Exceptional customer service

Here's an impressive story. Steve helped a customer whose first note to us started with "We do plan to give our new ice cream maker one more chance before throwing it in the nearest garbage can." He turned them into a happy customer. So happy, in fact, that they left the following on Amazon along with a 5-star service rating: "A fun product to make yummy ice cream. Extremely helpful seller to promptly answer questions about the ball. Order arrived very promptly."

The whole exchange follows...

From the customer:

We do plan to give our new ice cream maker one more chance before throwing it in the nearest garbage can. We used it once last week-end and were all excited to try it. The ice cream mix froze solid to the cylinder hard as a brick for about 3/8 inch, leaving the inside soupy. We gave up after 45 minutes, let it all melt in the sink and then threw it away without ever having eaten any ice cream. Maybe our ice was in too big of pieces? (small cubes). We added 1/2 cup rock salt, stirred it after 10 minutes of shakingthe ball, added ice and another 1/2 cup rock salt and shook it some more. If we try it again, we'll use finely crushed ice and open up the ball and stir it about every 5 minutes and see what that does. Any suggestions?

Steve's response:

Thanks for your note and I'm sorry it didn't work for you the first time...I can offer a few suggestions based on my experience making ice cream. First of all, the small cubes and rock salt approach you are using sound fine...I would not switch to crushed ice...you might not need a full half cup of rock salt for the second fill...about a 1/4 cup more. (3/4 cups total)
1) After about 10 minutes of mixing, when you open it up, you need to have a hard plastic spoon/spatula or a wooden spoon to scrape that hard ice cream away from the sides. You're not just mixing the soupy part but removing the hard ice cream from the sides. By mixing that hard stuff forming with the soupy stuff, you are allowing a more uniform mixture to form (when you play with the ball for another 7-10 minutes)
2) Just a thought that half n half or cream make a less hard mix...I have heard that when people substitute milk, it can take longer to freeze and be more bricklike around the can.
I hope this helps and am willing to answer any more questions you have....it really does work well...you can't expect ice cream with the perfect consistency of a $250 Cuisinart, but I've managed to get many a batch of good gourmet soft serve. It freezes harder if you remove it from the can and put it in the freezer.
Call me during the day if you have any questions.
Steve1-888-297-6062

Customer:

Thanks for the prompt reply - we'll try it again. I was using half & half.

Steve:

Please tell me how it goes...do you need me to send you a hard plastic spoon (its the size of a wooden spoon but plastic)?

Customer:

A hard plastic spoon would be wonderful - part of the problem is you can't use metal and a wooden spoon just doesn't work that well. Can you getting billing and address information from our order number or do you need me to send that? Thanks for your help!

Steve:

Yes, I am sending it today to your address in IA. I use an up and down motion to scrape it away from the sides followed by a more conventional mixing motion. Good luck.

Customer:

We just successfully made ice cream with the Play & Freeze Ice Cream maker! Thank you so much for your helpful tips and information - and for the spoon you sent which was a huge help (and the ice cream was delicious). Thanks again!

Steve (in a note to me):

Keith, This was the "We do plan to give our new ice cream maker one more chance before throwing it in the nearest garbage can." customer that we turned around. Steve

And, giving myself the last word:

I have to admit: that's a damn fine piece of customer service right there.