Customer Service

I know some may argue that this is a blog about waiting tables. The truth is that it is a blog about whatever is deemed worthy of passing my mind through my fingers into the keyboard. I also feel safe changing topics from time to time seeing as how my last three posts are unstained by comments.

I do know a thing or two about customer service, though. It is what I do for a living. Whether it is in a restaurant or in any other walk of life, I notice the way companies handle me when I have an issue.

I can remember, for instance, when I have gone into AT&T for something, needing to talk face to face with a person (if you did not know, I am abysmal at talking on the phone). I talked to said person, who immediately corralled me to yet another phone to talk to somebody in Pennsylvania or Ghana or India or wherever these people are trying to 'help' me from, even against my stated wishes.

This would be bad customer service. (For other examples of bad customer service, I invite you, dear reader, to glance through some of my own personal examples located right here on this blog)

Good customer service, on the other hand, would be what Alibris Books has just done for me. Alibris Books is pretty much like Amazon, except for their specialty in cheap used text books (I mean, like rare $5 books btw).

I decided that I would get an early start on my last semester of school, so at the beginning of December, I ordered the catalogue for my most difficult class. After waiting until the new year for the books to arrive, I knew something had gone wrong. Yep, I had sent them to my college address. You know, the one I lived at 4 years ago? Yeah, that one.

Well, two books were delivered to said address, while three were sent back over the holidays. I thought I had surely lost money on this deal that I would never get back. After all, what is their real motivation to help me?

The answer to this question would be the fact that they are excellent at customer service. They have refunded my lost books with almost no pain or even elapsed time to speak of throughout the process.

In short, Alibris Books is stellar and I am so impressed that I thought I should recommend them to you, dear reader.