A short while ago, I posted about the tremendously polite level of service I’d received in some Cambridge pubs. It’s probably more my style to verbally shred an establishment for failing to acknowledge the existence of customer service, but I’m returning again to lavish praise on another example of great treatment of punters.

This time, I’m actually going to praise a large company. This is a step out of my comfort zone here, so forgive me if this seems a little jaunty or unsure. It has to be said that the service I received from this company in the last week was, pretty much, excellent. That company is Orange.

Having toyed with the idea of getting an iPhone for some time, I ambled into the Orange shop in Cambridge on Wednesday feeling undecided. I said to the chap inside, Moe, that I might get one that day if I could have a free case to keep it in. He said he could ask the manager, but seemed reluctant to get my hopes up. I went to a few more shops in search of a nice case before returning to the Orange shop having failed to find one.

I asked Moe if he could persuade the manager to throw a free case in, and the manager quickly obliged. I went about setting up my new contract whilst the sales assistant explained everything really carefully, and made perfectly sure that I understood everything I needed to. He was polite, knowledgeable, and efficient.

To complicate matters, I requested that my old number be transferred over to my new contract. This, it was said, would take 24 hours. In fact, it took closer to 48, but this didn’t cause any major problems. However, I was trying in vain to connect to the 3G internet which provided the main incentive for buying the iPhone.

Cue the Orange customer service people. In fact, I think they have dedicated iPhone support people. No waiting on hold to speak to someone here – the chap on the other end answered swiftly, and he too was polite and explained everything I needed to do. He gave me some instructions, and said he would call back in a couple of minutes.

I carried out his instructions, and the phone worked as I hoped it would. He phoned back, and I thanked him for being so helpful. He asked if there was anything else he could do. Yes, this is his script – but he didn’t seem at all bothered to be performing it. Good for him.

I have paid what, for me, is a hefty sum of money to have my iPhone. As a result, I expect damn near perfect customer service from Orange; this is exactly what I have got. Kudos to Orange. (Not to forget the brilliance of Orange Wednesdays either). I am impressed. Maybe other companies might begin to treat their customers with a similar level of respect.