It’s nice to be nice, ain’t it.

So allow me to pass on a tale of good customer service. A tale to inspire, to encourage, to coax, but above all a tale to warm our consumer hearts and restore our faith in humanity.

OK, maybe it’s not that good a tale. But it is a story of good customer service, and it’s nice to be able to say that.

It is a tad long though.

Those of you who know me, even if it’s only through this blog, will know that I do love my gadgets. Taking up jogging was, not intentionally but fortunately, an excellent excuse to ‘invest’ in some gadgets. Sure they may be slightly different from the norm but a wicking top is still a high tech item and it sates my lust. Obviously the Nike+ system has been my favourite but there are always new things to consider, to ponder and to purchase.

And so it was that, having read several recommendations in various forums, I decided to buy a pair of elastic laces.

Now, I know what you are thinking. You are thinking, “god this is boring, I might go and watch a pot boil as that is easily more stimulating than this dross”. Well read on, because it’s about to get a whole lot more exciting! Oh yes!!

Umm… ok, not really.

One thing I still have problems with, despite spending a not inconsiderable sum on getting the correct running shoes, is getting the lacing just right. Not too tight as that hurts my feet, not too loose as that leads to comped plasters, but just right so my feet feel at one with the shoe and I can bound forward like a gazelle.. which has recently eaten a hippo.

In trying to solve this problem I tried a variety of different lacing systems, but got bored with that after a while and started look for alternatives. I toyed with getting a pair of speed laces but all that plastic put me off. Then I heard about elastic laces.

Will to try anything once (a lot of things twice!), and with the double whammy of fueling my ‘gadget-lust’ I followed a recommendation and headed over to the online retailer Wiggle and have quickly ordered two pairs of lock laces, one red, one white.

A week or so passed and the parcel arrived at work. In the midst of a million and one tasks, I ripped the bag open, checked inside and saw only one pair of red laces. “Ohh well”, thought I, “maybe the other ones were out of stock, I’ll check the shipping note later”.

Arriving home, I opened the packaging only to find that I should have had the pair of white laces delivered as well. Looking closely I spotted a small tear in the packaging, something I’d spotted earlier but not given much thought.

“Bugger”.

Now, at this point I should stress that the laces were not expensive, and I had only bought an extra pair because they were so cheap… so it wasn’t that big a deal that I was missing a pair. However I did email Wiggle to inform them that I had only received one pair, even if that was due to the packaging being damaged,

A flurry of quick emails later (confirming order, and what I’d received) and they happily agreed to ship me my ‘missing’ pair of laces. Great stuff! Throughout the transactions they conducted themselves with an obvious commitment to good customer service and so, as I promised them in my final email, I said I’d be praising them on my blog.

So I have. Well done Wiggle! Ohh they’ve got a blog too.