Finally, giving my phone number when I make a purchase pays off

[Ben Hatcher]

I never particularly liked giving my phone number out when I made a purchase. Well today, finally, that worked out to my advantage. It is not quite to the point where I regret being annoyed by the request, but....

I broke the blade height adjustment hand wheel on my craftsman table saw. Crummy plastic parts. Anyway, because I was feeling too lazy to fix it, I tried to go to the sears parts site and order a new one. Only I didn't know the model number for my saw. Then I got a pop-up asking if I wanted to chat with a customer service rep. I figured why not. I explained what I was looking for and said the saw was purchased in 2002 or 2003, figuring that would help him narrow down what models were for sale at the time. He asked if I bought it at a Sears store, to which I said yes. He asked for my phone number and address and was able to look up the record of my sale! On the one hand, I think that's kind of creepy. On the other, at least in this instance, it was also very helpful.

[ray hampton]

sometime you will smile at the information that a phone -# can provide

[fRED mCnEILL]

I deal a lot at Lee Valley Tools and Costco. Both places keep a record of your purchases. At Lee Valley this goes back over 10 years. At Costco I recently had the opportunity to return 5 batteries for warranty that I bought over 4 years ago. I didn't have a receipt (handy) so they just looked it up and issued me a credit. Just as easy as that.

[Adam Cavaliere]

That is great to hear. I think on top of that good experience with the phone number is to hear of the online support. Really adds to the customer experience.

[Brian Tymchak]

I deal a lot at Lee Valley Tools and Costco. Both places keep a record of your purchases. At Lee Valley this goes back over 10 years. At Costco I recently had the opportunity to return 5 batteries for warranty that I bought over 4 years ago. I didn't have a receipt (handy) so they just looked it up and issued me a credit. Just as easy as that.

Reminds me of when I bought my planer and tablesaw at Home Depot. I lost the receipt somehow and wanted a copy for my records. I gave the manager at the Home Depot the credit card number I used and the date I bought it and they reprinted a receipt for me.