It is such a joy to discover that there are still companies around who understand that supporting their products after the sale and treating their customers well are good things to do. I discovered today that Moen, makers of faucets and sinks and things, is one such company.
We have a Moen faucet in our kitchen sink. It was installed a little over six years ago, and has generally been an exemplary kitchen faucet. Recently, however, it started leaking a little bit at its base. Unfortunately I didn’t install it myself, nor did I retain the instructions after it was installed, so I didn’t really have any idea how to approach fixing it. (We paid someone else to install it because we had a bunch of upgrades done to the kitchen all at once, and as long as there was going to be someone here to deliver things we figured we might as well have them install them as well.)
So, I did what any sensible person does these days and looked for a Moen website. Lo and behold, their website is a stellar example. Within a fairly short period of time, I figured out exactly which model of faucet we have, located an FAQ that explained what might be wrong with the faucet, downloaded PDFs of both the installation instructions and an exploded diagram labeling all of the parts and providing their numbers, and found that I could order replacement parts directly. I also discovered that their faucets have a lifetime warranty against leaks and drips, and that they’d provide service parts for free if I could establish proof of original ownership. Being something of a packrat, I did indeed have the receipt for the faucet in a file cabinet.
I still wasn’t entirely sure what was the most likely explanation for the problem, so I found their 800 number and gave them a call. They have a nifty automated service that will take your name and number and call you back if their service reps are busy, which they were. I got a call back within the promised period of time from someone named Michael.
Michael was very polite, well-spoken, and really knew his faucets. This guy talked about my faucet as though he had designed it himself and had installed and serviced hundreds of them. I’m sure neither was actually true, but rarely have I spoken to a service rep who had such detailed knowledge of his company’s products. By the end of the six-minute conversation, Michael had verified that I’d identified the exact model of my faucet correctly by asking about one detail of its molding, diagnosed the two most likely causes of the leak, suggested a bit of routine maintenance that could help prevent another sort of leak, and arranged for delivery on Monday of two different sets of service parts (so that if one didn’t work the other would and hence I wouldn’t have to call them back) for the faucet for a shipping charge of $9. I could’ve had them sent for free if I was willing to wait until the 26th, but I’d like to fix this leak sooner than that. Michael also emailed me two documents with detailed assembly and service instructions, with color photos of the exact model of my faucet. That email arrived a few minutes after I hung up the phone.
I’m basically stunned. I’ve spent a lot more money than I did on the faucet for things for which the after-purchase support ranges from awful to non-existent. The next time I’m shopping for a faucet there is no question that I’ll buy a Moen.
