New Jersey Nets Score Big in Customer Service

For every cigar in life, there is a smaller, girlier cigarette. For every tough guy named Antoine, there is a homemaker named Antoinette. For every Giant, there's a Jet. For every Yankee there's a Met. And for every Knick, there's a Net. That's how I have thought for my entire life, well, until a few weeks ago.

Growing up in suburban New York, stories of the Nets' ABA success were as relevant to me as what the University of Minnesota chess club did in the spring of 1946. Real basketball had been played the Garden by guys like Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere, and Willis Reed. The New Jersey Nets ranked somewhere below the New York/New Jersey Knights of the World League of American Football on my priority list and Brendan Byrne Arena was just a place where I could get better, cheaper tickets to a Knicks game.

The recent success by the triumvirate of Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, and Vince Carter had done nothing to change my perception. Their success, while Isiah Thomas destroyed my beloved Knicks, turned me from a basketball fan into a fanette. What actually made me change my perception on the Nets was their customer service team.

In December of 2008, I was finishing up a shop at Sam's Club, when I came across a sporting events ticket program that they were offering. They had ticket packages of two tickets for $40 to a Philadelphia 76ers game or three tickets for $35 to a New Jersey Nets game. At first, I was leaning towards spending a couple extra bucks and taking my son to see his hometown Sixers, but having the ability to take my oldest daughter too ended up swaying me towards the Nets game instead.

I looked over the ticket package, and after seeing that the ticket package was for nose-bleed seats, I decided to pass until I saw what I thought was a free upgrade option. The Smart Circle packaging advertised a Silver Seating program where fans could upgrade their tickets my simply choosing a less desirable game. Well, it didn't matter to me. They were all undesirable to me. I just wanted my kids to have a chance to see a game on the big stage.

It seemed unbelievable to me that I had the opportunity to purchase tickets with a total face value of $240 for only $35, so I decided to seek some of the stellar product knowledge of a Sam's Club associate. With as much certainty as you could expect from someone whose employer was the sister store of Wal*Mart, the associate looked at the package and said, "That's what it says. I'm sure you'll be fine."

Educated consumer that I am, that was enough convincing for me; I bought the tickets. Of course, the distrusting and skeptical New Yorker side of me sent my redemption package via Certified Mail/Return Receipt Requested with a detailed letter explaining my expectation.

About a week later, I checked my voicemail on my lunch break and heard a message from Phil Huie at Nets Basketball in regards to my ticket request. He mentioned that there must have been some confusion in regards to the ticket plan that I purchased and to give him a call so that he could straighten everything out and send me my tickets. I called Phil and he explained to me that the upgrade option was not what I thought it was and that, unfortunately, because I had purchased a Smart Circle package through a distributor, the Nets' role was simply to distribute my tickets as per the plan that I had purchased. Understanding that I was dissatisfied with this answer, Phil offered to look into the matter for me and get back to me.

Over the course of the week, we played quite the involved game of phone tag, with Phil never missing a beat. Though at one point in time, it looked as if he was not going to be able to meet my needs, he ended up coming through in the end. In fact, by the time we met a resolution, it was so close to the end of the month that I thought I wasn't going to have the tickets in time for Christmas, but Phil expedited the processing to ensure that I received them by December 23.

On January 12, we showed up for the New Jersey Nets showdown with the Oklahoma City Thunder and we were greeted by a photographer who took a picture of my kids and I for free. I brought my children to the hot dog concession stand across from Section 101 where they had a kids meal for under $5 that included a hot dog, chips, and a drink. While preparing our meals, a delightful Philadelphia-born woman working at the stand noticed my son's jacket and told him that she was an Eagles fan too and not to let anyone heckle him.

My children thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere of the game from the intense opening introductions to the night filled with clapping noisemakers that had been provided at every seat. My daughter danced her heart out during intermissions in an effort to get on the big screen and some of the pleasant fans that we had the opportunity to sit near offered my kids new noisemakers after theirs' ran out of air. The game itself was phenomenal from the spectacular play of Carter and Brook Lopez to the great overtime finish. I couldn't believe it, but had actually found myself enthusiastically cheering for the Knickettes, I mean the New Jersey Nets.

The most impressive moment is still yet to come, though. The next afternoon, during my lunch break, I checked my voicemail and there was one message. It was Phil Huie from Nets Basketball. I called him back and he said that he had just wanted to see how my kids enjoyed their Christmas present. He actually apologized for not making his way to our seats the night before. I was speechless.

In writing this article, I contacted Nets Basketball and learned that Phil Huie is no longer a member of their team, but the impact of his service will not be lost with me. In my heart, I'll always be a Knick fan, but the Nets will no longer some other team to me; they'll be MY other team. I just hope to see Phil's jersey hanging from the rafters the next time I go to a game.