A look at customer service, take 2

Reading back over one of Maggi's posts, I was thinking about the world of customer service. Recently, I've had some negative customer service, but each business went out of their way to resolve the issue and leave me as a happy customer.

Kroger -
I think Mercury must have been in retrograde, but my normally very friendly Kroger was particularly grumpy and rude during a recent visit. Bothered by the experience, I left a comment with Kroger's customer service online. Soon after, my local Kroger wrote me a letter, assured me that the customer service issue had been discussed with their team, and provided a $10 gift card.


Healthy Choice -
Given the number of Lean Cuisines and Healthy Choice frozen meals consumed in our office, it was only a matter of time before a package showed up with an issue. Upon opening a lunch, I discovered the plastic was unsealed. A quick online comment later, and Healthy Choice sent me a letter and gift card in the mail.


Panera -
This one's by far the best. Recently, we ordered lunch in for an office meeting. While divvying out our orders, I discovered that Panera had forgotten my sandwich (lesson learned - ALWAYS check your order). With no time to return and pick up my lunch, I called Panera to make sure I'd at least get a refund. Their manager got on the phone and arranged to have the sandwich delivered to the office, along with a selection of desserts for everyone. REALLY awesome.


Point is, no one's perfect, and no matter what you do, something's going to go wrong for a customer or client at some point. But if you show concern and genuine effort to resolve the issue, your customer may end up even MORE impressed with your brand than if everything had gone correctly in the front place.