Great customer experience

With the explosion of pregnant ladies in our lives last summer, we were seeking alternate beverages to serve our guests that still felt special and were tasty. I'd had a lavender dry soda at a yummy restaurant in Redmond, so I was exciting when I saw these sodas at the grocery store. I started buying them for our pregnant guests and they were a big hit.

In the meantime, Benjamin became a kumquat dry soda addict and has been buying them regularly ever since. They're a great choice compared to regular soda health wise, but they're harder on the pocketbook.

So recently Benjamin found two bottles out of two four-packs that didn't have properly closed tops (whether this occur ed at manufacturing, in transit, or in the store we haven't a clue). Being the prudent man he is, Benjamin poured them out.

Being the detail-oriented wife I am, I emailed the local Dry Soda company (from my iPhone on the couch while watching Buffy) and let them know about the problem we'd had. I asked for a free four-pack coupon in return for our trouble. The company wrote back first thing the next morning and said they'd send over a "case" to our house right away and to please just let them know which store we bought it from so they could look into the problem.

I wrote back and they sent us the drinks right away. The case turned out to be more like 10 bottles, but still a generous, prompt, and courteous reply to my customer service inquiry. So I wanted to say how great these drinks are and that the local Seattle company is good too. Splurge and grab some when you want a nice non-alcoholic option for yourself or guests.

(Another day I'll tell you about my completely unsatisfying customer experience with Plaxo, but not today.)

Be a good little guinea pig

Guinea Pig by Futuregirl

Here's another place to sign up to participate in usability studies--Amazon.com Usability Sign-Up. This is in addition to the ones I've blogged before, such as Adobe, Microsoft, and Fieldworks (market research).