The AM Forum

Just when you think great customer service has gone the way of the dinosaur, something comes along to renew one's faith in such things.

I had this rare and glorious experience this week (yesterday, in fact).

Ok, some background - I have had a lot of printed circuit boards made over the years, and I use ExpressPCB.  They offer a good service including providing design software for schematics and for laying out the PC boards themselves.  The board quality is very good, and the prices are reasonably competitive.  ExpressPCB offers several types of services, depending on what you're doing.

I used ExpressPCB for the initial run of boards used in the recently released software modulation monitor, and used their "protopro" service, which is 4 boards of up to a specified size.  I was able to fit the mod monitor circuit onto each board 3 times, so I ended up with 12 actual units.  The turn around time is fast, and the setup cost is significantly reduced from the "production" service.  It's perfect for prototypes.  Everything was perfect as usual, and needless to say, this initial run of monitors sold out immediately.

I recently ordered a reasonably large quantity of boards from ExpressPCB for the same project using their "Production" service.  The delivery time for this service is generally 12 business days (10 for manufacturing the boards, and 2 for shipping).

Here's where the great service comes in!  I sent an email to customer support saying, if they happened to have a lull in their production schedule, or whatever, that I could really use the boards ahead of schedule.  I did not pressure them in any way, nor did I really expect ExpressPCB to be able to meet my request, since I know they are fairly busy.  This is not the sort of thing I generally do, since I know all about production schedules, and who really wants some customer coming along asking for special favors, etc.  and am therefore sympathetic to their position.

SURPRISE!  The boards will arrive tomorrow (Friday), MORE THAN A WEEK AHEAD OF SCHEDULE and less than a week turn around !!!! Needless to say, this is really a help.  Immediateliy, I sent a VERY nice thank-you to ExpressPCB.

I just wanted to let everyone know about this great company.  Good service should be reported!  We tend to report bad service, but how many of us report great service?

Faith restored (at least for today)  :) ;) :D ;D

Yes....Have used ExpressPCB several times for some rather complex projects at work and they are consistently outstanding in their service.

KU8L

AND I was impressed with the Customer Service at a company called REA.
The owner sent me an email about the availability of a product I purchased online, and that there was a slight delay in delivering.
Hi Steve....................
We all deserve some surprises once in a while.

Fred

Steve,

Thanks for sharing a good success story!  Often times people complain when things don't go well but its great to hear when they do go well!  I try to do the same thing to help spread the word. 

Fred,
Yep, your sure right about REA.  Having bought one of the hardware based Mod Monitors your absolutely correct about the service!  A good friend of mine is waiting for when the software based modulation will be available.  Maybe I should check the website!

Joe, W3GMS

Hi Fred, those boards I'm getting tomorrow will speed your shipment by about a week!!!

I'll give you another example of great customer service.

My Clifton Labs active probe took a lightning hit on Tuesday night. It was my fault, I had not turned it off so the input was not shorted. I decided the best plan was to order another one and then send the old one back to Jack Smith for repair. Jack builds these custom as they are ordered.

Jack told me he would start it and possibly he could ship by Friday. The next day , I got an email that he needed to know my connector type, as he was trying to ship it out Wednesday so I could get back on the air this weekend. He did in fact do that.

That is another example of going the extra mile, and I did not ask him to do it.

I'd highly recommend any of his products.

Pat
N4LTA