Good customer service: mypilotstore.com

Although it's important for a retail business to fulfill orders correctly, in some ways it's even more important for them to do a good job of fixing fulfillment problems. I'd like to award the first-ever Sowbug.org Gold Star For Excellent Customer Service to mypilotstore.com for their fine handling of a mixup.

I ordered a Garmin GPSMAP 96C (this is a GPS device but for an airplane instead of a car), and when the UPS tracking info arrived, I scheduled a flight accordingly so that I could take it out for a spin. Unfortunately, on Friday a box arrived with a 96 in it, not a 96C. Although the differences between these models are only cosmetic, I definitely wanted the 96C, and I couldn't fairly use the 96 over the weekend and then return it, because then the seller couldn't legitimately sell it as new after that. So I was stuck.

I cynically emailed the retailer, expecting to get a "mailbox full" bounce or at best a reply some time the following week. Instead, less than 20 minutes later I got a shipment notification from UPS, as well as an apologetic email from the retailer explaining that they'd just overnighted the correct model (not just overnighted but with Saturday delivery). They included a shipment label for me to return the other device.

Sure enough, Saturday morning the box arrived, and all was well again in the universe.

One of the big fears of shopping with an Internet store is what happens when something goes wrong. I have no such fear with these guys. I regret that mypilotstore.com sells only aviation supplies; I'd be willing to buy anything from them.