Now THAT is Customer Service!

Almost three years ago, I entered an amateur photography contest. There were several categories. I entered this photo in the "Abstract" category:

Photo not preserved: Stained Glass Ceiling

This was taken from a ceiling above a fountain in a shopping area between the Paris casino and Bally's casino in Las Vegas.

Anyway, I won a prize package that included Bose QuietComfort headphones. Retail price: $300.

I know, I can hear you now. "WHAT?? THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS?? They're JUST headphones!!"

But they're not JUST headphones. I've never worn any listening apparatus that comes even close to the experiece of Bose QuietComfort headphones. I use them on airplanes every chance I get. I have been able to listen to symphonic music on jet planes, even when sitting BEHIND wing-mounted engines, and I could still hear the small nuances of the music. I actually FELL ASLEEP while wearing them on a TURBOPROP between Miami and Key West, and if you've ever been on a turboprop aircraft, you KNOW how noisy those things are! If all of that doesn't convince you that Bose QuietComfort headphones are something truly magical, then this will: I was able to sleep through the night while acting as a chaperone in a cabin full of fifth-grade boys. Yes, they're THAT good!

So you can imagine my distress when, during my recent flight between Salt Lake City and Minneapolis St. Paul, I noticed that the headband on my wonderful headphones was CRACKING!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

As I walked from one concourse to another in the Minneapolis St. Paul airport, I noticed a Bose kiosk. I stopped and showed the headphones to the attendant at the Kiosk and he told me that the cracking I was seeing was a known problem in earlier versions of the headhpones and that they had subsequently fixed the problem. He said I should call Bose Customer Service and they would likely replace them.

HOOOOOOOOOORAAAAAAAAAAY!!!

So I did just that. Despite the fact that I had owned the headphones for almost three years and they only had a one year warranty, they gave me an RMA number and instructions to ship them back. It cost me around $15 for shipping, insurance, and packaging materials to ship them.

Today, I received a brand new pair of Bose QuietComfort 2 headphones. I wasn't expecting to receive them for another month or so. They're WONDERFUL. The headband wasn't the only improvement they made. They're quieter and the sound seems better to me. Then again, I could be unintentionally exaggerating because I'm so happy with the customer service I received:

No runaround.
No accusation that I mistreated them.
No questions other than questions that helped them determine what was wrong.
Extremely fast service

I like Bose!