skwpspace yan pritzker’s home on the web

Make the easy stuff free

The other day I thought I had lost my Kirkwood ski resort season pass. So I sent an email to the season pass office wondering what it would cost to replace it. Their reply: $50. Now, that’s kind of ridiculous. It takes about 5 minutes of employee time and probably only a couple bucks in [...]

Why proactive customer service works

Don’t wait for your users to complain. If you notice a problem, contact the user and tell him you’re working on it. Users often wait way too long to report problems. Usually at the point that they do, they are already filled with rage.
Such has been the story with me and Comcast. I get one [...]

USPS: Arrival At Unit? Really?

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the delivery of my new light meter (for my newly acquired TLR camera) for several days now, watching the USPS tracking page like a hawk. And today in the morning, it said “Arrival at Unit”. I ran downstairs only to find…nothing.
Of course, I had once again fallen for the old obscure-naming-to-confuse-customers [...]

Good customer service means replying to email immediately

If someone emails you with a problem, question, or concern and you don’t have an immediate answer, you have two choices. First, you could defer the email, and let it sit in your inbox for a couple days while you gather the information for a solid reply that answers the customer’s concerns.
Or, you could [...]

bluehost.com ignores customer complaints on database downtime

I gave bluehost more than two months to fix their issues, or even simply notify their customers of ongoing problems and make some sort of gesture to make up for the downtime. They have done neither, while the server that hosts this blog (box 12 at bluehost) continues to have constant database downtime.
I’ve included [...]

Cordarounds - sweet pants, sweeter customer service

I recently had a great experience with Cordarounds, an independent clothing company run by Chris Lindland. I stumbled upon the website I believe through del.icio.us, and found it to be a fun, quirky place that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
I ordered some pants and a blazer from them, and while I really dug the pants, [...]

We cannot receive your email at this time

I submitted an inquiry to B&H Photo, an online Photo Store that has a cute habit of ‘closing’. Evidently these people didn’t get the message that online stores don’t have hours or off days. But here’s the kicker, I emailed their customer service for an inquiry, and this is the response:

We regret that we cannot [...]