And here we go. Now that people have their own soapboxes they're going to get on them and bitch. Here's Steve Rubel pointing to two perfect examples. Because Google may not level the playing field, but it certainly puts bloggers in the same zip code as the playing field. Or in the case of Jeff Jarvis, who has sufficient Googlocity to get excellent placement for his Dell Hell miniseries–he owns the playing field.

I've said it before, but never in here: I firmly believe that you could start a business today and kick everyone's ass if you simply excelled at customer service. People would be willing to pay extra to avoid all the problems that come from cutting costs, to avoid people who are simply automatons with pulses, and to simply get what they want when they want it the first fricking time. Doesn't matter if it's an airline or a retail store.

And it's so goddamn easy to make people happy. Here's some examples of how to do it, since everybody's talking about how not to.

Ecover. They do enviro-friendly detergents. And while I've certainly outgrown my enviro-friendly phase, we like their clothes detergent. We tried their powder but found that it left white bits on the clothes. And considering I wear all black…you can see the problem. Or you could. Anyway, we wrote them a letter, saying we liked their stuff but couldn't use them because we had to wash everything twice. So thanks but no thanks.

They wrote back and said, yes, they were having problems with that product (they may not be anymore, this was a couple of years back, mind you) and were trying to work out the bugs. In the meantime, here, have a bigass bottle of our liquid detergent instead. Free. Oh and here's some fabric softener too. Free. Thanks for using our stuff.

And you know what? We're still using both products today: detergent and fabric softener.

No, dammit, I mean we use it up and buy more. Not that they sent us vats of the stuff with that letter.

But you see what I mean? They took some criticism, acknowledged the problem, used the aikido of customer service and turned it around. And now we love them for it.

Another: T-Mobile. Are they perfect? No. They don't have as strong a signal everywhere I go as I'd like, but it's workable. And they have the Danger Sidekick, which I dig the hell out of. But the real reason I've stuck with them is this:

One time, when I called their customer service to ask a question, the guy said hang on a second, let me check your account to see if everything's cool. Oh, wait a minute: I notice that we're charging you $6.95 for service X, but the package you've got already includes service X free of charge. That's weird. Anyway, hang on a sec…type type type…okay. I've just credited your account back to the first of the year (this was August) for the $6.95 monthly charge. What else can I do for you?

Nice, huh?

Another time, they called me out of the blue. Mr. Robinson, we were just taking a look at your account and your plan and…well, we've got a better plan. I said, fine, tell me about this new plan. They did, and it was all I had on my current plan plus a crapload more of minutes, a bag of chips, and a pretzel with honey mustard dipping sauce and for $5 less a month. So hell yes, sign me up. Thanks.

Is it any wonder I'm still with T-Mobile? How many other companies have taken the initiative and called you to save you money? And I'm not talking about shitty phone spam we're they're trying to get money out of you. I mean legitimately making your relationship with them better.

It's so goddamn easy to impress consumers! Why aren't more companies doing it? Because, as these blogs point out, they think they can get away with not doing it.

And I'm going to be very happy for the day that companies rise up and cull the weak among them. Hell, why do you think I was out here talking to people who looked happy to see me? Oh, and spitting on the DC Comics booth. Twice.