Do you write letters (email) to corporations in thanks for great service?

Of course not. I already “thank” them enough by giving them my money. Costs for service are already part of the price calculation of their products, so I have already paid for that service and there is absolutely no reason to further spend effort and time on a thank you email.

You make a good point @ragingloli
I thought of that.
Is good service so rare that it needs to be thanked?

I rarely do remember to do this. I will fill in ‘Give us feedback’ cards if they are available and particularly if someone has given me really good service (or not so good). Usually my participation in such things is driven by interaction with a particular member of staff. For instance, I stayed in a hotel in London and a couple of the staff really stood out as being helpful and friendly so I wrote to their management after I got back home. Rare for me to think to do that though. I should do it more often.

Yes, I often send favorable feedback when service is unusually good.

Why in the hell would I do that? It’s the individual working that deserves the praise, not the CEO.

All the time. They will normally send free samples or discount vouchers if you do.

Recently I sent one to a company that makes special tooth paste for smokers. In return they posted me a 50g pot of the stuff, normally priced at $7 in the chemist, free of charge. Well worth the 2 minutes it took to send a generic thank you for making a great product letter by email.

Absolutely. I write about the specific employee who was amazing or about a product I think is fantastic. Sometimes I just call customer service, or tell the manager in person, etc. Depends on the situation.

I have done that twice in the past 8–10 years: once for Enterprise Rent a car and once for Blount , the makers of Oregon Chainsaw chains.
I had one particular travel incident that required the staff to go well beyond their normally helpful and courteous service. They were so good I wanted to introduce them to my single son!

In the case of Blount, it was the product that was fantastic. I thought all chainsaw chains were the same until I tried one of theirs. The engineering that went into this “simple” chain was impressive: built in anti-vibration, anti-kickback features as well as the usual long lasting, razor-sharp cutting edges. I wondered how the heck do you make a chain anti-vibration so I sent the complimentary email and asked.
i received an email back with my answer, a thank you, and the promise to send a newer chain with yet more features. The new chain arrived about a week later with a booklet describing all the types of chains they make.
I love that company and their products.

No, but I’ve never formally complained about bad service either. I let it go. If I have great service somewhere, I’ll compliment the employee right then and there. In fact, my husband and I had a fantastic server at Outback last night, so I tipped him an extra few dollars and wrote on the credit card receipt, “Perfect food, perfect service. Thank you.”

I feel that’s sufficient. After all, he only did a great job at, well, his job. He didn’t save kids from a burning building or anything. Those notes made my day when I was a server, and I know I’d prefer a 25% tip over a letter to corporate any day. And who’s to say he’d ever find out about the letter? As @Blackberry said, it’s the employee that deserves a little extra pat on the back, not the company’s corporate office. They didn’t do squat but hire a good worker.

@Blackberry @livelaughlove21 Writing the corporation to compliment an employee is with the goal to give the employee recognition and to either reinforce the environment in the company for service, or, get them to clue in on what is good service if only a handful of employees are doing a good job at it. Most companies do get the info back to the employee and the rest of the staff. I once wrote a letter about my construction manager when I was building a house with Centex. Every employee I came across said, “aren’t you the one who wrote the letter in about John?” They all knew. I wrote specifically what I was happy about, and how his service exceeded my expectations. Hopefully the other construction managers learned from it.

When I worked at Bloomingdale’s getting customer compliments was a big deal. It happened quite regularly in the store. It would be announced at store meetings.

Service usually comes from the top down, so the CEO often does have something to do with it. I have said on fluther many times that good customer service can be taught. Not everyone knows intuitively how to give good customer service. There used to be much more training for employees in almost all industries. In my opinion the lack of service training is very obvious.

No, I never have. I agree completely with @ragingloli.

I wrote an “attaboy” email last year to the CEO of a corporation that took a pro-gay stand against Chick-fil-A. I also recently wrote a thank you note to a company praising them for their customer service. I’ve always believed in paying compliments and thanks whenever and wherever they’re due, whether money is involved or not.

No, but I do make a point of complimenting employees face-to-face. I also tip very well.

Perhaps I’m cynical, but I find it hard to believe that a letter to corporate would ever find its way down to a single employee. Nor would it make any difference if they were restructuring and tagged that employee for layoffs.
“Wait, we can’t layoff Carl, he got that letter of praise once”

@JLeslie I’m far from convinced that such a letter making it’s way down to low-level employees is standard. A construction manager is hardly the same as a server at a restaurant or a cashier at a department store. If I send a letter to the Outback corporate office in Wherever, USA, I seriously doubt Joe Server in Columbia, SC is going to get the message. And again, I’m pretty sure paying him a direct compliment is at least just as good.

And I’m also not convinced that Mr. CEO has much to do with the customer service skills of those low-level employees. He certainly isn’t hiring or training them directly, if we’re talking big corporations.

Maybe this is different for small businesses or compliments on management, but the people at the bottom of the totem pole? Doubtful. I’m sure there are exceptions, but I’ll stick to face-to-face compliments. I’m a bank teller and, yeah, my boss hearing good things about me would probably get me a little smile and pat in the back (provided such a letter ever made it down from our main office to the branch), but she already knows I’m a good employee by me doing my job in the way that I do. A customer paying me a compliment at my teller window might actually make that day at work a little less tedious. I’d personally prefer that course of action.

Yes of course I do.
while it is human nature and much statistical evidence that shows people only go out of there way to complain.
I take the approach of tell them anything that is outside the norm. Tell them the bad and the good.
I did this last when I had delivery of good for a remodeling project. When I called to tell them how great they did they thank me back and said “we never get calls to appreciate”. I followed it up in written form to make sure the guys that busted there hump know that it didnt go unnoticed.
it is also human nature that many people will try to continue to achieve those reviews again when they get them.
for me a company should care about hearing both sides. Its the only way they can grow or know they are failing.
GQ!

@livelaughlove21 I completely disagree with you about the Outback example. If it does not get back to the employee I would be shocked and extremely dissappointed in that organization. You could be right of course, but it would suck. For someone to bother to write a compliment usually is recognized by the top down, because they know it takes some real effort for a customer to bother to do it.

I would never discourage face-to-face compliments, I agree those are very important, I do that all the time. Letter writing is above and beyond that, not lieu of.

Yes I just wrote one this week. I had had a bad experience in a grocery store. I complained at the service desk. The man that I spoke with was very helpful, apologizing because there was no meat cutter on duty, giving me a gift card and gas points, and his name, position and telephone number when I said I would have to come back, because they did not have the advertised items. He told me to call him, and he would go around the store and get everything so that it was ready for me, Then I went back (I did not take him up on he very kind offer) found everything I wanted, got the meat cutter who was very helpful and pleasant to cut my roast, and then when I was in line for checkout a clerk came over to me and said she would help me through the self-check line so I didn’t have to wait in line. I wrote a letter telling the manager how their good service had erased my bad experience and I would continue to shop there.

I almost always fill out surveys about customer service, when they are offered online or by phone. I thank people in person. But I don’t write or phone for the sole purpose of expressing gratitude for what I think should be expected.

@JLeslie Good point, there are times when that can work.

No emails to corporate offices. But I highly value good customer service, and when an employee goes above and beyond, I make sure to tell their boss. Telling my appreciation to the employee makes them feel good; telling my appreciation to their boss positively reinforces whatever efforts and resources the boss is allocating to developing a quality staff.

In many companies these days, good customer service has less priority than lowest prices. But it’s still out there, and I try to spend my dollars with the businesses who understand the value of good customer relations.

I am about to call my local internet service repair deck to thank them for fixing a problem that should not have arisen. But since the department consists of three people (and my very good friend, John the repair guy) I like to remind them that I can be both enraged and grateful.

Edit:..desk…

Follow-up on my particular situation:
I got a very personal email back thanking me for taking time to recognize the service that they, as a company, aim to give.
The email was precise and not a form letter. I was assured that the people who assisted me would be acknowledged…. and…. I got a $25 gift card for something that took me virtually no effort to do.
Win win.

Yes, we do it all time.

I just called the company that provides plumbing/electrical help for me and thanked them for the electrician who showed up (on time and as scheduled) yesterday: he did his job, found several creative and inexpensive solutions to some problems and gave me good advice for future issues (plus vacuumed under the refrigerator, which was not in his job description.)

The owner of the company sounded surprised but also pleased.

Yes, I do, when their product or service is exceptional.
About a year ago I sent the company that makes LaraBars thanking them for making junk-free snack bars. They sent me a handful of $1-off coupons for future purchases.
I think the water tank on my Bionaire is one of the best designs ever, (it is very easy to hold and carry at any angle and with one or both hands) and let them know.