Incredible Customer Service from SFBags.com

Disclosure: I am in no way being paid or have been paid to write this article from Waterfield Bags, SFBags.com or any other entity. This article simply outlines my dealings with this extraordinary company.

I love gadgets…no surprise. My budget for gadgets is quite low, so I treat every gadget I purchase with the utmost care. Part of that care involves housing the gadget in an appropriate container…usually a bag of some sort. When I acquired an Apple MacBook Air (best and most useful laptop I have ever owned, by the way) last year, I started searching for a small yet protective bag so I could carry it with me every day.

My search ended up at WaterField bags. They answered questions promptly, thoroughly, and politely before I paid them a dollar. What happened after I ordered the bag is nothing short of extraordinary. Rather than tell you the story, I’m going to let our email correspondence (pay attention to time stamps) speak for me:

 

from WaterField Designs <hxxxy@sfbags.com>

to rick@xxxxxr.com

date Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 2:45 PM

subject On the way….

Hi Rick,

Thanks very much. I just want to let you know that your order (#130326) will ship fresh from our San Francisco factory on the evening of 5-Apr-2011 via US Priority Mail. Your delivery confirmation number is 9405510xxxxxxx72172 and you will eventually be able to track your order at www.usps.com.

Thanks for tracking us down. We appreciate it. I hope we meet your expectations.

If there’s anything else I can do for you, just let me know.

Best regards,

Gary

PS: By the way, this is what we’re sending you:

—————————————————————-

On Apr 8, 2011, at 8:09 PM (late Friday night)

Rick Castellini wrote:

Hello. I just received my order, but found the medium Vertigo much too big for my needs. However, I really liked the sleeve. So, I would like to return the entire order, and I will put in an order for the laptop sleeve only with straps, flaps, and piggyback instead. How do I go about sending this order back and starting over, or should I make the new order and settle the difference with you another way?

Thanks. I REALLY appreciate the great communication your company has given me and prompt shipping…and the quality of the product looks fantastic and I can’t wait to get the sleeve only.

— Rick

———————————————-

On Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 10:20 AM,

WaterField Designs wrote:

Hi Rick,

Thanks very much for the note, so long as the bag hasn’t been used, then no problem on the return. Just wrap the case up into a plastic bag, slip it into a full size box (so it isn’t bent) and return it to:

WaterField Designs
2xx5 Third Street, Suite 4
San Francisco, CA 9410x

Include a note with:

* Your order # (if you have it) and what you’d like us to do… return, exchange,

* your e-mail address and phone number in case we have questions

Once the case arrives back in good condition we’ll notify you that the return has been processed.

Sorry the case didn’t work out. You can place your new order online. If there is anything else we can help you with, please let me know.

Best regards,

Sarah

—————————————-

On Apr 11, 2011, at 11:00 AM,

Rick Castellini wrote:

Excellent! Thanks much. I have just placed an order for the MacBook Sleeve, and have yours back in the mail. The vertigo was just too big for me as I wanted as small as possible, so I think doing the sleeve as a case will be great for me. Thanks again for the excellent customer service.

–Rick

————————————————

On Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 12:02 PM,

WaterField Designs wrote:

Hi Rick,

We’ll keep an eye peeled for your order; your sleevecase choice sounds like a good solution.

And we’ll process your return credit as soon as we receive your VertiGo.

Anything else we can do for you, just let us know.

Best regards,

Alice

———————————————–

On Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 4:50 PM,

WaterField Designs wrote:

Hi Rick,

Thanks again for your order. Please let us know how it works out when you get it.

Best regards,

Sarah

—————————————

On Apr 14, 2011, at 7:52 PM,

Rick Castellini wrote:

Got my refund yesterday and my macbook sleeve case today…LOVE IT. Thanks for your superb help and patience. One modification, I would pay a little extra for one extra modification of this cool and great case…a small handle on the flap to be able to pickup or carry the sleeve with grabbing the strap (which is comfortable and awesome.

Again, as I just tweeted…your company has provided me with THE best customer service I have experienced in a long, long time…on or off line. Thanks so much, and you can bet I will be a repeat customer and sing your praises far and wide.

–Rick

This next message was sent in less than 14 hours (overnight no less) complete with a picture of a prototype of something not even in their inventory!!!

——————————————-

On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 9:33 AM,

WaterField Designs wrote:

Hi Rick,

Thanks for writing. We can make a handle like you see in the picture attached. In this case there is a bike grip handle but we can make it with a leather grip, looks really nice. The handle is $10, let me know if your interested.

Best regards,

Chris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

—————————————-

On Apr 15, 2011, at 8:39 AM,

Rick Castellini wrote:

If it could fit almost horizontal between the d-rings (not much slack), I would definitely buy this accessory. Thanks!

Rick

———————————————-

On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 12:07 PM,

WaterField Designs wrote:

Hi Rick,

Thanks for writing back. Go ahead and place an order for an item close in price ($10) in the special instructions let us know the order is actually for a strap, then give us details such as “not much slack” and what type of grip basic nylon, leather…. because of the way the SleeveCases are sewn it is not possible to sew the Strap onto the actual flap.

Item close in price – http://www.sfbags.com/products/cellphonecases/cell-phone-cases.php

If there’s anything else we can do for you, just let us know.

Best regards,

Chris

——————————————

On Apr 15, 2011, at 3:00 PM,

Rick Castellini wrote:

You guys are the absolute best!! I just placed the $10 order (order # 2171-5075-1037

In the note, I wrote: “This order is for a custom handle strap (black leather please to match the suspension strap)for my 11″ MacBook Air vertical sleeve.”

Forgot to write, not much slack…thanks again. I look forward to completing my awesome new sleeve bag!!

–Rick

————————————–

On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 4:11 PM,

WaterField Designs wrote:

No problem Rick. I have added that you don’t want to much slack.

If there’s anything else we can do for you, just let us know.

Best regards,

Chris

———————————-

On Apr 21, 2011, at 2:05 PM,

Rick Castellini wrote:

Got the order today…looks and works great. Thanks!! You have a fan for life now.

— Rick

——————————

On Apr 21, 2011 4:59 PM,

WaterField Designs wrote.

Hi Rick,

 

 

————————

Absolutely phenomenal in my eyes. Although, I don’t know it as fact, but I would guess that I was not WaterField’s customer during these past 3 weeks. No where in this correspondence does it appear otherwise, however.

Thanks again WaterField. By the way, here’s the final product:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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