Service With A Smile.

Image via WikipediaMany of us are inspired to post on blogs by life's little hiccups rather than its delights. It's the part of human nature that fills our news with death and destruction, with Chi-Chi the panda's new baby relegated to the furry animal slot at the very back end of slow news days broadcasts. It's why the traffic slows for the accident, but not for the family picnicking on the verge. We're more interested in the negative than we are in good times. It's one of the reasons why Gulf News' local news pages are such an utterly compelling read.

Well, I'm bucking the trend. I've got something good to say. Al Ghandi Electronics, the distributor for Philips, has the best customer service out there. Bar none. It's stunning.

The washing machine's 's on/off switch bust. Put in a call to the boys and girls at Al Ghandi's Dubai service centre and got a woman who used my mobile number to access my record on their database, which held all our details from the last service visits they'd made. She told me the service callout would take 2-3 days as they had to ensure they had the part to repair our machine. I got a text shortly after with a service ticket number.

Two days later, in the morning, I got a call from the technician who wanted to set an appointment to come to the house. He asked for directions and told me precisely what the service fees would be. We agreed on 5pm and that was lovely.

At 5pm precisely two blue-shirted technicians were outside the house. Fifteen minutes later they left. They were pleasant, knowledgeable and efficient. Our washing machine was fixed.

This isn't the first time they've come out. They fixed the broken seal on our oven a few months ago and we'd called them out years ago for our last washing machine (the reason we bought Philips again was the service we'd received). Every time they've left me looking like a beached guppy as they drove pleasantly away, waving goodbye.

It always amazes me that this amazes me. But it stands as amazing customer service here in the UAE. So this is for them. Why the rest of 'em can't do this is beyond me.