Reported by Paul B. Brown

Customer Service;

 

In this apparently straightforward pay-with-plastic age, most companies spend little time thinking about how they charge their customers' credit-card accounts. Not so PC Connection Inc., in Marlow, N. H. The mail-order distributor of computer software and peripherals has turned its credit-card billing policy into a customer-service plus.

When David Hall started the company with Patricia Gallup, he decided never to charge a customer's credit card until the order had been shipped -- an uncommon restraint. "It's typical for mail-order houses tight on cash to charge credit cards as soon as the order arrives," says Hall, "even if the product isn't in stock."

PC Connection makes a point of promoting its stand against charging before shipment -- describing its policy in advertisements. "When a customer realizes that precharges occur with other mail-order houses, but not here, they get a more comfortable feeling dealing with us," Hall says. "We get respect, allegiance, and repeat business."