1
above-and-beyond
above-and-beyond
(mine)
Outback Steakhouse Manager Overreacts To Spilled Beers -- But In A Good Way
By Chris Morran on February 3, 2012 2:30 PM
63 Comments
Most of the e-mail we get into our tip line, especially with regards to restaurants, is about rude waitstaff, awful food and uncaring managers. So it was a very pleasant surprise to hear this story from Consumerist reader Rob, whose visit to Outback Steakhouse started sourly but ended happily. More »
(Tashi & Wash)
ThinkGeek Makes Christmas Possible For Cancer Patient & Family
By Chris Morran on December 29, 2011 5:00 PM
41 Comments
For Consumerist reader Tashi and her husband, Wash, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer only a few months after they wed, perusing the ThinkGeek catalog was something they would do to amuse themselves and keep their spirits up — even if they couldn't really afford to buy most of the items they coveted. But when the people at ThinkGeek got wind of the young couple's ordeal, they decided to play Santa. More »
Lego Plays Star Wars Secret Santa
By Laura Northrup on December 22, 2011 9:32 AM
26 Comments
K's kid has a Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar, most likely because K. is awesome. One of the pieces went missing, and she sent a quick "hey, how much would it cost to replace this thingy?" query on their website. She expected to hear back perhaps after the holiday toy rush. She didn't expect to get a free replacement piece in the mail within a few weeks. More »
Home Depot Staff Makes 8-Hour Trip To Find Me A Snow Blower
By Chris Morran on December 2, 2011 2:15 PM
36 Comments
Consumerist reader Matt and his wife recently went to Home Depot to try to purchase a snow blower for the coming winter. But that Halloween weekend snow storm apparently caused an early run on the machines and no one could give them a clear answer on exactly when they would be back in stock. More »
Hillshire Farms Compensates For Your Forgetfulness With Free Sausages
By Laura Northrup on December 2, 2011 10:30 AM
53 Comments
Admit it, you've done what Matthew did at some point in your life. You've left perishable food in your car for an extended period after coming home from the store. He left a few packages of Hillshire Farms sausages out overnight. He wondered whether the sausages, being precooked and smoked and all, might be able to survive a night in his vehicle. So he called to ask. He expected advice...not coupons for free sausages. More »
Apple Manager Breaks Rule, Makes 10-Year-Old Girl's Dreams Come True
By Ben Popken on October 20, 2011 12:00 PM
186 Comments
Reader Matt tells the story of how an Apple store manager broke a little rule so as not to dash the hopes of his 10-year-old daughter, and, in the process, made a little bit of retail magic happen. More »
NewEgg Drops The Ball, Gamestop Saves The Day. Wait: Gamestop?
By Laura Northrup on October 6, 2011 8:00 AM
67 Comments
Two months ago, Nathan took advantage of a Newegg promotion for $10 off his pre-order of the collector's edition of the game Dark Souls, which was released on Tuesday. Ordering ahead and getting a discount: points for planning and for shopping prowess. The day before the game was to be released, Newegg (and other retailers, Nathan later learned) had to cancel their pre-orders because they just didn't have enough product. This left him without a collector's edition on release day...unless he could find one in his city, in person. Was such a feat possible? Yes, as it turns out, with some luck and the help of a heroic Gamestop employee. More »
TSA Agent Retrieves Cellphone From Locked Car, Hands To You At Gate
By Ben Popken on October 4, 2011 2:00 PM
44 Comments
TSA agents get a bad rap here and elsewhere, so when one of them acts like a human being, nay, a super human being, it is our duty to inform you. Alanna had one such experience this morning when a TSA agent went extremely out of her way to help Alanna get her cellphone from the rental car she had locked it in. This was very helpful because the rental office only opened a half-hour before her plane took off. More »
(Marcus Q)
Milk Storage Bag Company Does Right After Mom Finds Defect
By Ben Popken on September 9, 2011 3:00 PM
40 Comments
After Jessica discovered holes in the plastic milk storage bags in which she kept her breastmilk, she emailed the manufacturer, Lansinoh, about the defect. Jessica got back a heartfelt apology. On top of that, they also sent her several times the amount of replacement bags than she would have ever expected to make up for the defective bags. This makes Lansinoh the newest entrant in our "Above and Beyond" hall of fame. More »
OpenTable Rewards Loyalty, Refunds Loyalty Points After Coupon Expires
By Laura Northrup on August 26, 2011 2:15 PM
16 Comments
As a frequent user of online reservation service OpenTable, Ben's girlfriend had earned a fair number of loyalty points. She turned these in for a $50 voucher, which she promptly forgot to use. Oh, well, her loss, right? Not exactly. More »
Trying To Order Replacement Part For Logitech Keyboard Gets Me Brand New Keyboard For Free
By Chris Morran on August 22, 2011 3:30 PM
55 Comments
Consumerist reader Jack was packing up his stuff to go home for summer break when he realized that the receiver for his Logitech wireless keyboard had gone missing among the boxes of stuff in his dorm. After writing Logitech to find out how much he would have to pay to get a replacement part, he got the surprising news. More »
Amazon Gives Me Price $50 Refund On PS3 Even Though It Doesn't Have To
By Chris Morran on August 17, 2011 3:30 PM
43 Comments
As you may have heard, Sony has slashed the price on its PlayStation 3 gaming consoles by $50. For Consumerist reader DT, who had just received a PS3 from Amazon earlier this week, this good news came a few days too late. Or did it? More »
Dyson Fixed My 5-Year-Old Vacuum For Free Without Receipt
By Chris Morran on August 16, 2011 2:30 PM
86 Comments
As anyone who ever looked at the price tag on a Dyson knows, the vacuum cleaner company charges a premium for its devices. But for Consumerist reader Matt, his recent customer service experience with Dyson has him believing the high sticker price was worth the investment. More »
Restaurant Apologizes For Mistake With Free Chocolate Cake For New Mother
By Ben Popken on August 3, 2011 1:00 PM
42 Comments
A little bit of kindness will get you far. A little bit of chocolate cake will get you even farther, as one restaurant manager, a husband, and his wife who had just given birth found out. More »
Starbucks Goes Extra Mile To Make Up For Employee's Ignorance
By Chris Morran on July 28, 2011 4:15 PM
170 Comments
We've all had experiences with store employees who have a unique interpretation of company policy. And while it's nice when the customer is proven to be in the right, it's even nicer when the company goes above and beyond to apologize for an employee's behavior. More »
Applebee's Gives Free Meal To Man With Terminal Brain Cancer
By Ben Popken on July 20, 2011 3:00 PM
96 Comments
Tashi has an incredible above and beyond letter of accolades for Applebee's. Her husband has terminal brain cancer and they don't have much money. How would they celebrate him being alive 500 days after being diagnosed? A 3rd party who knew about their situation contacted the local Applebee's and arranged for part of their meal to be comped. But then the manager went above and beyond even this fantastic gesture and really made their night special. Here's the letter she sent Applebee's headquarters: More »
Purdy's Chocolate Finds Stuffed Rabbit, Saves Childhood
By Ben Popken on July 15, 2011 12:00 PM
71 Comments
Geordie's five-year old daughter had fallen in love with a stuffed bunny she got from Purdy's Chocolates during Easter. Then it recently went missing during a trip to the beach. Her daughter missed the bunny terribly, even keeping the bunny's empty bed next to hers at night. Revisiting the store, they were told there were no more bunnies left. Then, emboldened by reading success stories from other Consumerist readers, Geordie emailed Purdy's to see if anything could be done. And indeed something could be... More »
American Express Amazes Family After Cardholder's Death Abroad
By Laura Northrup on July 15, 2011 10:35 AM
54 Comments
Let's travel back in consumer history to 1989, a time before widespread Internet access, when she shopping and financial landscape was recognizable, but still different from what we deal with today. One thing that doesn't change is that true "Above and Beyond" service leads to customer loyalty, and reader Margaret remains loyal to AmEx because of how they came through for her family in a time of crisis and grief. More »
EECB Leads To Dazzling Best Buy Service, Fridge Upgrade
By Laura Northrup on July 8, 2011 2:30 PM
52 Comments
Best Buy? Above and beyond? Yes, it's possible! The new refrigerator that Sandy ordered was delayed by several days, leaving her fridgeless for a week. She wasn't thrilled at the prospect of feeding her family without the modern appliance, so she fired off an email to all of the executives she could get her pixels on, copying us on all correspondence. Suddenly, she was summoned to the store to pick out any fridge she wanted for no extra charge, with immediate delivery. And a present for her son, too. More »
Alaska Airlines Offers Free Tickets & Miles To Passenger Stung By Scorpion
By Chris Morran on June 30, 2011 2:30 PM
53 Comments
There's nothing in the Alaska Airlines contract of carriage about arachnid attacks, so when a passenger on board one of its planes was stung by a scorpion, the airline could have easily shrugged it off as one of those crazy things that happen when you're a world traveler. Instead, someone at Alaska Air realized this was an opportunity to go above and beyond. More »
