Good Bose Story

[nightflier]

Well I guess that's why a $550 system retails for $1799. It's all how a company chooses to use the money they generate. When I used to drive an Audi I had a similar experience. Service at the Audi-VW dealer always went like this: I drove right past the long line of VW owners waiting in their cars, a well dressed gentleman with a clip-board opened my door, asked a few questions, and then asked how I wanted my cup of coffee while he walked me to the air-conditioned lounge with plasma TV & cable. I'm going to guess that technically, the Audi is not much different than the VW, but the service is impeccable. I suppose that a Bose speaker is also no better than a Sony, but the service... well you get the idea.

[BarryL]

Well I guess that's why a $550 system retails for $1799. It's all how a company chooses to use the money they generate. ...I'm going to guess that technically, the Audi is not much different than the VW, but the service is impeccable. I suppose that a Bose speaker is also no better than a Sony, but the service... well you get the idea.

...which is as it should be. All purchases come with implied promises - that you will get what the company promises. The real test is when something goes wrong. When that happens most companies won't even stand up for their basic promises. They'd rather spend a lot of time, money and effort wearing you down rather than winning you over.

You may be right that you get what you pay for, but usually you don't even get that. And whatever you buy, you paid for it. And if as a business you are going to aspire to brand excellence, then it has to show at every point of customer contact. It takes effort and it wins customer loyalty. Bose did it right and made me feel good. Service sucks so badly in most places that they look like heroes. If this kind of thing happened every day I wouldn't have to tell this story.

So to me they are service heroes and the brand is great. If you choose to buy Bose, great service is part of the package. And yet for that guy in Massachusetts, he does this everyday for someone. He didn't ask for proof of purchase or even check with the Canadian distribution centre to see if I was telling the truth. He didn't have to open a file and get approval from his supervisor. They had a process in place to guarantee customer satisfaction before the customer called.

Here's what's more typical. Air Canada bumped my wife and I off our honeymoon flight because, they said, we didn't call the airline 24 hours before the flight. But I have non-refundable, non-transferrable tickets, I said. Choosing another flight wasn't an option. Then she made a big stink about it, while holding up the rest of the customers. Finally, after talking to a supervisor, we were moved up to business class seats, and told that they were only doing that because we were on our honeymoon. Not because they have a policy of f-ing their paying customers, but because the customers are morons and they know best how to run a ticket reservation system. 20 years later I still hate Air Canada, even though their service isn't any worse than anyone else's and is probably better. But their attitude remains the same.

My experience with Bose today was absolutely the exception, and it was fantastic. Praise be Bose, for their entertainment components and their service.

[poppachubby]

Praise be Bose, for their entertainment components and their service.

Hahaha. Hey Barry, I'm glad everything worked out for you. Let's not forget, Bose are content to sell you something for $550 which retails for $1800, and most likely still at a profit! Praise be Bose, for their profit margin and their bottom line.