Like Punching Pillows Underwater

WELL, color me impressed. I'm left reeling by a combination of the power of social media (particularly since I've been guilty of calling Twitter's utility into question) and the fact that someone from Creative actively sought me out to rectify things.

Less than an hour ago, as California was just rubbing the sleep from its eyes and my "Simple Solutions to Creative Problems" blog post detailing my customer service saga had been live for under twelve hours, Creative's social media rep contacted me via IM. The conversation started like this:

Hi there, are you online? This is Tawnee from Creative.

I just caught wind of your blog, I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. I was exhausted just reading what all you had to go through

I'm thankful you wrote the blog though, as it gives me a better insight to what our support process is like. I run social media here at Creative-- so luckily, you were able to find help through this outlet.

And then she offered me a superior set of Creative speakers as a means of compensation and replacement.

This level of concern and generosity was wholly unexpected, and, quite frankly, has completely changed my disposition towards the company. Amazing how a gesture like that works. Yesterday evening I'd sworn off anything with the Creative logo; this evening they're at the top of brands I'd consider again when making this sort of purchase in the future. Yes, you could rain on the parade by arguing that their overture was nothing more than a cynical attempt to make a public restitution for a public problem, but that's almost beside the point. I don't think any company truly delights in appeasing unhappy customers. The important thing is that I don't feel that I've wasted money and time, and I genuinely feel like I was listened to, that someone heard my frustration and dissatisfaction and took them seriously.

The most maddening, demoralizing part of any customer service runaround is that you're left feeling like you have no voice, no efficacy, no leverage other than your own sense of indignation. It's like you're punching pillows underwater. Thanks to Tawnee, I don't feel that way now towards Creative. I'm no longer a faceless consumer to them; someone there knows my name. And raising every consumer out of that hopeless anonymity ought to be the incontrovertible aim of all customer service.