Kudos to an interaction with Sporty’s Pilot Shop. I made a web order with them yesterday — just a few items. Had a phone call back within half a day that left a message: “Mr. Hoffler, we’re sorry the widget you ordered in white is not in stock, and it’s no longer an item we carry. I am unable to fill that part of your order. Rest assured we’ll ship the rest of the order to you today, and you will not be charged for this item. We’re sorry we’re unable to fill your order. If you have further questions, my name is Bill, and you can reach me at 123-456-7890. Your order number is 1234567. Thank you for shopping at Sporty’s.“Now I could get irate about the fact their web doesn’t match their inventory, but that could happen to anyone. The fact is, I got a message from a real person that told me what would happen, it was the most reasonable thing that should happen, it was timely, personal, informative, gave me a forum to follow up, and was followed by real action (I got an email a few hours later with order number and tracking number)
Good customer is reasonable, personal, and on time.