Tough Beans

I tried CraftCoffee.com about eight months ago. I had read good things about them and I loved the design of their Web site.[1] They also support independent roasters which sounds like a good thing to me. Unfortunately, after several shipments it was obvious that my tastes did not align with what they were shipping. It was a great idea, but we just were not a match. I “grew up” with Peet’s coffee and I guess I have a particular taste. I like dark rich flavors but no acidity. I use an Aeropress[2] and look forward to that first cup of the day. I stopped looking forward to it when I only had the craftcoffee.com shipments to brew.

But I don’t want to bash them. That’s the gist of this post. They did something recently that completely blew my mind and made me an evangelist for a company whose product I don’t really like.

About three weeks ago, I received a call from CraftCoffee.com asking me to participate in a phone survey. It was a real human that left the call so I was intrigued. I set up a time to do the survey and received a prompt call from a very nice young lady. They wanted to know why I canceled. Their line of questioning was not whiny. It was factual and inquisitive. I got the impression that they really wanted to understand how they could change their business to fit my needs. It was refreshing. It was hopeful.

When I completed the survey they offered either an Amazon gift card for my trouble or another shipment of coffee. Believe it or not, I chose the coffee. I desperately wanted to give them another chance. That phone call was effective and accomplished far more than any email, direct mail or spam robo-call could have. The coffee arrived today and I’m looking forward to my first cup tomorrow morning.