Posted on 12/28/2009 9:11:33 PM PST by goldstategop
Since I began radio broadcasting 27 years ago, I have tried to come up with ideas for New Year's resolutions for myself and my listeners. Virtually each time, I have advocated one resolution in particular: For every couple of letters of complaint or oral complaints we communicate about someone or about some company, we should write a letter or make a call to commend someone or some company.
Did you complain about an airline or about a flight attendant in the past year? No problem. But if you have never cited an airline or a flight attendant for stellar performance, that is a problem. We have all experienced some product or service worthy of praise.
In that spirit, I would like to cite companies, products and individuals that have given me outstanding performance. Needless to say, I am but one person and therefore can experience only a very limited number of products. There are surely thousands of individuals, companies and products that are worthy of citation. But, to set some example in this time when bad-mouthing business is part of the national vocabulary, here are some products, individuals and companies that have given me exemplary performance this year and in years past.
For years, I have been inordinately impressed with the service given by Verizon Wireless. No matter what day of the year or the time of day, I have reached someone in tech support to answer questions. I have never waited more than five minutes. I have never spoken to anyone who did not speak excellent English. And I have almost never had a problem go unresolved.
I have also found this true in person. Last week, the Verizon store in Burbank, Calif., worked with my wife and me for an incredible five hours in resolving transfer problems to new phones. The staff treated my wife and me as if they all worked for us. It was remarkable. Three cheers for Manuel, John, Aylin and Liz.
Service is a major goal at two other major retail chains -- Best Buy and Nordstrom. As a typical male, I am more interested in electronic gadgets than in clothing, but both of these stores, in different ways, put the customer first. At Nordstrom, one gets the impression that one is dealing with salespeople who take pride in their work, not people who are counting the hours until they leave work. And as one who knows a fair amount about consumer electronics, I always found it depressing when I realized that I knew more about some of the products being sold than a salesman did. Not so at Best Buy, where the staff is usually as knowledgeable as they are friendly. That is a fine achievement for a chain in cutthroat competition with so many others.
My praise is not only for retail operations, as much as I want them to succeed in the age of Internet shopping. Thus, I cannot omit Amazon.com. I have ordered hundreds, perhaps over a thousand, products from Amazon, and never once did an order arrive late, damaged or incorrectly packed. Moreover, I put more faith in many of the Amazon book reviewers than I do in most professional book reviewers. I am very impressed by the high level of knowledge and insights expressed by many "ordinary" people who review books at Amazon.
Being 6 feet, 4 inches tall, I have to buy "tall man" clothes and, frankly, most "big and tall man" stores either don't have much quality or much variety (normal-sized stores like Brooks Brothers that have both quality and variety sell few or no shirts with 38-inch sleeves). Two online stores help solve that problem: Lands End and Jos. A. Bank. When Sears purchased Lands End, I was afraid that quality and service would deteriorate. If anything, they have gotten better.
Finally, a word about my great passion: music. I cannot find the words to effectively express my gratitude to the great composers and performers for all the joy they have given me since I was a teenager and discovered classical music at a $1 Handel concert at Carnegie Hall.
Given my love for music -- I periodically conduct orchestras -- I have always wanted the best possible music reproduction in my own home. In high school, I skipped lunches for months in order to pay for the best stereo system I could buy. I could never afford what I now own if I hadn't been "trading up" for 40 years. But what I now hear in my home actually comes close to what I hear, and what I experience emotionally, when I am conducting.
So, a heartfelt thank you to all those in the high-end stereo industry who labor -- usually for minimal profits, especially in this generation, which seems uninterested in hearing music as if it were live -- to create magnificent reproducers of music. In particular, I want to cite MBL, the German company that makes the extraordinary electronics I own, and YG Acoustics, the Denver-based company that makes the finest speakers I have ever heard -- and I have heard many in my home, at dealers and at audio shows. There are many excellent speakers, but YG's transcend speakers; they are conduits of music. After 40 years, the veil over home music is almost gone.
This has also been made possible in part thanks to a dealer, Maier Shadi of The Audio Salon, whom I was fortunate enough to find a few years ago. His knowledge of home musical equipment is as great as his love of music, and he makes repeated house calls -- even after a customer has purchased equipment -- to ensure the best possible sound.
At a time when society is saturated with neo-Marxist rhetoric vilifying the words "companies" and "businessmen," it is a joy to salute some of those companies and businessmen who have added so much to my life and that of so many others. Happy New Year to all of you.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
I’ve never cited a flight attendant for stellar performance.
For a very good reason.
I take it you’ve never flown Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific.
Best Buy? No friggin way! I bought a PC game CD years back, took it to the car and opened it to find the jewel box empty. I took it right back in and was told I was SOL. Haven’t been back since.
The name BEST BUY is an oxymoron!!
Awesome site, pricing and customer support!!
I've spent a lot of $$$$ there over the past 9 years and will continue for a long time..
Dennis Prager is terrific - I have learned more about gratitude and the nature of happiness by listening to him and his guests... So refreshing.
Hmm, lets see.
I want to say thanks to the Hudson’s Bay company for stocking a rather esoteric perfume. Can’t get it anywhere else, so thanks for taking the time to expand your product line, or I’d be sunk.
I want to say thanks to the Art Knapp’s plantland for their good prices on seeds. I was able to get a great deal at 50 percent off on a new planter. Definitely would shop there again.
A thank you to the Boston Pizza for putting up with me and my friends at the football games, changing the channel to the right game and having it on the big screens. I will be going there again. :)
Finally, a shout out to the Wendy’s. Staff is always friendly, and they always get the order right. So there’s 4 companies right there that deserve to get more business.
I seldom “go shopping”. I dislike crowds and rude people and was dreading Christmas shopping. This year I was pleasantly surprised. Finding a parking space was difficult - a lot of driving around waiting for an empty space.
Once inside the mall and stores it was different. Clerks and as well as customers were all helpful. I’ve always had a problem with women’s sizes and colors (typical man?). One of my friends wanted trapdoor footie jammies in mauve. If I knew all her measurements I could have ordered over the internet but all I knew was that she’s 5’2” tall and wears a 34 DDD bra. I had no idea what color “mauve” was. I followed leads and rumors, I checked out Penny’s, Macy’s, Target, Kohl’s and a few specialty shops. No luck, but I did get plenty of friendly help from people - and thanked each and every one. I finally gave up and bought her a sweater - in mauve.
One clerk (at Kohl’s) was especially helpful. She was stocking the racks when I asked where to find winter weight women’s pajamas. This young woman stayed with me a good 15 minutes, finally giving up on the jammies she found the ideal sweater, even accompanying me to the checkout. She asked if my leg was hurting (arthritis) and opened a register for me so I wouldn’t have to stand in a long line. I profusely thanked her.
Many FR’s may not know of Prager...
Pick up Prager’s 11pm rebroadcast in central WI on Chicago’s WIND am 560. Charlie Sykes WTMJ am 620am 8:30-noon talkie sometimes subs for him.
Worth a listen...
http://www.theusmat.com/
I believe in Free Enterprise (please don’t call it “capitalism - that’s what Karl Marx called it) as the sole generator of the wealth of a nation. And Dennis Prager is right - we need business to run itself right, not wrong.
We always commend restauranteurs for good food and service, even to tipping the cooks.
Along product lines, Oreo has a fabulous package to open: you just grasp the tab on top and zzzzzzzzip! - it’s open. Let go of the same tab and it’s closed!
Prilosec, on the other hand, or the generic one I buy of omeprezole, requires the use of scissors to hack the pill out. Bad packaging!
Yes! Free Enterprise is the beneficial engine of the economy. Injure that and everybody suffers, as the Democrats are so good at demonstrating (see Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae) with taxing and over-regulation.
Laying Marx aside, I was wondering the other day if there is a difference between free enterprise and capitalism - along the lines of desire for gain (love of money) dominating over the virtues relating to love of God)
Donning asbestos undies now - and I love that Oreo package
“Thus, I cannot omit Amazon.com. I have ordered hundreds, perhaps over a thousand, products from Amazon, and never once did an order arrive late, damaged or incorrectly packed. Moreover, I put more faith in many of the Amazon book reviewers than I do in most professional book reviewers. I am very impressed by the high level of knowledge and insights expressed by many “ordinary” people who review books at Amazon.”
Paying an even greater tribute to the thousands of independent sellers who use the Amazon marketplace to sell their items many of whom are just subsidizing their own reading habits.
” I was wondering the other day if there is a difference between free enterprise and capitalism - along the lines of desire for gain (love of money) dominating over the virtues relating to love of God)”
Capitalism is a derogatory term applied to Free Enterprise by our enemy, Karl Marx (bringing him back into it).
It is not the altruistic love of God (leaving that out of it) but the motivator to the individual to work, without which the Soviet system collapsed.
I buy all of my PC components and provide quotes for customers from NewEgg. They are top notch in support, I always get an English-speaking CSR, and returns are a breeze, but seldom.
Best Buy, on the other hand, is getting tiresome. Maybe in some parts of the nation they’re good, but the fiancee and I spent a lot of time HH Gregg this Christmas. They are knowledgable and friendly, and I found exactly what I was looking for without being pressured into a “better model” or forced into buying cables that are marked up 1500% from the real world.
Best Buy...no way!!!
I went to buy a portable 320g hard drive, I found on their web site for $69. It was priced $79 in the store, it took 3 salepeople and two managers to get it priced right and 30 minutes to complete the purchase.
Love Amazon
- FREE SHIPPING TO APO
- price guarantee: if the price is lower when they ship, they refund the difference
- seriously considering buying a Kindle ever since I had the chance to lay hands on one
Love Apple iTunes store
- movies, music, and apps
- can be cheaper than buying movies and music from the limited selection at the BX, and always quicker than USPS
Love American Express
- my card has the scorch marks to prove it (see above)
- for disputed charges, they immediately credit the account, THEN investigate
- price up a return ticket from Inchon, ROK to Atlanta, GA and visualize the bottom line at $0.00, thanks to Membership Rewards
Love Korean Airlines
- take a round-trip from Inchon, ROK to Atlanta, GA (12-14 hours non-stop each direction) and enjoy the service of the very professional aircrew and appreciate the amenities offered: you will NOT be hungry or thirsty, you will NOT be cold, you will NOT have stews that overflow from the aisle into your seat when they walk by
If "maximization of profit" is the only motivator, you quickly get to situations where
If there's no real motivation except the maximization of profits, godless capitalism is as bad as godless communism. Sometimes in the same ways, and sometimes different.
I love Apple I-Tunes too. I am patiently waiting for I-tunes kiosks in Airports where I can plug in my I-pod and download a movie for the flight. I downloaded two movies for a trip last year and got through both on the way out. It would have been great if I could have gotten another movie at the airport for the trip back.
My commendations are to Bob’s Seafood in U.City MO.
Olympus camera company for making the set up etc. so easy and that the software walks you through downloading steps the first few times if you need it.
“If there’s no real motivation except the maximization of profits, godless capitalism is as bad as godless communism. Sometimes in the same ways, and sometimes different. “
A Liberal I know holds that thought dear and never tires of reminding me. Thing is, when a Free Enterpriser is corrupt, some people are hurt. When a government politician is corrupt, it hits everybody.
Yes, Free Enterprise with ethics is desirable, and you will note that Free Enterprisers do tend to be ethical compared to the politicians, who don’t work for a living.
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