By Sam Lancaster

I don’t get the chance to interact with customer service reps in a way that is as fruitful or helpful as my recent communication with the FreeShipping.com complaint department – I really felt like they took care of me. I know that sounds really corny, but the truth is that most of the time I can’t give those people a second thought. I feel as though they want to get rid of me as quickly as I want to get back to my life. I have two little ones and a wife that works all day so, trust me, I take no offence at those quick conversations. Actually my being so busy is really one of the big reasons I decided to sign-up for a membership with the free shipping website in the first place.

Since signing up I haven’t had to call them again. I don’t have any free shipping complaints or issues with the membership – you won’t hear about any FreeShipping.com scam here. I use the cash-back rebates on a pretty regular basis and the process is always smooth and seamless. Like I said, getting everything shipped is way easier and saves me the time of running around town picking up hockey equipment for one kid and art supplies for the other (yeah, they’re that different from one another), all while trying to remember whether I needed soy sauce or Worcester for the dinner recipe I forgot to print out because the boys were screaming at each other while I was on the phone with the accountant (that was yesterday).

There are lots of Dads like me who use the service and talk about it (yes, even we manly-men do this sometimes). I have heard of there being small complaints, but what always sparks my curiosity is that the customers always come away from the interaction happier and more satisfied with the product – no bologna. It’s not just that their problem was resolved, they’ve actually gained something from the experience. It’s not surprising that the Clarus Marketing Group BBB rating is an A+ (they’re the parent company, if you didn’t know).

Getting back to my original story, I’ve been really happy with the service but just for **** and giggles, I called customer service without much to say – I more just wanted to see what they were like. The woman on the other side of the phone was ecstatic to hear from me, so much so I was having a hard time believing it (and wondering why the wife couldn’t greet me that way more often)! We talked for a bit about my membership and, lo and behold, she directed my attention to a piece of my membership I didn’t know existed. It’s called the “lowest-price-guarantee” and it ensures that I always get the lowest price for products anywhere on the Web or in the real world. They even pay you the difference! Needless to say, after this phone call I understood why people were raving about customer service.

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