Tag Archives: customer service

Day 24: Tom

Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves. ~ Steve Jobs

I tried to stealthily snap this photo of Chris hard at work.

I tried to stealthily snap this photo of Chris hard at work.

Customer experience has probably never been as important as it is now. With online marketplaces commoditizing the vast majority of products and services, it’s the customer’s experience – whether face to face or online – that dictates whether they will publicly praise or shame you.

I had some items to ship on Friday and headed to FedEx. They were awkwardly shaped, so I needed to get them boxed up. I’m terrible at these kind of tasks, thankfully Chris, the FedEx team member that helped me, was awesome. It was refreshing to see a young person take his job, and more importantly his responsibility, seriously. I decided to drop his boss a note.

It’s funny – I called back hours later to get the name of the manager and Chris answered – he’d been there all day at that point and still sounded as polite and professional as he did at 9am. I didn’t tell him I was writing this letter to his boss…I just asked for the manager’s name.

Day 24 Tom-2

Tom,

Just a note to tell you how impressed I was with a member of your team. I stopped in on Friday with two large items that needed boxed up and shipped and a young man named Day 24 TomChris did a fantastic job – from making sure that I got the right kind of boxes to guiding me through my shipment options. He took care of everything. His badge said that he was a trainee – I’m sure he’ll be moving up in no time. Please let him know that his professionalism and attention to customer service made an impression on me.

Keep up the good work,
Reed Sandridge

Day 9: John Watson, Walgreens


It was Thanksgiving 2013 and I needed to get some customized photo pruducts made quickly and one of the only places in DC that you has the type of machine required for my project was at Walgreens – and not just any Walgreens, only at the bright and shinny one up on Connecticut Avenue near the Van Ness – UDC Metro station. I went online, designed the card and hit submit. It said it would be ready around 1pm. A short while later I got an automatic message informing me that my cards were ready.

Unfortunately, when I arrived I was informed that the cards were not ready. I explained that they were promised by 1pm and I even received a message confirming that they were now ready.

John, the employee working that afternoon, told me the machine had been broken for a couple of days and would hopefully be fixed later that afternoon. I couldn’t understand why I was able to order them and even get confirmation and updates on the production of the cards if the equipment was working. That glitch needs fixed.

Needless to say I was upset and left with limited options to get these cards done as I would be traveling. John took the address of where I would be in Pennsylvania and said if the machine was fixed that day he would get them in the mail and maybe I’d receive them by Friday – when I needed them.

Well, the machine got fixed, John somehow got the cards to me in Pennsylvania on time and everything worked out. Thank you sir!

 

Watson Day 9

 

Dear Mr. Watson,

We met in November of 2013 when I ordered some custom greeting cards at the Walgreens where you work. The machine had broken and my cards were not ready, but you went out of your way to send them to me in Mechanicsburg, PA once he machine was fixed.

I was very thankful for the extra effort that you put forth and appreciate your professionalism and sincerity very much. Sorry I was a bit of an ass that day!

Respectfully yours,
Reed Sandridge

Day 6: Matt Hurlburt, Hotel Monaco Alexandria

Did you ever get a gift certificate and have it expire on you before you can use it? Well, that’s exactly what happened here. Expiration dates are often arbitrarily set at a year and have no reason that they could not be extended. I know I have been on the other side of this situation when I have worked for places that issued gift certificates and always worked something out if they expired Continue reading