how to keep a customer

Last October the yellow light on my laser printer starts blinking indicating  I'll soon be out of ink. I order a new HP 49X cartridge on Amazon, an expensive one. $130, but it prints up to 6,000 pages and will last me two years or more.

The new cartridge arrives and sits in my closet until last week. I guess the yellow blinking light gives you 6-months notice. I install the new cartridge and it prints worse than the cartridge it just replaced. The type is so light I can barely read it.

I call Amazon and they tell me I have to go through the seller before they can help. The seller is a company called Sell Toner -- not the most creative name but certainly a descriptive one. Judging from the seller's area code, I see the company is based in Utah.  I am not optimistic, especially since the cartridge is only guaranteed for 30 days, and it's been about 180.

I call the number and a woman answers, "Hello."  

Hello?  No automated voice instructing me to push different numbers for different departments. Not even a, "Hi. This is Karen. How can I help?"  

I hear a baby crying in the background. I can picture the scene, and the scene I picture is not a woman in a cube with headsets on in front of a computer.   Nonetheless,  I explain my problem, with no confidence at all that this experience is going to end well. 

After telling the woman about the defective product she says, "Let me get my Amazon liaison on the phone."   Really? Your Amazon liaison?  Who is that?  Your oldest son?  I am put on hold and then "Mike" picks up. He sounds like he may be on a chairlift.  I start to explain my problem and when I get to the part about why I didn't open the cartridge until 6 months after receiving it, Mike says, "Ya, I understand."  I get no "I'm sorry, you can only make a return within 30 days." Mike then adds, "No problem; I'm really sorry; I'll Fed Ex a new one out to you tonight."  (As soon as I'm done skiing for the day, I assume.  But I don't care. 

This whole experience has been nothing like what I'd expected. I'm not asked for proof of the defected cartridge. I am not asked to return it. I am not given a hard time about the 180 days. Nope, just a sincere apology, and a quick solution.  

My new cartridge arrives. It works fine. Sell Toner; I love you!