Every knows I am a “new style of marketing” kind of guy. One of the things I really fight for is honest marketing. That is the battle I have chosen and it shows in my articles. Another part of the new style of marketing is going the extra mile for your customers as word-of-mouth is, next to existing customers, the easiest way to attract new customers.

We all have heard the story of 7 year old Luka who had his lost LEGO minifigure replaced after the customer service engineer talked to ‘Sensei Wu’ and even got some extras on top.

There are more stories like this out there especially when it comes to companies that are involved with children’s entertainment. These people go “the extra mile” because making people happy is already part of their job. Keeping existing customers this way is going to enhance that word-of-mouth and with a little luck some stories like that go viral and are priceless compared to the budget for regular marketing. This time it was my turn!

Did you really? 

So here’s the start of the story

— Hans De Leenheer (@HansDeLeenheer) January 15, 2014

Yeah, I know. Pretty stupid, right? If I would have taken the time to RTFM … I would have notice this:

Is it water resistant? Can I wear it swimming?

Your band is rain, splash, sweat, and shower-resistant, but you should remove your band before swimming, surfing, or exposing to other extreme conditions and activities like saunas and steam rooms. Do not submerge your band in liquids, including hot tubs or baths, at any time.

What Now?

Basically I was just showing the world my own stupidity … until Jawbone actually saw my tweet and responded.

@HansDeLeenheer DM us with your email address, we’ll get in touch to help!

— JawboneSupport (@JawboneSupport) January 15, 2014

I kind of had a ‘hunch’ of what could happen next, being one of those people that would love to set these types of customer service up myself. And yet, they went the extra mile! This is what is happening right NOW!

Hi Hans,

Thanks for writing in on Twitter – I’m sorry to hear that your band went swimming with you.

While damaged products aren’t covered under our 1 year warranty, I’d like to make exception for you. Please send over your shipping address and phone number, and I’ll move forward with the processing a warranty exchange. Looking forward to hearing back from you!

Best,

Jawbone Customer Advocate

And they weren’t kidding. This morning I had en email from FedEX that a packet has been shipped to my address (in BELGIUM!) from San Jose. So not even did they wait for a damaged good to return, not even did they just send me a discount, not even did they send me a package from a local distributor, NO, they have send it from HQ San Jose. Can’t wait for it Jawbone! 

Happily Ever After

I guess that Big Jambox is now coming closer to an acquisition! You paid forward, I’ll pay back. The only question they haven’t answered yet is if this is really a program as such for stupid people or if they have noticed I am a marketer or that I have been advocating for the Jawbone UP in my social media channels before.

THEY WEREN’T KIDDING!

update jan 22, 2014

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