27 April 2011

Great customer service in Canberra... I found it!!!!

| Athryn
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I know there’s a lot of stories here on bad customer service from businesses in and around Canberra, but yesterday I had an experience of great customer service. They really went above and beyond.

It all started when I was moving in with my partner last weekend with the help of some of my friends. While moving my computer desk (an old Clint’s thing I’ve had for way too many years) it finally decided it had had enough of being moved and finally fell apart into a million pieces while moving down a very steep stair case. So it was time to buy a new one.

After searching Office Works in Braddon, I found one that was suitable but my partner suggested it would be a good idea to check out the furniture shops in Fyshwick as a lot were having a sale on.

The first place we went to was Harvey Norman, it didn’t take too long in there to come to the conclusion that it was rather expensive, even though some of the pieces they had there were quite nice.

So we turned right onto Barrier St, and just past the Bing Lee store, we saw a small van with Balloons on it advertising a shop called Price’s Furniture Clearance Warehouse at 32 Barrier St. Although the name and the dodgy van would normally be a turn off, we decided to check it out.

As we pulled up in the car park, we noticed two giant gargoyles staring back at us. Which would look great in our backyard. When we entered the store, the first thing I noticed was a beautiful antique styled desk and hutch. Nice dark timber with 3 green leather inlays in the desk.

The next thing I noticed was the price, it was marked down to just under $1000 from $1500 due to it having slight imperfections. At this stage I was thinking there is going to be some dodgy craftsmanship, but after checking the desk from top to bottom, I realised this desk is actually solid wood.

At this moment, a shop assistant walks past and I ask how long would it take to have it delivered, they said they’d ask the boss and went out the back. The next thing I know, the boss has walked in and said they could deliver it on Wednesday and the charge would be $70 (the day was Sunday and in the middle of Easter). At which I said, pity you couldn’t deliver today as I would love to purchase the desk but can’t wait that long.

The asked me to wait a moment, then walked back out into the loading dock. After a couple of minutes he came back and said they had someone who could deliver it today and at no extra charge (miracle number 1). So I bought the desk and after paying for it, I enquired what time to expect the desk at which I was told just after 1pm (current time was 11:30) (miracle number 2). There was also a brass quill and ink bottle sitting on the desk I just purchased, I asked how much it was, and they included it with the desk at no extra charge (miracle number 3). They told us to take it with us but I ended up leaving it sitting on the counter… Oops

Just before we walked out the door, my partner noticed a great bookcase and decided to buy it as well.

We then went home and started clearing space for the new furniture. At about close to 1pm the phone rang and it was the furniture shop saying they were running a little late and would be here at 3:30pm (miracle number 4 – I’ve never had a phone call from a business saying they were running late.)

At precisely 3:30pm a van pulled up in the driveway with the Desk, book case (miracle number 5 – on time!!) and quill (miracle number 6, wasn’t expecting to see that again).

So now, I’m sitting at my great new desk and I can’t say enough about Price’s Furniture Clearance Warehouse at 32 Barrier Street, Fyshwick. Well worth a look and you’ll get some great service as well!!

Cheers,

Athryn.

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I’m going to add in my 2 cents worth and have to rave on about the boys at The Glasshouse Cafe for their excellent customer service…

If its quiet when you walk in the door and also a regular, you get a greating from behind the coffee machine, asking if you want “the usual”…… by the time you have even paid for your order, your coffee is already ready.

When its busy watching them make the coffee is like a fine art. I’ve seen them pump out over a dozen coffee’s in the time I’ve seen other coffee shops barely make one.

Plus they taste AMAZING ! Food isn’t too bad either….

Hi Athryn,

Thankyou for sharing that with us. It sounds to me like these people tried their best to help you, and you have now made me interested in visiting them next time I go buying furniture 🙂

The sad thing is that this type of service is “news” in this city…

EvanJames said :

Don’t forget “implied warranty”.

There is that, and it has been discussed widely as an option to get further warranty services beyond the expressed period but I’ve always understood this to be a very grey area in the law and even the people at Fair Trading can’t give a definitive answer to whether an item would be eligible for further warranty. It would definitely be a case of your word against theirs and people trying to pursue it may end up having to put their case to the tribunal/court and get a judge to assess item and whether statutory warranty still applies.

roshen said :

Sounds like a good experience but I’d be very interested to know of their after sales service. This shop does sell furniture at good prices but I’ve noticed that with almost everything they sell they only offer 12 months warranty.

Don’t forget “implied warranty”. That means that when buying something for a fair price, a person has a reasonable expectation that the goods will perform their function for a reasonable period of time. eg a $1000 couch should perform its function properly for longer than 12 months. It’s a bit harder to claim on it, but it’s there.

Sounds like a good experience but I’d be very interested to know of their after sales service. This shop does sell furniture at good prices but I’ve noticed that with almost everything they sell they only offer 12 months warranty. I noticed this with their more expensive items such as lounges and sofabeds. This means you would be saving maybe a couple hundred dollars on a lounge but if anything happens to it after a year you would be on your own. Shops that offer such a short warranty period also suggests to me that their warranty services during the warranty period could also be iffy, so it’d be interesting to hear from other fellow rioters if they’ve had any after sales experiences with this shop.

Great story, thanks for sharing. I have seen that shop and never ventured in, but I will now!

Did you get the gargoyles?

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