The good Trudeau

Babble on.

I thought it would be a cold day in hell before you ever saw me associate the name Trudeau with anything good. But today, the devil's wearing longjohns, apparently.

Here's why: Trudeau knows customer service. Following is the text of an e-mail exchange I had with them just the other day (with some personal details removed).

From: Damian Brooks [mailto:damian.brooks - at - gmail.com]
Sent: August 9, 2006 3:40 PM
To: SAC - Trudeau Corporation
Subject: Salt shaker

I bought a tall, elegant stainless steel Trudeau salt and pepper set about a year ago. The pepper grinder is fantastic - the best I've ever used. Unfortunately, the plug in the bottom of the salt shaker has never fit properly. I didn't want to go through the hassle of taking it back to the store I bought it from, especially since I would have had to return the pepper grinder too. My wife managed to jerry-rig the plug for a while with some tape, but it leaks salt out the bottom.

I never wanted to return the set - we really like it. All I want is a plug that fits.

Any ideas?

Damian Brooks
1 Address Street
Aroundtoronto, ON
L** ***
ph: 905-***-****

From: Sylvie ******* - Trudeau Corporation
Mailed-By: trudeaucorp.com
To: Damian Brooks
Date: Aug 9, 2006 3:59 PM
Subject: RE: Salt shaker

Hi Mr.Brooks

Since we have some replacement parts, we will send a new plug at no cost to replace the defective one. Give us a couple of days and you should receive the plug by Canada post.

Thank you and have a great day

Sylvie Mickel

Gestionnaire de compte National
National account manager
450-***-**** #314
450-***-**** fax
sylvie.NOSPAM - at - trudeaucorp.com

Note the time and date of the response. Sylvie got back to me, not with just an acknowledgement, but with a solution, nineteen minutes after I e-mailed the corporation from a simple website link. That is kick-ass customer service, period.

And sure enough, the replacement plug arrived in the mail yesterday. My wife put it into the salt shaker, and it fits perfectly. Problem solved, repeat customer solidified, and good word-of-mouth advertising secured.

Well done, Trudeau. (As Satan absolutely nails a triple axel.)

Babble off.