how companies should talk to you

This has happened a couple of times to me on twitter. I'll make a throwaway comment about a company, chuck in an @mention about them (not expecting a reply, but secretly hoping for one) and I actually get a response. This isn't the first time it's happened with LOVEFiLM, and it probably won't be the last, but they're just so good at it. The situation is really unavoidable and I didn't expect them to do anything about it (and really, didn't see anything they even could do about it!), but they rallied anyway.

After this interchange, I figure they don't have the title, I can't rent it and that's why. It was really just a throwaway comment, because it's the first film I've searched for that I haven't been able to queue for reasons other than its release date not having passed. I have since received an email from a customer service representative:

Dear Jasper,

Further to our conversation on Twitter, unfortunately, "9" is not currently available to rent from LOVEFiLM due to very recent problems with the supplier of rental copies. I‚m sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment this may cause you. If this situation changes we will of course let you know. To make it up to you we are crediting your account with a free rental.

Now, this is how you treat customers. I am on an unlimited plan, so an extra rental isn't really going to affect me that much, but the gesture is the point. This shows me that, even though this isn't a fault of theirs, they're trying to show that they care about my experience with them, and (I hope you're listening Panelfly and Sony Playstation - I know my updates are protected now, but they had weeks to respond before I did that!) ensure that every experience I have with their company ends with me being happy. You certainly nailed it again, LOVEFiLM.