Reading this article reminded me of an experience I had personally.
I’m reminded of an email I sent to a Webpage maintainer this past December.
A graduate assistant and I were working on a deadline for a publication submission. She was going through the article to be sure all of our links to references actually still worked. One didn’t. That HAPPENED to be a critical reference.
I browsed to the Website, emailed the Webmistress, and got an IMMEDIATE reply:
we have re-designed the Website, and will restore the links in due time, when did you need it?
I unabashedly told the truth; today by 3pm, otherwise I have to omit this reference and do a major re-write.
The Webmistress emailed me back within 20 minutes with an “as yet unpublished new link directly from the original author’s website”
I was pleased to say the least. I emailed her back: This is probably up there with the top one or two best customer service experiences, in my career, ever. Please let your supervisors know that I said so, and tell them they never need to let you leave!
I got another email within an hour–from her boss–the original author of the article in question.
He said, Dr. Nix, thank you for pointing out how invaluable XXX is to our organization. We do realize that, and we do not intend to ever lose her. It is rare that people outside our organization have opportunities to point this out, so I deeply appreciate you taking the time to do just that.
The author had copied the Webmistress. She later sent me a thank you note for “making her week.”
Gratitude. IT ROCKS!