your headset and telecommunications needs. 

Leitner Headsets 
212-230-4525 
leitnerheadsets.com

 

Add Comment

Buckling Down the Best Customer Service

Comment

From time to time, I’ve purchased various products, either online or at one of their few retail stores in Canada, at The North Face.  The company has anything from casual clothes, outdoorsy-type of clothes, sporting equipment, camping gear, and more. 

Back in 2016, my wife bought me three pairs of shorts. They were all stylish and comfortable and came in various different colours. While the shorts currently look as good as new, I had a slight problem, last year when part of the plastic on the belt wore down, resulting in the buckle no longer staying connected.  I called up The North Face to see about purchase a new buckle, but it turns out they’ve changed the style to a different buckle that would no longer fit my shorts. In fact, even when I first visited the store, one of the employees I talked to was willing to replace the buckles right then and there, until we realized it wasn’t going to fit. 

Because it was near the end of the summer, their parts department didn’t have my type of buckle stocked but told me to keep in touch and when the parts came, they’d send them to me.   As time passed, our interactions turned into quite the comedy, as on three separate occasions they sent me the wrong type of buckle.  At one point, I even sent them pictures to describe exactly what I needed, however, I would still end up with the wrong items.  In the end, they finally figured out what I needed, and sent me two of the three buckles (because they only had two).  While that would have been more than enough (I could always take off the belts to use with the other pair) they went one step further and offered me a free pair of shorts for the long delay and the inconvenience. 

The moral of the story is that I had often heard The North Face has great products, and as often with companies with good products, they stand behind their brand with great customer service.  Whether it was in-person at one of their stores, speaking to their Canadian head office in Montreal, connecting with their call centre or online exchanges, I’ve had a consistently good experience from them.  All employees have a can-do attitude and truly aim to please. 

If you’re looking for great customer service along with great clothing products, check out The North Face. 

The North Face Canada 
514-404-4896 
https://www.thenorthface.com/en_ca/homepage.html

 

Add Comment

Taking Customer Service Into Account

2 Comments

Sensors Quality Management Inc. is coming up to its 26th year in business. Many years ago, when we first started out, I was fortunate that a few of my friends in accounting assisted me from time to time when we needed help with the books….the dreaded financial books!

When we got to the point where we needed an actual accountant, I had initially reached out to my good friend and lawyer, Mitchell Rose, who immediately recommended a colleague of his who he had met during university: Brian Bossin.

Brian’s accounting firm is named Bossin, Tin Yan Chartered Accountants, and right from our first meeting 20 years ago, I knew that Brian was going to be the perfect fit for both myself and SQM. Brian was clearly experienced and knowledgeable enough to deal with larger corporations, but also patient enough and willing to work with smaller, local businesses.

Unlike the bigger firms that often nickel and dime you as soon as you pick up the phone, Brian and his colleagues are more understanding, and are willing to take calls without running the meter, or meet from time to time to provide advice and direction.

In addition to doing the accounting for SQM, over the years, Brian has also taken care of my personal income taxes, done taxes for other family members, worked on other business-related projects, assisted me with various government applications and paperwork, and played a role in providing me with advice on tax and estate planning.

During the 20 odd years that I’ve known Brian, it’s become increasingly clear that he is knowledgeable and experienced with many facets of both personal and business accounting, and for areas in which he is not an expert, he can often direct me to somebody who is. I know that his advice and expertise are just a telephone call away.

Whether you’re looking for somebody to handle personal matters or your business, I highly recommend you consider Brian and the team at Bossin, Tin Yan Chartered Accountants for all of your accounting needs.

Bossin, Tin Yan Chartered Accountants
416-492-8484

Please Share:

 

Add Comment

Dialling Up Great Customer Service

1 Comment

Many of the blogs that I write about are based on my own experiences, and while I try to write stories about my travels and encounters outside of Toronto, I do realize that many of my topics are centred on the Greater Toronto Area.

However, this story is about a Canadian company, and while they are here in Toronto, they’re also right across the country. I’ve written about them in the past, but I feel like it is necessary to mention them again.

For many years, my cell phone and cable provider has been Rogers. One of the reasons behind this is because when I ran into a problem several years ago, I came into contact with a customer representative who was extremely helpful and kind. Ever since then, I’ve kept in touch and she’s always been able to help me out whenever I’ve been in a pickle.

In more recent times, she’s taken on another position within the company but has been thoughtful enough to direct me to employees as kind as herself. Back a few weeks ago, I had a software problem with my phone, which then turned into a hardware problem. I realized I needed a new phone and reached out to one of my new contacts at Rogers—John.

I first connected with John when I was looking to reduce some of the costs connected with my services. At the time, John made a few adjustments, so I ended up with more features and services while at the same time, reducing my monthly costs.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when my phone had died and I reached out to him in a little bit of a panic, because like many people, my phone was like my life and I needed it to be working for various reasons. On top of that, my phone was fairly new…only two years old…and should have been operational. Even though John works on the west coast, he got back to me within minutes of me sending him an email, asked me what the issue was, and told me that if I could give him a bit of time, he would work on a solution.

In less than an hour, he got back to me and gave me a number of options—all but one of them involved a new phone without any extra charges or long-term commitments. Once I made my decision, I received my new phone just two days later and I was back up and running in no time.

You would expect a company in telecommunications like Rogers to understand the urgency of uptime, and clearly, they do from the way that John and some of his other colleagues work.

To tell you how Rogers is evolving as a company, years ago if I had a problem with my bill, phone, or other services, and I had to call Rogers, the hair would stand up on the back of my neck because the entire process was often quite frustrating.

In more recent times, they seem to be changing with the era and adapting to the growing need for good customer support. I now know that I can count on Rogers to stand behind their services, and support me when I need them.

Rogers
1 (855) 381-7834
www.rogers.com

Please Share:

 

Add Comment

Ensuring You Use the Right Insurance Company

Comment

This week, I’d like to write a blog about Intact Insurance, however, I’m going to take a slightly different perspective on the subject.

Insurance is one of those industries that touches just about everyone, whether or not you own a house, rent an apartment, drive a car, or run a business. As one of my colleagues says, “you can never have enough insurance”. Most people deal with an insurance company or a broker on a somewhat regular basis, and while buying insurance typically comes down to the cost, I would think that it’s always better and easier to be dealing with an insurance company that has a good reputation in the industry.

Oftentimes, I hear stories about insurance appraisers and adjusters that try to pay as little as possible for claims or make it very difficult for one to resolve their claims or issues. That said, this story is meant to look at an insurance company from a different angle….

A couple of years ago, my 90-year-old aunt tripped on a mat, fell, and broke her hip while shopping at a grocery store. As a result of this accident, a lawsuit was filed as my aunt was incurring a number of significant expenses associated with her injuries. As the lawsuit progressed, we began dealing with a lawyer for the insurance company that was representing the grocery store.

Although I often hear horror stories about dealing with lawyers in such cases, the lawyer representing my aunt was pleasantly surprised by the insurance company’s approach to handling the situation. While many insurance companies would have dragged the process out for as long as possible, given my aunt’s advanced age, all parties involved were looking for a reasonable solution so that my aunt could return to normal life as soon as possible. While it’s difficult to put a price tag on such a terrible accident, and my aunt didn’t necessarily feel that she received as much money as she deserved, the willingness of the insurance company to move the process along was very much appreciated. It was truly a breath of fresh air to see both the lawyer and insurance company treat my aunt respectfully and professionally, while simultaneously looking out for their interests as well. After the case was settled, I took the time to call the President of Intact Insurance to acknowledge how their in-house lawyer handled this difficult matter in a professional and respectful way.

During the conversation, the President mentioned that Intact Insurance attempts to be a different type of insurance company, and treats people the way their employees would want to be treated themselves. While many companies in the industry say this, very few put their words into practice, however, I can tell you firsthand that Intact Insurance really does have this kind of culture and approach.

Again while I realize that purchasing insurance often boils down to price, I highly recommend that you at least look at Intact Insurance for your insurance needs. They are truly an excellent company to deal with.

Intact Insurance
www.intact.ca

Please Share:
 

Add Comment

Prioritize the Customer….Not the Size of the Project

Comment

A couple of years ago, my wife and I were travelling and went to the Grand Ole Opry, in Nashville.  While we were there, we bought a poster that displayed the musicians that were playing that night but was done in a style that had probably been used since the early days of this venue.

Given that the Grand Ole Opry is a country music establishment, I thought it would be interesting to frame this piece of art in a different way, than simply using a frame.  In particular, I thought it would be cool to mount it on barn wood—wood from a barn—to play with the country theme.  After doing a bit of research I discovered barnboardstore.com: a store known for selling barn board and what is generally known as reclaimed wood.  In addition to barn board, they are also known for selling wood with live edges—in other words, wood with the bark still on it.  Both types of wood are high-quality and can be used for furniture, floors, and walls.  For me, I only needed a small piece of wood because I had a relatively small poster.

When I went to barnboardstore.com, they were very accommodating.  Even though this was a small project for them they let me pick out a piece of wood with the nice colouring I was looking for.  They also spend a few minutes helping me the size and cut it, so all I had to do was glue everything together and put the poster on.

Because they took such good care of me I kept them in mind for other projects. My wife and I are currently in the process of creating some built-in bookshelves, and we wanted the counter of the bookcase to be barn wood.  Just like my first experience the staff were extremely helpful and came up with ideas that made more sense and were more cost-effective.  All the staff are a pleasure to deal with, and this was something exceptionally notable because, in a day and age where many companies are just looking for the “big sale” and spend as little time as possible with customers with smaller projects, it’s nice to see a company that puts the customer first.

If you have a project involving wood and are looking for something a bit different, I definitely suggest checking them out.

Barnboardstore.com
416-471-9452
http://barnboardstore.com/

Please Share:
 

Add Comment

A Taste of Good Customer Service

Comment

Lady York Foods is a unique, one-off grocery store, often frequented by folks in the Italian and Portuguese community who live nearby. They’re well-known for their butcher shop, deli and cheese section, locally baked goods, and their produce. I also go there for seasonal items, like figs and fresh olives. If you happen to be making prosciutto, you can easily get the leg of a pig and similar items—all high quality.

Last Friday my wife and I decided we wanted to make a rack of lamb for dinner. I headed over to my neighbourhood Costco and much to my sadness and shock, they didn’t have any lamb in stock, which was a rare event.

Although they had other meats, my wife and I were both craving lamb. I put my thinking cap on and while I was at Costco, I called up Lady York Foods to see if they had a rack of lamb in stock. I spoke to a young, friendly guy in the butcher shop and told him what I was looking for.

When I arrived, it was all wrapped up and ready to go. I thanked the young man for his help and headed home, eager to start digging in. When I got home my wife opened the package and was surprised because it looked different from the usual rack of lamb.

Usually, it’s Frenched so it looks very presentable, and so we were surprised it wasn’t Frenched already but we didn’t think anything of it. When we went to cook and slice it, we realized there was an extra bone in there, and when we went to continue slicing it we realized there was no actual meat, just bone and fat.

I called up Lady York Foods again and asked to speak to a manager. I told her there might have been some miscommunication and confusion, and that I was sold something that wasn’t butchered and properly presented for sale.

The young man from the butcher section told me to come in whenever it was convenient, and he would be happy to refund me. I took a picture of the lamb so I could prove I wasn’t yanking his chain and stopped by the next day.

When I approached him we ended up having a nice chat and he apologized for not having the product I was looking for, and for making me return to the store to get a refund. Lady York Foods was willing to step up to the plate to ensure customer satisfaction and the young man in the butcher shop was willing to make things right.

I showed him the picture I took of the lamb and we had a good chuckle. He ended up taking the picture for training purposes for the rest of the butchers.

I applaud Lady York Foods because they stood behind their product standards and readily refunded the money in the case of a simple miscommunication.

Lady York Foods

416-781-8585

www.ladyyorkfoods.com

Please Share:
 

Add Comment