Companies that do you right

Thought it might be helpful if we shared experiences of companies that do you a solid when the shit hits the fan.

Two have recently surprised me... Weber, the bbq grill company, replaced a few things on my brothers grill even though it was past warranty and he had no receipt. The other is Behr, the deck stain company. I royally fckd up applying a gallon of their coating to my new deck, applied way too heavy. Called them for advice, and they sent me a voucher, no expiration, to reimburse me for another can of stain, a can of stuff to remove the botched stuff, and a can of cleaner that gets applied between steps. Totally my fault, but they didn’t hesitate. Solid company.

 

America's Tire has always made it right even if there was an issue. I now live in a state where there's no America's Tire and it sucks

 

Both Patagonia and The North Face for me.

I actually buy the stuff to use and not for the status or logo. I have Patagonia shirts going on 7+ years of nearly once a week wear and they are still great. I had a 10+ year old day pack from TNF that blew out a zipper, sent it in for repair and it was sent back fixed new for free. Most companies consider a zipper a wear item. Patagonia is the same way.

I got 13-14 years out of a winter coat before buying a new one just this past week. For the hell of it, I sent the old one back for repair and if I can pay a few bucks, or they take care of me yet again, I might keep the old one and donate the new one to someone else who needs it.

 

Agreed, I love America's Tire. They always have great service and their free replacement warranty had been worth every penny for me on previous vehicles.

 

Rotopax took care of me when 3/4 cans I purchased had to be warrantied. Their product still sucks for what it is though. They bloat in the sun so badly you can't get them off their mounts during day time.

@Pelfreybilt has always taken good care of me though! Even after an ordering goof way back when they made good with me. Would do business again!

REI is good too. Took me 3 sets of hiking boots to find something that didn't cause foot pain. No issues returning brand new boots after a single hike.

 

Bose, had a wireless earbuds that went kaput after one year , they sent me a brand new pair after I sent them the old pair.

 

I'll second this, good people from every encounter I've had with them.

 

Costco. Anything I buy that doesn't meet my expectations gets happily returned by them. Fortunately, this is rare as nearly everything they sell is great.

 

Quoted for truth. Although they do sell some semi crappy stuff, there are zero issues returning even if well past the date. Hell I even returned 3 cooked rib racks. I opened them, they smelled a little off but that can happen in cyrovac, so I smoked them for 5 hours, still smelled funny so I returned them. Lady didn’t even flinch.

 

And they also treat their employees well from everything I hear, which also counts for something to me as a shopper.

 

Toyota Corp.

 

similar story, bought their dog food, tried weaning our dog onto it for about a half bag and her stomach didn't handle it well, took back the half bag and they accepted it no questions asked. main reason why we went through them for our new refrigerator despite paying a $100 more than home depot, better reviews on their warranty program as well.

 

Liberty Bottleworks. I had an issue with one of their bottles. I emailed them pictures of it and requested a completely different bottle for a replacement. They sent it out quickly. Unfortunately, they sent the wrong size. I emailed again and told them about it, and they sent the correct one out immediately and told me to keep both bottles.

 

In the past it was Cabela's.Never had an issue with replacing anything.Ripped the zipper on some Guidewear bibs(5 years old),and they replaced them with the new version.New ones zip to the hip,old ones zipped right above the knee.They pretty much honor items with their name on it.Hope they don't go the way of Gander Mountain.

Another one is Tires Plus.They replaced a set of tires that their tech bruised when dismounting them to install winter tires.2 tires had a bruise mark on them,did not find out until the following spring.Was going to have those mounted on a separate set of wheels for summer use.I had some other shop doing that,and they called me telling about the defects.Took tires back to TP,and manager gave me 4 new tires.No BS prorate or that.

 

Costco- again for the win for damn near everything
Red Wing Shoes- for my and my parents feet
Bombay Motorsports- for my motorcycle parts'n pieces and gear

 

Mine’s gotta be Pfaltzgraff. Had ordered some extra serving dishes and such to match our set and had two things come in broken - one just chipped on the edge, the other one half shattered from the handle over. Called up and was sent replacements for the two pieces in question immediately, no shipping or anything, no problems. Got the replacements here just in time for Thanksgiving too.

 

A couple local companies for me:
Costco.
They'll take stuff back that's way past any reasonable return period when we don't end up using it. I saw a lady returning an eaten box of chocolates (empty box). They didn't flinch.

As somebody mentioned, they pay a good living wage to their warehouse workers. The people that work there are well taken care of and thus they take care of their customers and it shows. It's a type of business model I rigorously support.

Nordstrom.
I extremely rarely shop there, but their service is off the charts and they'll stand behind their products beyond any reasonable measure. A coworker went back with a few years old set of shoes. A button had fallen off or something and she wanted if see if they had any replacement buttons. They replaced her shoes - I think she said they were several hundred $$$'s. Their employees are completely empowered to do the right thing for the customer.

 

I find that most places are willing to help out if you approach them properly. I had an ex who would call some company up and scream and threaten and wonder why they never helped her out “what a shitty company” she would say.

I always approach with they honest explanation, appeal to the person on the phone, ask for help. “What would you do if you were me?” Or “is there any kind of warranty that would cover this?” Are two that usually work for me!

Aside from that I have had great experiences (equip replaced or repaired for free) at:
LLBean
Outdoor Research
GoLite (out of biz)
Thermarest
Garmont
MSR
EBC Brakes
Dewalt
Arcteryx
K2
Toyota of course

(Yea many of my favorites are outdoor gear companies)

 

OtterBox. They have some amazing customer service reps. I had a defender case on my phone that was about 3 years old and the rubber outer cover would slip off the inner plastic case. Called to see about getting a replacement cover and they sent me an entirely new case for it. All I had to do was give them a number inside the case.

 

Lifeproof phone cases had one on my old phone was 2 weeks past the year warranty. My charging port door broke an they warrantied it sent me a whole new case an color of my choosing only had to pay 5$ shipping an ZAGG tempered glass screen protectors same thing with wife’s phone.