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It is rare these days that I am so impressed with customer service that it winds up on my blog.  However, the support I experienced recently from Yakima was way above par.

Yakima is a company that makes bike racks among other things.  I recently got hooked on mountain biking and needed a way to move my bike around.  I decided I wanted a hitch mount style bike rack so I could take it off when not biking.  I saw a couple of Yakima Hookup2 racks and thought that look liked a good system.  They are like $350 buck though.  So imagine my excitement when I came across one on craig’s list for $60!

Turns out it had been in a car wreck and one of the “skis” that you put the bike on was broken.  However, I bought it and figured I would just call Yakima and order a replacement part, and this had to be cheaper than buying a whole new rack.

So I call them, and I am told that the model I had was 2 years old, was being replaced next season, and they didn’t have any parts to sell me anymore.  I hung up a little bummed that my good deal wasn’t turning out to be as good as I hoped (I thought I could still use it to transport 1 bike, so when I ride alone it would be useful, still worth the $60).

Later that day I decided to shoot an email off to Yakima support asking if they had a used part, or a product repair shop I could contact to see about a used part.  To my suprise I got a response back that said they didn’t have any but where expecting a shipment of “graveyard” parts, and they would send me a ski when the parts arrived, but it would probably be 2-3 weeks.

A day or so goes by and I get a follow up call!  One of the customer service reps (I think her name was Meagan) called to follow up and said she wanted to make sure I got the email and again explained about the graveyard part.  I thanked her, and we went on our way.

Two to 3 weeks later UPS shows up at my office with a box from Yakima.  It is the replacement part!  The part looks brand new.

To me this is an exceptional model of customer service.  Yakima made the smart move.  If I ever need another bike rack it will definitely be a Yakima, and I can’t help but tell everyone what a great experience I had with them.