I subscribed to Raijin Comics a while back because I'd picked up a number of issues at my local comic book store, but was just having trouble getting there every week to pick it up. A week or so ago I realized that I hadn't gotten an issue, so emailed them asking them to either send me a new one, or just extend my subscription by one issue.

I had included the message in the post, but decided to take it down since I noticed that at the bottom of the email there's a disclaimer that asks me not to republish the letter. Too bad, because their customer support really pulled through and I would have loved to have shared it with folks. The gist of the message was that they were sorry I didn't get the missing issue. And even though their policy was to just ship out a replacement, they'd bend the rules this time and extend my subscription by an issue (making it very clear that it was a one time thing and they don't normally do this).

I just felt I had to comment on it because to me it shows part of what good customer service is about, being flexible. The fact that they were able to make an exception for me this time shows that their support people aren't just droids who are following a script of how to deal with customer issues. They're thinking for themselves and working on keeping their customers happy. Even if it was just a one time way of helping, it still showed more thought then usual. And even if they were exaggerating a little about bending the rules, they still made this customer feel special. Oh, and they responded within two days of my emailing them. Not too shabby.