The Day I Got Custom Table Legs
What It Taught Me About Support
Last week, I was with my team at our Mergify on-site — what we call our MAHOS (Mergify All-Hands On-Site). Yes, we’re a fully remote team, so your regular off-site are called on-site for us. 😉
We talked about the usual: roadmap, strategy, alignment. But then I brought up something a little different. I wanted to explain how we think about customer support at Mergify—not as a checkbox, not as a cost center, but as a way to deliver what I call the wow effect.
To make my point, I told them a story. A true one — about a table.
Two years ago, I had just moved into a new house. My first real garden. I was excited to enjoy it, so I decided to buy a garden table and chairs. After browsing around, I picked Lafuma — a French brand I’ve liked since I was a kid.
Anyway, the table and chairs arrived. Great delivery. Good packaging. Quality seemed top-notch.
But something felt… off.
I sat down, and it wasn’t right. The proportions felt weird. The table was just a little too high, or the chairs too low. So I did what every curious engineer does: I grabbed a tape measure. Compared it to my indoor table. And there it was — the Lafuma table was exactly 2cm too tall. Just enough to make every meal feel slightly awkward.
So I wrote them a message. Not angry, not demanding. Just a note saying:
“Love the brand, love the product, but this feels like a design oversight.”
I didn’t expect a reply.
One week later, I got a call. It was someone from Lafuma’s support team — a QA engineer.
He said:
“I read your message. I’d like to understand exactly what’s wrong.”
I explained. He listened. Then, without hesitation, he said:
“Okay. I’ll send you custom table legs, 2cm shorter. You’ll have them next week.”
I was stunned.
“Wait, really? You can do that?”
“Of course,” he replied. “We have spare legs in the workshop. We’ll just trim and ship them to your size.”
And that’s exactly what happened. A week later, I swapped out the legs. Perfect fit. Perfect height. Perfect support.
They didn’t have to do that. I wasn’t going to return the table. I wasn’t even asking for anything. But they did it anyway — because they cared. Because they listened. Because they understood what great support means.
That’s the kind of service we try to deliver at Mergify.
Even in B2B, even in software, even at scale — you can still surprise people. You can still make them feel heard. You can still wow them. That’s what Amazon did so well for years. And it’s what so many companies forget as they grow.
But it’s not optional. It’s the difference between a satisfied user and a loyal one. Between a customer and a fan.
Build the table. And send the legs.