Yesterday I was wandering around Second Life, when I came across the Botanical SIM. For those who have been there, you know how beautiful their trees are, for those who haven't(it was my first time there), go look, and be amazed at the beauty of some digital trees.
I came across a snow covered pine, with wonderful particle effects, all set up as a Christmas tree, and realized that it was, hands down, the best damn Christmas tree I'd seen in the game.
Now, I run a bit of an older graphics card, so I was lagging some when I bought the tree. The little blue box pops up giving me my tree, and just as I clicked it BAM, my SL Client crashes on me.
I just *KNEW* I'd lost that tree.
So I came back, checked my Objects folder, and sure enough, no tree. So I decided, well maybe I'll contact them, and hope for a replacement. And so I did.
Kriss Lehmann's profile had Richard Kaestner as the customer service contact. I made a notecard, pasted in the transaction history, and explained that I hadn't gotten my tree, and though I knew it wasn't their fault, could they please resend the tree, and dropped it on Richard.
He contacted me very shortly, gave me the tree, and was quite pleasant about the whole thing. This stood out in stark contrast to the "everyone is out to get me" attitude I've seen from so many businesses in Second Life, and really impressed me.
Later that night, I realized that what Richard had given me was a folder, NOT a box, and thought; "uh oh". Sure enough, I had TWO of those folders, and TWO of the trees. The one I'd originally purchased, and the replacement they'd sent me. The one they'd sent even though it clearly wasn't their fault, and even though I was mistaken and really HAD received my tree.
I'm posting this for a few reasons. First and foremost, I wanted everyone to know that Botanical not only makes great products, but they back it up with customer service that is just as wonderful. Second, I'm hoping that a few other content creators will read this and realize that customer service can make a huge difference in your business, I know it made an impact on me, and will color my own dealings with customers as a content creator myself. I also know that I'm now a very loyal customer to Botanical, even though this was my first time dealing with them.
Lastly, I've worked in customer service my entire life, and anyone who has knows the statistics that unhappy customers tell everyone, but happy customers only tell a few. I'm hoping thousands will see this post, because sometimes the good guy deserves the recognition he should have to actually be given.
Customer Service is a dying concept, at least in my part of the United States, and I'd be willing to lay odds that Botanical's success is not only because of their great products, but because of their great Customer Service. I hope other content creators see that, and attempt to emulate it in the future, I know I will.
-Belial Foulsbane