November customer service award goes to….Sonos!
A few weeks ago, I got an email from Rachel Stagnaro, representing Sonos PR. She told me that Sonos "has listened to blog posts and forums" and has responded to the "#1 customer request and most hotly debated topic" and has added more content selection. She offered me a sneak peak at the new interface, which was slated to launch a week later. Eager to learn more, I replied asking how broadly the email was distributed. It turns out the email was sent to a select list of bloggers and people who had contacted Sonos to voice their opinions on the interface, namely the lack of keyword search. I fit into both categories since I blogged about it and wrote the VP of Product Management offering my consulting services. Not only did Sonos listen to our concerns, but they responded by introducing a drastically improved user interface with search functionality and allowed the most vocal customers to get first dibs. I had doubted Sonos since I purchased the system a few months ago, but they’ve righted the ship with this move and I’m back fully on board.
Best feature of Google Checkout - don’t share your email with the merchant
I just ordered a Jawbone bluetooth headset from eCost.com (cheapest quality merchant on Pricegrabber). When I went to checkout, they listed Google Checkout as a separate checkout option. I logged in and two clicks later, the transaction was complete. But along the way, there was a checkbox next to the statement "Keep email address anonymous from eCost.com". Why, yes, please, thank you. Google Checkout allowed me to order from a merchant without sharing my email address, preventing the inevitable onslaught of promos and sale notifications I would receive for several months or years thereafter. This is a huge benefit, not to mention the two-click checkout speed. Google Checkout has been fighting an uphill battle against Paypal for a while, and this won’t part the red sea for them, but it’s a nice enough feature, that it made me notice and so will bring me back again soon. Not to mention, I can charge the item to my credit card and get the miles, something that is more difficult to accomplish on Paypal.