Great customer service follow-up: LG Electronics

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Great customer service follow-up: LG Electronics

posted @ Wednesday, September 02, 2009 11:05 PM | 9 Comments

About 2 months ago I wrote about an experience with an electronics company (LG Electronics USA) and some amazing customer service they were providing. The bottom line recap was this:

I bought a TV about 5 years ago
TV started getting wonky about 8 months ago
TV was self-declared dead 2 months ago
TV was out of warranty by YEARS
I called on a whim to LG support
They extended the warranty to cover the full cost of repairs

All this process so far, no questions asked. No feeling of guilt. No making it seem like they were bending over backwards or that they were really doing me a favor.

To catch up, the repairs have failed. Personally I think it is a combination of the TV going bad and the authorized repair facility (who had admittedly never worked on an LG unit – so how are you authorized then?) not really putting things in right. After 3 attempts and 2 new parts (optics unit and some drive board) which appeared to have totaled about USD $1,000 retail (what I would have had to pay), it still wasn’t working. The repair guy was frustrated and left my house with saying I just put in the parts…you’ll have to call LG. He was not friendly.

We called LG again thinking they would say that they’ve given their best effort and apologize and we’d be on our way. Not so. Again, rather than making us feel bad at all the next conversation shocked me…it was along the lines of this: We’re so sorry Mr. Heuer you’ve had this problems. We don’t want to inconvenience you anymore. We’d like to replace your TV with a new one.

In case you didn’t hear it, that was the sound of me picking my jaw up off the floor.

Wow. Their service just keeps getting better. We had to do some verification by sending in the label from our old unit (via FedEx that they paid for). I got a call the next business day after delivery was confirmed. The call was simple: here are the three models you can pick from. Wow…choice even! Since they didn’t have my model anymore I could choose a 50” plasma, 47” plasma or a 42” LCD (our original was 44”). Holy cow…I had to pinch myself. I chose the 42 (retail value $1500) because of where it was going and didn’t need anything more.

This whole process has really just been simply amazing to me. I cannot believe how this company is really taking customer service seriously. Bravo LG, bravo.

tags: customer service, gitomer, lge, lg electronics, lg

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution By license.

Comments

Harshad Kale

9/3/2009 12:22 AM | # re: Great customer service follow-up: LG Electronics

That is great!
LG has the most efficient customer care service, I guess.
They are equally efficient here in India too.
Steve

9/3/2009 5:50 AM | # re: Great customer service follow-up: LG Electronics

LG's service in Australia is exactly why I have swarn never to buy LG again. I had a settop box with a software bug that on the odd occasion if a broadcaster sent down a certain programming information type the box would hang and have to be totally disconnected and that channel could not be used until the said program had finished. Called LG and they admitted it was a software bug. But I could only get it fixed if I drove the box to the repair centre in the next city leave it there a few days then drive back to pick it up. I live in a city with nearly 2 million people but no LG service agent. It was cheaper for me to buy a new settop box then spend the time and fuel. Since then I spoke to a person who works in retail and they told me about kick backs that LG give to stores to sell their products and that retailers say that LG stands for Lucky if it Goes. Get Sony guts.
yaip

9/3/2009 4:42 PM | # re: Great customer service follow-up: LG Electronics

I have an overhead projector (Panasonic PTAX-100U) that I bought from Costco On-line. It started giving me problems recently and I had to UPS it to KS from CA. They gave me an estimate of $1,600/- to fix it. WTF??!! My projector was out of warranty. I had paid $1,900/- when I bought it almost 2 years ago. So I called Costco's Concierge Service. THEY PAID FOR THE ENTIRE EXPENSE INCLUDING OVERNIGHTING IT BACK TO ME.

Remember, if you buy any electronic devices from Costco On-line, Costco Concierge Service will take care of ALL the servicing and repairs for two years from the date of purchase. Even if your device is out of warranty. I just had 20 days left before my two years got over.

Costco rocks!
Dave Barak

9/4/2009 8:22 AM | # re: Great customer service follow-up: LG Electronics

Sadly, my experience with LG is crap.

I bought a new DVD drive and it wouldn't install. I contacted customer service TWICE using their online support form, and I never heard anything back.

I then filed an online warranty claim and still heard nothing.

Maybe if they had been able to willing to help, I could recommend them, but with the experience I had, I steer people away from LG.
timheuer

9/4/2009 8:24 AM | # re: Great customer service follow-up: LG Electronics

I know others don't share the same experiences as I. I can tell you only what my experiences have been. Likewise with other companies I've had really crappy experiences where my friends have not. I really believe it depends on who your first contact is and how willing they are to help. In my case I think the fact that the model was recalled (and our particular unit never got notified) they were more willing to make it right.
Web Survey

9/8/2009 1:15 PM | # re: Great customer service follow-up: LG Electronics

Customer service plays an important role in an organization's ability to generate revenues, and as such, customer service should be a fundamental part of any company’s "valued customer" approach. In fact, there's an enormous body of research, which strongly indicates that customer satisfaction and loyalty; are major contributors to profitability.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and insight.

Best wishes.
Chariclia Filippa

10/12/2009 7:49 AM | # re: Great customer service follow-up: LG Electronics

I am working at the customer Service for a big company ..
The customer service is the heart of the company ..we are always ready to face up and immediately solve the problems of our customers ....But with LG is a little bit different!!!
I bought a mobile phone LG model V960 ( IME : 355773010689761) one and half years ago..
During my conversation my mobile cuts out automatically . I bring my phone to repair ( my phone is still under quarantee ..it was for two years) and it took two months to get back my phone ..I was without mobile phone for two months!!!!!!!!!! I received the phone and after two months i had the same problem ..my phone it cuts out automatically during the conversation.I brought the phone to repair and the man in charge told me that the problem it was the battery , because the software has been checked . Now after tree weeks time the battery not still arrived ..I am without mobile phone ..Is that possible ?????.
I live in italy my email: filippa.chara@libero.it

My opinion is that I need a replacement of e new one
in case the LG customer service will receive my email pls contact me ...
I thank you very much
Chara filippa
Dale Ringo

12/23/2009 11:31 AM | # re: Great customer service follow-up: LG Electronics

If you check, thousands of people have been treated horribly by LG customer service. Theres a reason why people are calling in the first place...broken products, especially plasma tvs. They should fix items out of warranty when the same problem occurs in thousands of tvs that cost over 3000.00!! The person who says he loves the treatment he received must be an employee! Read online posts and comments from everyone else to see that LG makes defective TVs and never admits to this or takes care of their customers! If you buy LG products expect to have to rebuy it again in one or two years!!
ginbibi

1/11/2010 8:27 AM | # re: Great customer service follow-up: LG Electronics

My experience with LG was the exact opposite of yours. My LGHDTV was 3 months over the one year warranty when the panel just went black. Best Buy diagnosed it as a defective panel. I have received no satisfaction from LG. They said they would pay for parts and mail me shipping labels. They haven't. Neither have they responded to my emails. The people at their customer service center don't seem to know what they are talking about. First they told me that it was a two year warranty, then they told me one year. I will never buy an LG product again. I'm tired of the junk that is being passed off on consumers today. I pulled my old Sony out of the basement when my LG TV went kaput. I dusted it off and voila! it works fine.