I had my post for today already written, then the phone rang. It was 3 p.m. Friday. Air Transat was finally returning my call.

My wife’s bag in transit since last Saturday had been delivered to her and she and my daughter would be upgraded to “club class” for her return flight.

I still have a lot of questions about the level of customer service rendered by Air Transat. I have what I think are natural concerns about her bags arriving safely on the return flight. I am also unsure as to whether I will fly Transat again. We’ll see if anything more is forthcoming in terms of an apology and a promise to improve procedures so no-one else has to go through such a week. But I won’t post the scathing indictment of poor practice that I had intended.

Instead I will tell you about a great customer service experience I had recently. It is always nice to be able to praise someone for a job well done.

I was trying to “purchase” tickets for a free concert at what is now called “The Arena at TD Place” (formerly the Ottawa Civic Centre).. I presume the concert,, headlined by Serena Ryder, was designed by the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) to showcase the recently renovated arena and generate some publicity for their professional soccer and football teams that play in the adjoining stadium.

Tickets for the concert were, as I said, free. Nice marketing move. Limited to two per person. Sold out quickly. I did see some online for $70 a pair, but I doubt there were takers, as some people who couldn’t go after all were giving theirs away free on the same site. I’m sure it provided OSEG with some new email addresses for their database in exchange.

Clever marketing and, as I found out, excellent customer service.

When I tried to get my free tickets the ticketing website wouldn’t accept my account info – even though I had used it for a purchase two weeks beforehand. So I sent an email to OSEG (who do not own the ticket agency) saying that I had tried and failed to get tickets. I said I wasn’t complaining, after all it was a freebie, but I was a little disappointed.

I received a response in about 10 minutes, apologizing. A follow-up email asked if I had been able to get tickets. When I replied no, a subsequent email arrived with tickets (good seats) and a message from a ticket agent saying to contact him directly for football and soccer tickets (I had mentioned that I plan on attending a few games this year, as I did last season).

I give OSEG full marks for customer service. Tickets to their events also can be used for free public transit to and from the venue.

Maybe that pleasant experience magnified the negative one with Air Transat. Transat does still have the opportunity to redeem itself though. I wonder if they can do it.