tedster - 5:22 am on May 23, 2001 (gmt 0)

>> a discontented customer is one of the best things that can happen to you. <<

I couldn't agree more. I spent 20 years in the bricks world doing retail management before I caught the web bug. The more we instilled in our company the sense of LOVING complaints, and also empowering people to handle them well, the more our businesses thrived.

After all, if something is wrong, the sooner we know the better. We figured that for everyone who takes the time to let us know what was wrong, at least another 20 people had the same problem.

Some of the most loyal customers can be the ones who got great service when they had a problem. It can be a great investment to offer them some significant form of compensation -- like a 50% discount. You bet they'll be doing some great word-of-mouth for you with a deal like that, and chances are you'll still be breaking even. It's FREE advertising.