Bridgey Speaks

These days, we all complain and hear a lot of complaints about how customer service is lacking in all kinds of industries. I’ve certainly experienced my fair share of far-too-long waits on hold, rude sale associates, and otherwise unsatisfying (or worse, infuriating) customer service experiences.

I’m happy to share a GOOD example of customer service. The company in question: The Container Store.

I recently purchased a few organizational items for the kitchen. We are working on some upgrades to the kitchen, so I thought it would be a good time to streamline a few things. I placed my order and eagerly awaited its arrival.

It arrived in a large box that was sort of mangled at one end. I tore the box open and found one of the four items inside to be completely crushed. I was bummed because the item was unusable, but also because I envisioned sitting on hold, dealing with paperwork, and other annoying chores to have the item replaced.

I’m happy to report that I was completely wrong! I found that The Container Store’s customer service hours extend well into the evening (it was after 8 p.m. our time), so I went ahead and called them up. I was connected with the service rep almost immediately, and she was pleasant, helpful, and knowledgeable. She put a new item in the mail to me right away and didn’t require that I send back the old one. I was off the phone, problem resolved, in under two minutes, and the item was on its way in about a day.

It’s probably good that Pittsburgh doesn’t have a Container Store because I’d spend way too much time and money there. But when my experiences with the store are repeatedly as good as this one, I can’t help but wish we had one locally.