Awhile back, the soles on a seldom-worn expensive pair of shoes I owned split apart — something I’d never seen happen before. Though the shoes were several years old, I decided to contact the company that now distributed this line of shoes.
It was my first contact with Zappos.com, an online shoe seller growing by leaps and bounds through cool marketing and a reputation for over-the-top customer service. A representative of the company immediately responded to my complaint and, after I emailed a photo of my shoes, promptly shipped me a free replacement pair ($140 value) with an apology. It was
