Japanese Customer Service in the U.S.A.

It’s not every day that I recommend a business on the pages of Over A Hedge. In fact, this is my first time. Since I’m as quick as the next person to complain about bad customer service though, it only seems right to recognize impressive customer service.

Last June, I was looking for a special gift for my wife on our tenth anniversary. At a loss for ideas, I looked up the traditional gift ideas and discovered that aluminum was associated with a decade of marriage. At first, such a pedestrian material did not seem to offer many possibilities. An expensive saucepan would have been a welcome gift, but it didn’t quite represent the celebration of love for which I was aiming. What could I say, "It's hot, like you!"? An iPad seemed like a clever take on the aluminum theme, but again, the obsolescence cycle of electronic gadgetry didn’t succeed as an enduring symbol of love.

A bit of brainstorming led me to consider a bird bath (love birds?). While scanning aluminum models I happened upon a rather ugly example that was supported by two cranes. Cranes. Images of lifetime pair bonds, longevity, and Japan began to do an awkward, yet graceful dance in my head. A bit more searching later and I found the perfect gift--aluminum crane garden ornaments.

I searched every garden centre in my area to no avail. Not a single Canadian retailer offered them on-line either, so I took a chance on Japanese Style. Sure they offered one of the lowest prices, but as a Minnesota-based husband and wife owned business, they also seemed like my safest option.

The cranes arrived in good time, but when we opened them up, we discovered a flaw on one of them. There was a crease in the metal that exposed the fiberglass mould underneath. We were crestfallen. Had it not been an anniversary present, we probably would have just shrugged our shoulders and stuck them in the backyard, flaw pointed to the fence. Before long, I had snapped a couple pictures and sent an e-mail off to Japanese Style asking what our options were.

Our customer service rep, Monica, went right to work. She contacted the supplier and arranged to have a replacement shipped to us free of charge. Not only that, but she maintained e-mail contact with us along the way to provide status updates. It was that rarest thing one encounters nowadays, perfect customer service (manufacturer SPI Home deserves a nod here too).

We haven’t had the need to buy anything from Japanese Style since then, but if you're looking for Japanese products and don’t have a shop in your area, I heartily recommend them. If you live in the United States, you won’t even have to worry about duties or international shipping rates like I do.

At the risk of sounding like a total shill (honestly, I’m not on commission here!) they are offering 20% off of everything this (U.S.) Thanksgiving weekend if you use the code Thanksgiving2011. If you’re coming across this post after Thanksgiving and before December 31, 2011, I have a 10% coupon code that I can offer to the first person who e-mails me. Oh, and did I mention that they’ll give you a gift card on your birthday if you register an account with them? Hard to resist a place working this hard for your business.

http://www.japanesestyle.com/