Patric Welch writes a blog called Noobie, an advice column for people wanting help with technology. Welch wrote a piece about how Best Buy broke his son’s heart on Valentine’s Day. Welch had ordered a Madagascar DVD on BestBuy.com and it wasn’t delivered with the promised “plush penguin” gift. His son was very disappointed. Here’s what he didn’t get. 

Here’s the reply and the course of action from Best Buy.

Dear Patric,

I’m Jason, Community Connector for Best Buy. We frequently review our customers’ blog and forum posts to gain insight into their experiences to identify areas of improvement.

Valentine’s Day is a special occasion for many individuals and I am sorry to hear you were unable to get your son a plush penguin. I realize it can be frustrating when you do not receive the service you expect and I am disappointed we did not meet your expectations. I would like to invite you to discuss this issue with us further by emailing me at jason.communities@bestbuy.com. Please reference issue number 57801142 and we will do our best to assist you.

Sincerely,
Agent Jason
Community Connector

Best Buy has a team of 10 community connectors that search the Internet for customer relations problems. So Jason went to work after a search pulled up Patric’s problem.  Several online discussions proved that Jason was having a tough time finding any penquins.  Suddenly Patric found two “plush penquins” in the mail; one for each of his sons. Patrick and his sons were ecstatic. Best Buy also credited the Welch’s account for the DVD. 

20 comments have come into the Noobie site, all expressing admiration for Jason the Community Connector and Best Buy. One has even said this story is turning around his impression of Best Buy. 

You cannot buy this. And this is New Media at its most powerful. Where real people from brands help customers by searching online for complaints, reaching out and solving the problems. Now Best Buy has a powerful ally. Do you think Patric will recommend Best Buy to his readers and customers when suggesting technology to solve their problems?

And how about the viral component. This story was emailed to me by a friend. Major media picked up on the story and ran with it. Other bloggers, like me, are picking up the story. And how many people will be talking about the “plush penguin” story in conversations. How many people will congratulate Best Buy? How many Best Buy employees will hear about this. And what kind of positive momentum will this little story sponsor across all distribution channels for Best Buy. 

How many unsatisfied customers do we have in the outdoor recreational space? How many hundreds or thousands of customers are out there talking and writing about certain brands due to incompetence from either online partners or brick and mortar retailers? How many products are stashed in closets, their customers disgusted with the fit, performance or both.   

Don’t have a program to uncover many of these problems? You should. 

Here’s a belated Happy Valentines Day, Best Buy. You earned it.