Sunday, June 17, 2007

1-800-Got-Junk

Jess and I are about to move and we wanted to use the opportunity to de-clutter. In preparing for the move, we used some of our time yesterday to be mercenary in identifying stuff to throw away and give away. Within a few hours, every room was full of bags to dispose of. Problem was, we were identifying SO MUCH JUNK and couldn't dispose of it in our apartment's bins.

I had seen the ads for 1-800-Got Junk and knew that it had been rated as a great place to work and that it's a great local success story but had never used the service. First of all, the online booking process was incredibly elagant. Within minutes, I had booked an appointment for them to arrive a few hours later.

Instead of having to wait around all afternoon, we were given a two-hour window and a promise that we would receive a phone-call 15 minutes before they arrived.

We got a phone call an hour before, giving us plenty of time to go about the rest of our day.

The two guys were great! They were friendly, funny and professional. As they finished loading a lot of the stuff faster than we thought, they caught us going over old sentimental stuff that we were unsure of whether to let go. Recognizing the sensitivity of the situation, they left us alone to decide what to do.

Finally, unlike any comparable service, when we were in danger of being slightly over one price category, they worked to squeeze us in to the cheaper category. In doing so, they've only made me more of a fan.

It's so rare that a service lives up to its brand promise but this is the one that did.

I know this post is so evangelical that it sounds like I was paid to write it. I assure you that other than some "Junk Bucks" the guys left with us as an incentive to use the service again, I haven't nor don't need to be paid to promote their service.

My friend Michael Garrity wrote a post the other day about some service pretending to be a consumer-information service but instead is just propaganda for certain clients. And of course, there's the ongoing debate around PayPerPost and other services. What I liked about what Michael said is essentially great products don't need spin/propaganda.

You want to "engineer word-of-mouth"? Simple! Build a great product/service, invest in ongoing quality assurance, hire good people, infect them with enthusiasm for the company, treat them well, deliver outstanding customer service..repeat.

I'm a HUGE FAN of 1-800-Got-Junk. Organizations of any kind can learn from what these guys are doing.

Labels: , , ,


Comments:
Amen, we used them when we moved out of our office space and they were superb.
 
funny thing, last week i was given the task of getting rid of a few couches from the youth center. they were decrepit and old and i really think scaring youth. i think one of the couches ate a youth a little while back. well...I went to mybc.com and searched for "junk removal" in Surrey. there were 7 listings including 1-800. i didn't want to call them because i thought the other companies would be faster/better than the big company. I called the first company: answering machine. i left a message. next company. answering machine. i called 6 of the 7 listings: all went to answering machines. i finally called 1-800 got junk an hour after not getting any return calls and a friendly lady picked up right away took my information and had someone at our youth center within the hour. they showed up, were quick, helpful and actually took some extra junk away that people had lying around. way later that afternoon and over the next couple days i got returned calls from the other companies.
i'm a fan of 1800got junk.
 
What crock man. Not a paid post man, ya right buddy. Not everyone who uses the internet is that stupid. Look man, my girl worked their and they have a whole department of people who do this and get them on the TV for free. Whose gonna fall fro that crap.
 
Anonymous, you've called me out. I didn't fully disclose the fact that when the Got Junk guys left, they left me with a few "junk bucks" for my next booking. I'm sorry that I didn't fully disclose my junk bucks.

Thanks Anonymous for policing the internet and keeping us all honest.
 
Before getting too "gushy" about this wonderful business, you might want to check out this site on how they treated at least one of their franchisees:

http://justice4smallbiz.wetpaint.com/
 
I'm also pissed off at the number of illegal "bandit" sign they seem feel entitled to nail to utility poles or put in the ground at public right-of-ways.

This is street spam and I'm happy to remove their signage as I'm able.
 
Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]





<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]