Who have you had excellent customer service from?

[IToldYouIWasFreaky]

There was a thread recently about recently awful customer service that people have received, so I thought it would be nice to turn the table and share some examples of excellent customer service.

I have a mortgage with Newcastle Building Society and they have never been less than brilliant. Every time I phone up I get through to an actual person and they are always friendly and helpful and you can tell that they actually know what they are talking about rather than reading it off a screen.

Recently (without going into too much detail!) they really helped me out with an issue that would have cost me several hundred pounds. Totally went above and beyond!

Virgin atlantic. Recently on a long haul flight there was a problem with my ordering of children's meals, entirely my fault. They only had 1 left and I was happy to accept that and make do between the 3 kids. The cabin crew took me to the back of the plane and showed me all the food that had been put on for the staff, helped me choose the bits of each meal the kids would eat and made up 3 seperate meals for them out of the stuff. Later at the light meal they came back over and apologised they couldn't do the same again but went off to first class instead and stole some crisps and bread rolls for the kids instead. Excellent customer service.

Oak Furnitureland

Premier Inn. We often stay with the chain as a family but on one occasion DH and I were on our own so just booked a double . When we checked in the man on reception checked I hadn't made a mistake and didn't need a family room as usual so I told him it was just us two as it was our anniversary. Five minutes later there was a knock on our door and there he was with a card and a bottle of prosseco on ice. Really unexpected and not a gesture I would have expected.

We have stayed in dozens of different Premier Inns and ( with the exception of one rude chef) have always found the staff really helpful and friendly and the rooms are always spotless.

M&S- my friend's child pulled a hot drink over themselves. The woman in the cafe was amazing; sent one person for 2 big towels- used one wet and then wrapped the kid in the other to keep warm, sent another person to the toy section, so the kid left to go hospital wrapped in about £40 of towels and with his lap full of toys that do a great job of distracting him. Clearly really knew her first aid and also how to manage children!

John Lewis- they gave me tea and cake while they sorted a computer issue for me, which is a win in my book.

AO- delivery was really easy and there was no faff.

The Furniture Market - delivered and unpacked our furniture, even though there had been a misunderstanding. It was no problem at all to them and the men who came were lovely.

M&S cafe - whenever I'm there, juggling baby/buggy/shopping they always offer to help, which is much appreciated and makes life so much easier.

Vax who replaced a cleaner part with no questions asked.

Vtech - bought a child’s watch (£50) and after 10 months the home button stopped working very well and they replaced it free of charge. I only had to pay to post the old one back. I’m still in shock that apart from one explanation they did not make a fuss or offer to repair it just gave us a brand new one.

Amazon - I order regularly from them for either work or home - yes, sometimes things go wrong, whether a missing delivery or a faulty purchase, but never had any problems getting them to refund/replace.

Santander - Had my debit/credit stolen on holiday in Rome. Couldn't believe how quick and efficient Santander were when I reported it - phone answered immediately, by someone I could actually understand (no strong accent and spoke clearly), did some very quick and easy security checks, cards stopped immediately, replacements ordered and were on my doormat when I got home 2 days later. (Unlike Halifax and M&S bank who made it a much harder, longer and stressful process!).

@Halo1234 I work for Argos. I'm not sure if it's company policy but I know our store management put the safety of a child first over profit. We are told any problems with anything involving a child , sort the customer out. If God forbid anything happens , our management wouldn't want it on their heads over £100 or so .

We do have a very easy management though and that's why our stores returns are ridiculous lol.

Ikea. Took my mum in her wheelchair couldn’t do enough for us.
John Lewis always fab.
And a cat food company who I can’t remember the bloody name of.

H T Perry & Son & Grandaughter, Wellington, Somerset ... an amazing old fashioned hardware shop selling anything you might need and more.

Calverts, Taunton ... a lovely family run furniture and upholstery business who give you as much attention to someone buying a cushion as an expensive item and never pressurise.

Owl Garage, Taunton ... will drive you back home and always do a good job.

Blackdown Garden Centre Cafe, lovely service, delicious wholesome food, friendly staff.

I've been really impressed with dunelm, all online though never been into the shop. The items have been good quality a fraction of the price of John Lewis and delivery has been very swift they are very diligent about informing you exactly when it's going to be delivered.

Get Going Travel Insurance. We had to cancel a very expensive holiday due to OH illness. We expected them to try to wriggle out of paying our full losses (which were many thousands) and included a number of different elements. We nearly fell off our chairs when we received their letter and cheque for the full amount just a week after submitting the claim.

Matalan - last year I wanted a family set of their Alder Hey pyjamas for a friend whose little boy was critically ill after heart surgery. They didn't have them in the right size for her boy so the store manager rang around loads of different stores, finally locating a set in central London (we're in Milton Keynes). She then said "I'm going there for a meeting on Thursday, shall I pick them up and bring them back for you?" So impressed with her kindness for a

Amazon have always been super quick and helpful at resolving any issues, same with asos.

Asda - their delivery drivers are fantastic and customer service and refund team are great

Odd box has the best customer service I've ever experienced from a startup

First Direct - never been unhappy and I've been with them since about 1991.

Sofa Workshop - just fabulous

Staples : sorted out another companies mistake and faults to their loss and then took on the fight with said other company.

British Gas: bit of the two, the last three or so years we have had our perfectly working boiler suddenly stop working perfectly when they visit to do just an annual service for the home care agreement. Last year they had to come out five times to mend it (at one point however there was water dripping towards my electrics) and the final bloke found a filter that had never been cleaned in the entire time since it had been fitted (despite 9 of these cleaning services) The good news however is that after a report they came out same day within 3 hours to sort it (they half did...) and they're coming back today to finish it with a replacement part (that the man wont admit to but from what I overheard when he called the office ei think the last bloke has done something wrong which would be why he scarpered and tried to push a new boiler) I'm half and half with them still canceling homecare come renewal though.

O2 - I had a phone that was replaced because it didn't work 2 days after purchase. Replacement went on to do the same but 5 days (early 00's). The o2 shop couldn't care less and said I must be doing something and really made me feel small (and in the wrong) in front of all the customers. the online customer service however refunded me in full for the phone and gave me a Nokia n95 (one of the top range phones at the time) to apologise and to replace it (a £100 phone) , admitting they'd had a company wide notice about the particular phone as lots had been returned as faulty and the earpieces kept breaking. The store had received the notice three times and should have been aware. The online customer service couldn't have been nicer.

Bt: we put up with a dodgy phone like with hisses and cracks and noise for literally years (mostly because we barely used it) , however it became unusable. You couldn't hear the other person and they couldn't hear you, so much noise and static on the line. They came out three times to ensure it was properly mended, the engineer couldn't do enough for us, he was a proper sweetheart. He mended it 'officially' the three times and popped in once when passing to ensure it was still working properly.

The cooperative bank. I never used my branch but after an account takeover last year i just felt i needed it sorted face to face in one day. They really rolled out the red carpet. Genuinely empathetic staff who made me feel confident it was dealt with and my money safe. I walked in in tears and left beaming.

I bought some cards at my local Card Factory. After I was served, the lovely employee came from the cash desk and personally opened the door for me as she could see it would be difficult to do so with my pram.
I was really taken aback! I actually emailed the Card Factory customer service department to say thank you.

FitBit are brilliant! The very first one I bought, the strap was too big for me, it came off and I lost it on my first day of wearing it! I called them up to find out if there was any way to track it and work out where it had fallen off and they said no but sent me a new one for free instead! Amazing considering there was no proof I'd lost it and I'd advised them it was compeltly my fault!

Amazon. I dropped my new kindle before I'd bought a case and screen protector and the screen cracked. I'd only had it two weeks. I phoned to ask for their repair service knowing it was my fault and the chap told me not to worry, I'd have another delivered straight away and just to pop mine in the packaging and return it but keep the accessories that came with it (charger etc)
The new one arrived in the morning, less than 14 hours later, no charge.

Prepared for the thread to explode but (deep breath) - Yodel. (Maybe it’s down to the particular delivery guy)

Oak Furniture Land (in store, it hasn’t been delivered yet) friendly, helpful, well trained and knowledgeable staff. A real pleasure to shop there.

John Lewis

The police, when we were burgled while abroad, they helped our student daughter deal with everything very kindly and they put the burglars in prison, couldn’t ask for more.

NHS when DD had pneumonia, faultless. Caring and efficient at every stage.

(Controversial) Hermes. Our delivery lady is brilliant.

Ghoulest - our hermes man is the same, he's incredible. Such a lovely lovely man who will stop and chat despite having lots of deliveries (because mum is disabled he always gives her some time) and also lets us know a few mins in advance of his arrival now via text. The one time he was off the parcel was stolen by the person filling in (amazon item), apparently this person had form for it and our parcel was proof that it had 'gone out' with this person but not back in. He kept us informed and let us know what to do to claim it with hermes. Lovely bloke.

Our postie is just as lovely, always stops for a chat, brings things the next day without having to be arranged on the odd day we are not in, knows which neighbours to trust to give things to and always so chirpy even when soaked to the skin!