2600 Enterprises Inc. who publish 2600 The Hacker Quarterly.
The story is a refreshing and simple one. It is also a much needed reminder for me that not everything in life is total shit. As it happened, a few weeks ago I received in the mail my last issue of the first subscription to this informative and crucial quarterly magazine. Unfortunately this issue arrived in a badly damaged condition which to say the least was a bummer. I pride myself on the care and condition of all items I deem worthy enough to place on the shelves of my library and having been a fan of this publication for almost 13 years now I would dare say that 2600 represents one of the most prized parts of my collection. My friends, those that truly know me, would say that I am a little over-protective and perhaps a little obsessive about my books and I can't really deny that that is pretty much spot on. In any case this story does have a happy ending.
So being the archivist that I am I determined that for me to be happy I would simply have to go to the local shop and get a pristine copy. But before I did that I decided to send an email to 2600. I didn't bitch, I didn't whine I just explained the situation much as I have in the above paragraph. I also placed the blame squarely where it belonged, on the US postal service. And finally suggested that perhaps they could stamp "do not bend" on the envelope to perhaps avoid this problem in the future. Amazingly this is the response I received the very next day:
We apologize for the condition of the magazine. It is not a frequent happening, but things do happen in the mail. Please provide the address and we will mail you a new copy.
Mary
2600 Office Manager
Wow! Drastically simple and incredibly generous. Not at all what I was expecting especially given that the problem was not the fault of 2600. If this had been any other company I fully would have expected something more to the tune of "tough shit buddy, not our problem, go fuck yourself." So I responded with the information they asked for and today I received a brand new and defect free replacement. No hassle, no run-around, no back-talk; just good solid customer service. All the corporate ass-hats out there could learn something from this little exchange. Like don't shit on your customers. Remember the HP/MSI debacle a few posts ago? Yep, never going to give those idiots another dime. Or another lesson to take home, even if it's not your fault, doing the right thing and even doing more than the right thing often has other benefits. For instance here I am writing a glowing blog post about somebody doing it right. Thanks 2600, you guys are awesome. And finally, are you paying attention corporate drones, I expect that my shipment of back issues and a 2600 coffee mug should arrive shortly. And why is that, because I feel a little more attached to this brand and their products and want to support an organization that has the balls to make something right. One more time in case you missed that; I expressly purchased more goods from a company because I trust them and they trust me. I spent my precious time to tell the whole world in a public forum how great I think 2600 is because they didn't just treat me like some mark that they can milk for profits.
It's about people not profits. It's about doing things the right way not about pushing your sales. It's about trust and not about the bottom line. More businesses need to recognize that treating your customers like shit is no business to be in and more businesses need to recognize that treating your customers with respect is what drives people to want to do business with you again and again.
Again, thank you 2600 for all that you do and for the very positive experience we were able to share in. Keep up the good work.
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