Months ago, I posted about a bad encounter I’d had with a Hostgator rep after years of great customer service. Afterwards, the Hostgator people contacted me on Twitter to make sure I was okay, etc. They’re STILL great in my book and one bad apple didn’t spoil the bunch. I also have to wonder if the guy might have just had a bad day.

Tonight, I received 5 star stellar customer service. It’s something we should ALL strive for as online marketers – and I do, do you? I want to give kudos to John Keller of iTunes Store Customer Support. Here’s what happened:

I got an iPod Nano for Christmas. I got a $100 gift card with it and Christmas Day I downloaded $40+ worth of songs onto it after my son showed his old tech dummy mom how. Fast forward to today and I try to add 4 more songs onto the iPod, but I accidentally erase the other songs and now only have 4. ACK!

I emailed iTunes in the late afternoon telling them what happened and asking for help. I had already deleted the songs from my computer since I thought they were safe on my iPod. By 8 PM on the same day I had a pleasant reply from Mr. John Keller – empathetic about what I was going through and step by step instructing me on how to fix it. He had replaced the songs for me and told me how to put them back on my iPod.

I emailed him back thanking him profusely and he replied back saying he was more than welcome to help, etc. I just want to say – BRAVO Apple for hiring John Keller to keep in touch with your customers. I hope I get the AppleCare survey email they might send me, but even if they don’t, here’s a public applause for you.

To my readers who are also marketers, we need to strive for the same thing. I am consciously on the lookout for good customer service now. I take the TIME to compliment those who provide it and not just complain about those who don’t.

And let me remind you that with the economy as it is, there’s even MORE reason to provide excellent customer service than ever before – your customers are being picky about who they spend their dollars with. I can tell you right now that when I want to download music, it’ll be with iTunes. Why? Because John Keller ensured I had a good experience even when a glitch occurred.

Tiff