I’m really not particular about a lot of things, you know? I’m not generally brand-driven or anything, but I do occasionally settle on some things I like. Apple computers, Levi’s jeans, Hershey’s chocolate syrup… these I’m partial to.

And pens. I love my Zebra Jimnie Gel Antique ink pens. I love that instead of blue, black and green, the Jimnie Gel Antiques come in colors like cobalt, earth, and forest. I like writing with these pens because my scrawls looks different than the scrawls of 99% of the rest of the world.

Unfortunately, the Jimnie Gel Antique line has been discontinued, and I’ve been nursing the last of my stock and ordering replacements from the one place online that has any left: Board Room Products. As I placed my order last week, I wondered what I’d do when Board Room’s stock ran out.

So, imagine how pleased I was Friday when my pens arrived and the following message appeared on my invoice:

Because these pens have been discontinued for some time, in some of the pens the ink has evaporated. On the pens which this has happened, we charged you $1.00 for those pens. You might want to try the Sarasa pen in those colors.

How awesome is that? I probably wouldn’t have noticed that some of the ink was missing in these pens, but Board Room Products did me a solid anyway. AND they noticed that I liked these particular colors, and offered me an alternative that I didn’t even know existed.

So, these guys get my business from now on because, as Seth Godin says, they did something remarkable: they personalized an otherwise impersonal experience. It took someone probably three extra minutes out of their day to enter the order and write that note, and it made a loyal customer out of me. Good job, Board Room… and thanks!