In praise of IBM
Over the past few years, I have had to steadily lower my expectations in terms of the level of service I receive from almost everyone I do business with. It seems that if there's any way of writhing or wriggling their way out of helping you, companies these days will avoid helping at any cost.
Imagine therefore my surprise when IBM agreed to replace my keyboard within 10 minutes of my calling them. My Thinkpad T30 mouse button has stopped working, and the touchpad is threatening to go on strike, and so I call them up, exercise my warranty, and they talk me through how to detatch the keyboard and send me a new one, all without any fuss or worry. Wow.
Admittedly, the T30 is still under warranty, so it's their contractual duty to help out, but in an environment where the general response is a "no" and you need to argue and make enemies to get anything done, the slickness and general helpfulness of the service from IBM stands out as an example for others to follow. Let's hope the keyboard arrives soon eh? They promised it within the week.
Update 20th April 2004 : Less than 24 hours and I've got the keyboard. Way to go IBM! Now all I need is a tiny tiny screwdriver.... blast.
Posted by nlvp at April 19, 2004 03:44 PM