Shoppers – Tell Us About Your BEST Customer Experience As A Customer Or A Shopper…What Made It The Best?
This was 20 years ago and I still remember it. I was taking a long trip and stopped by a Grandy’s drive thru late at night. I ordered their chicken fried steak and two sides. I put the car in drive and came around to the side of the building and saw an arm outstretched at the window holding a bag. As I drove up I asked what that bag was and they said it was my order. I asked a bunch of questions and did not want to accept it – thinking it was someone’s returned order (although no one was ahead of me). I even opened the bag and closely looked at everything. It was clear it REALLY was my order. Everything was perfect. Hot… no mashed potatoes slopped in the corn, etc. Can you imagine the team work and motivation to do this. Think how good they felt when I told them this was a most amazing experience!
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I’m used to shopping at certain home supply stores that have customer service that could use a lot of improvement, but they are convenient. After moving to an area in which those stores are a little farther away than I want to drive, I stopped in a local family-owned hardware store in a nearby town, expecting to get the same low service there.
To my surprise, I was immediately greeted by one of the people working, who asked me if I needed any help. On that visit, I really was just looking around, so I didn’t. I’ve been back several times to make purchases and the service has been top-notch every time! Oh, and the greeting that I received on the first visit wasn’t just a fluke. I’ve been greeted like that on every visit!
Perhaps it seems like a little thing, but getting great service in a hardware or home supply store is something that I hadn’t experienced in years, and thought I would never experience again. The family-owned lumber store not too far down the road has great service, too! The bonus is that the prices are a little more than the bigger stores that I used to shop at, but nothing that hurts the pocket book in a noticeable way.
Great service and reasonable prices is something that will definitely keep me going back!
When my husband, Mark, and I went on an Alaskan cruise (Holland America) 4 years ago, we were shocked that many of the crew remembered us by name each morning. There is one gentleman in particular, Toto (yes, that was really his name!), who asked us our names the first morning and the next day (and each day thereafter) greeted us by our names! We are experienced cruisers and have never had anyone do this before. This was not a tiny cruise ship either – there were well over 1200 passengers on board. What made it even more amazing is that Toto was the man who handed out the trays for the breafast buffet every morning. We heard him greet many passengers by name. I would not hesitate to go on another Holland America cruise again!
When my husband and I went away for the weekend for our Anniversary this year we had a dinner one night at a chain restaurant that specialized in Polynesian fusion foods. It being a chain restaurant my expectations were pretty low but we thought we would give it a shot. Thankfully we had called ahead to reserve a table because the place was fully booked but to our surprise they had thoughtfully given us a table in a smaller, quieter room and managed to print up personalized inserts for the menus welcoming us on our Anniversary. The waiters were excellent and very helpful with the wine list. The wait staff made sure that our glasses were never empty and that we didn’t need a thing without ever interrupting a conversation or being intrusive. When we did engage them in conversation they were pleasant and behaved like they were genuinely happy to be there. We were even given a great chocolate dessert to share for our anniversary on the house. Even if the food wasn’t great (and it was) I would go back and give the chef another shot to redeem himself because the service really helped make our evening.
My recent experience at a store Wowed me. I was waiting in line to purchase several items. There were several other shoppers in front of me. The one with the cashier seemed to have been there a long time & have some problem. A cashier came up to me & said,” I see you’ve been waiting patiently & I appreciate your time. She took a couple of the items from my arms, as I shopped without a basket & said, “Let me take care of you so you can get on with your day out there in the sunshine!” She took me to another register, checked me out quickly, and gave me a coupon for a discount on my next visit, thanking me for coming. I felt like my time and business really mattered!
I was at a fast food restaraunt waiting patiently to place my order, in front of me was a customer who just could not make up her mind, she changed the order at least 3 times, and I was observing the clerk who did not get upset or fustrated. after 15 minutes the lady was finally done. While I was observing the clerk the clerk was observing me and she thank me for being patience, and was sorry I had to wait and gave me a free meal coupon. I was wow’ed because I was not expecting that at all. Afterward I told her how impressed I was with her for not losing her cool but was friendly to the customer the entire time and she thanked me for not losing my cool or showing signs of being frustated waiting, she said she noticed I was smiling some which was rare.