A lot of people I know, myself included, regard calling companies about customer service related issues to be dreadful.

As soon as I hear: "Please hold for the next available representative. Your call IS important to us." I tend to hang up, whether it be because I simply don't have time to deal with the apparent wait time or because I feel it shouldn't be a struggle to get what I believe I am entitled to, which is good customer service with a live and (genuine) phone attendant.

Fair to think this way, right?

This being said, I learned recently that if you can muster up enough patience and you can put your entitled attitude aside enough to communicate with a representative clearly and compassionately, you may end up better off!

I bought a watch which is a well known high end brand. By doing so I forked out a couple hundred bucks more than what I would have spent on the average watch. My thought process was simple enough, by spending a little more on a high end brand not only would I be buying from a reliable and dependable name, but I assumed my purchase would last me a lifetime.

As a self diagnosed shopaholic, that is normally how I justify purchasing expensive things. I tell myself I can wear the item on several occasions, if not all the time. If you amortize the purchase over the course of the wear, it works out cheaper than purchasing a cheep item that one needs to replace soon. With this purchase it didn't really work out that way. I swear I kept the watch in good condition by putting it in a nice, safe, dry place, and NOT letting it tap walls, furniture, or other hard surfaces. But the gold on the band started to tarnish showing the metal underneath.

This was absolutely unacceptable. The watch looked like a bad quality fake and could not be worn without me thinking people would notice the tarnishing. I called the store that I bought it from and they said I would have to contact the brand directly as it was a warranty issue.

As I set aside time from my 9 to 5 job to call them, as those are their work hours as well, on several occasions I was met with a never-ending ring. My frustration grew so much that at the beginning of the automated voice message system when it asks for a party's extension I decided to enter in any combination hoping to reach a live extension. Trying my luck at an extension only led me to someone's voice mail, so I left a firm but angry voice mail which was finally followed up with a phone call from a person who was willing to help.

She exceeded my expectations offering me a full exchange, which was exactly what I was hoping for and something I expected to have to fight for. After being pleasantly surprised with the follow up from my customer service issue, I have to say - it pays to call.

In some cases the obstacles leading to good customers service are so large you may be deterred, but as I have learned here, at the end of the day when you get hold of someone it might just be worth your while. Ideally, great customer service should exude from every organization, but when it doesn't keep trying all the doors until you find one that works. Make sure you praise the person who eventually does helps you so they will continue to be a role model within their company. Perhaps their culture will change and be led by that one person.