The last time I posted here about Charlie’s Soap, I wrote that I had no connection to the company and didn’t benefit in any way from praising them. That was an honest mistake. I had forgotten that they do have a refer-a-friend program, so that if someone who read my post became a new customer and voluntarily gave them my name as the person who’d referred them, the company would send me a little sample-size package as a gift.

That’s exactly what happened, a week or two later — I got a little sample-size bottle of their liquid cleaner in the mail. But I had no idea who had bought the product and given them my name, until tonight.

Turns out, it was my sister-in-law.

I have posted here before about Charlie’s Soap, a basic but very effective laundry detergent which I buy through the mail. (It is in some stores, but none near me.) It has no perfumes or fancy additives; it just cleans. One tablespoon is the manufacturer-recommended dose for a washload.

The product is made by a family-owned company in North Carolina; I have no connection to them and don’t benefit in any way from posting this. (UPDATE: I forgot that they do have a refer-a-friend program, so if someone buys from them and gives them my name as the person who referred them, I will get a sample size of one of their products. But it’s not monetary, it’s not automatic, and I quite honestly forgot about it when I first wrote this post.) But I have to brag on their customer service. On the rare occasions I’ve had to contact them, I’ve heard back quickly, and with useful information, from a member of the Sutherland family.

I placed an order last week for a bag of the laundry powder and a spray bottle of their household cleaner. The receipt e-mail said that I should receive a tracking number for my shipment in a couple of business days, and I hadn’t by midday today, so I dropped them an e-mail. I got a rapid reply from Taylor Sutherland — the company president — apologizing, saying that the tracking number emails sometimes get caught in spam filters, which is why they tell customers to ask about them. He not only sent me the number but included a copy of the tracking report from FedEx, indicating that my shipment was on the truck for delivery this afternoon.

Sure enough, FedEx showed up at my apartment about 4 p.m. But there was a problem. The FedEx driver said the package had been leaking powder, and he suggested I refuse delivery.

Just about the only thing even approaching a complaint I’ve had about Charlie’s Soap is that the detergent powder comes in a brown paper bag, and — since the softball-sized bag holds 80 loads’ worth of detergent — the bag doesn’t always last as long as its contents. Experience has taught me to immediately transfer the detergent from the bag to a plastic container when it arrives in the mail.

Apparently, in this case the bag didn’t even survive delivery. Well, I sent another e-mail to Mr. Sutherland, and again I got a courteous and relevant reply — 13 minutes after my e-mail, if the timestamps are accurate. Yes, a replacement shipment would go out right away. And he also told me the company is about to change both the packaging of the detergent and the type of box it uses for shipping.

I have resigned myself to the lousy customer service that forces people to wait for 45 minutes, listening to canned music, for the privilege of speaking with an uninformed and uninterested functionary. So it’s nice to know that some companies are still serious about putting the customer first.

Which is not to say they are completely serious about it. Their web site boasts that if you aren’t completely satisfied, they will — but not gladly — refund your money.