The Divine Comedy of Customer Service

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The CEO of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) says it's doing "God's work." People might dispute the notion that using arcane financial instruments that bring the world's banking system to its knees is what the good Lord had in mind for a day's pay, but Goldman isn't the only one insulting our intelligence.

• United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAUA) and many other airlines angered passengers by nickel-and-diming them for pillows and snacks, let alone extra baggage.
• Citigroup (NYSE: C) was just one credit card company raising interest rates and cutting credit limits ahead of new federal regulations limiting its ability to do so.
• The Recording Industry Association of America regularly alienated its customers by targeting them for prosecution for downloading music. Meanwhile, BMI, a music royalty check-collecting outfit, reportedly deployed an undercover agent at a club to catch it for failing to pay royalties on Taylor Swift songs that it played and that its patrons sang as karaoke.
• Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and JPMorgan Chase automatically enroll customers into overdraft protection programs to get up to $38-a-pop overdraft charges, a nearly $2 billion-a-year business for the banking industry.

These companies know how to squeeze extra dollars out of customers.

Descent into purgatory
Yet some companies walk a fine line between saint and sinner. Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) is arguably higher up on the ladder of good works than Goldman because it brings low-cost merchandise to struggling consumers, but some of its policies still leave them in limbo.

Recently, my wife purchased a third-generation 8GB iPod Touch for $195, not realizing Wal-Mart's website said it was available online for just $188. I called to set things right and was told the company doesn't do price matching on its own products. The representative told me that I could return the iPod, order a new one online to get the lower price, and then have it shipped to the store for free.

I don't know, but price adjustments seem to be a pretty standard practice, and usually customers aren't forced to go through this rigmarole. Heck, even bankrupt Circuit City had a pay-one-price policy for online or in-store purchases! You might think that's an argument against offering the policy, but Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) matches its own online prices, although with some restrictions.

Up from the 9th circle
Investors ought to look for companies that get customer service right. Nordstrom is often considered the paragon of customer service, and Southwest Airlines is an airline that has learned to fly right. Netflix changed the movie rental industry by eliminating late fees, and priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) did the same for online travel by getting rid of booking fees. Both improved their standing by lowering costs for consumers and rightly deserve the hallelujahs heaped on them.

They're not heaven-sent
CEO Lloyd Blankfein may think Goldman Sachs employees are worthy of their big-dollar bonuses, but we should work like the devil to invest in companies that care about consumers and taxpayers. We can only pray that these other companies see the light.