Through the eyes of an intern:

One of my neighbours is an older gentleman who lives on his own. He spends a lot of time on his computer, and when problems occur he doesn't know how to fix them. Every once in a while I'll get a call asking if I can come fix something for him. Usually it's pretty simple – he can't find something or can't get a program to work. This time it was serious.

I went to his computer and saw an error message I had seen before, and hoped never to see again: This copy of Windows is not genuine. This exact thing happened to my laptop last summer. My brand new computer had come with Windows 7 pre-installed, and 1 year later would not work because it apparently was a counterfeit copy. My computer was still under warranty, so I brought it back to the store and got it fixed. My neighbour's computer however, is a bit older. I wanted to help him because I know how frustrating this particular issue is. After doing some unsuccessful research on-line, I decided Microsoft might be able to help me.

I went onto Microsoft's site and chose to chat with an agent. While logging into the chat several help options popped up: one surprisingly was: “Your copy of Windows is not genuine” having selected it, I was quickly connected to an agent. I explained to her the situation and was delighted with her great customer service. She gave me several solutions to try myself, and explained each one clearly. She was very polite throughout the whole interaction, using “Please” and “Would you kindly”. When none of the suggestions worked, she asked if I had a CD for the program. Realizing it was possible that my neighbour's son had installed a new program on his computer and that he might have the CD, I told the agent “I am not sure.” She suggested I try to find it, however if I couldn't their “dedicated team” would make sure one gets sent to me. I left the conversation reassured: the problem would be taken care of and Microsoft would do whatever it took to resolve it.

Technology is a wonderful thing, but when it doesn't work the way it should it can be very upsetting. Companies practicing excellent customer service like Microsoft, ease people's minds and make sure they remain loyal customers.