Customer Service Lives!

I toss my change in a jar and use it when I am in need of a treat.  Last Thursday the temperature topped 70 for the first time.  To me that meant time for my favorite summer treat, frozen limeade from Wawa, our local mini market that just celebrated 50 years in business.  With whipped cream that I mix in as soon as I’ve taken a few sips.

I grabbed a handful of change on my way out the door only to discover that the ultra nummy limeade has been replaced by peach lemonade.  Peach lemonade?  My first reaction was no!  Then I stopped to consider and decided to give it a try, loving peaches as I do.  Yes, I know, not all things processed that are supposedly peach flavored are good but I was there and wanted a treat.

Um.  Should have stuck with my first reaction.  It wasn’t awful  but it is not a flavor I will ever order again.  So I poked around Wawa’s website and found their contact information.  I emailed them with my disappointment and opinion on the replacement. 

Within two hours (and after 5:00) I had a very nice response from Brianna, a Wawa customer engagement sr. analyst since 2007.  She was extremely pleasant, thanking me for my input, stating she would pass it on to marketing.  She also promised a gift card so that I may try another flavor on them.

Today, less than a week later, the gift card arrived with a polite, upbeat letter from Brianna encouraging me to contact Wawa with my thoughts again.  Yes, I am impressed.  Someone remembers how customer service should be.  I knew I liked Wawa for more than their nummy drinks and fresh-made sandwiches.  No wonder they’ve made it this long.

Click here to see if there's a Wawa near you. And while you're there tell them to bring back frozen limeade!

Grr!

Saturday I had been out working in the sun and heat most of the morning so I decided to take myself off to the local mini market and get a nummy frozen beverage. Simple enough, right? Wrong!

I got there, placed my order on the handy dandy touch screen, went to the counter to pay and then returned to the food/beverage area to wait. And wait. And wait. It was busy so I was okay with that. Until all the other customers waiting with me had been served and the employees began cleaning the area.

So I told the closet one to me that the beverage maker had skipped my order. I showed her my receipt, stamped paid, that listed what I was expecting. Her response? Was I sure I hadn’t gotten it and already drank it? Was. I. Sure? That I hadn’t stood directly in front of them and devoured 24 ounces of a very thick, frozen substance with an expectant expression on my face? Seriously? Oh hell yes, I was most definitely sure. I was slightly parched but not out of it to the point where something like that would slip my mind.

Once she believed me she asked the individual making the beverages if he remembered my order. He said oh that must have been the one that disappeared from his screen. And he thought apparently it best to just ignore it instead of asking if everyone standing there had gotten their orders

I waited another five minutes for him to get out all the stuff he had just put away, grumbling the entire time he did so as if it were my fault the order vanished. I seriously considered accepting it and then turning right around and pouring it over their heads but I changed my mind. After all, this was the last one of these beverages I was ever likely to stop for so I might as well enjoy it.

Customer service – n – assistance and other resources that a company provides to the people who buy or use its products or services.

Customer Service Lives

While I was out and about last weekend one of the places I stopped was an official T-Mobile store. Yes, I know. Hard to believe, considering how I’ve ranted about them in the past. But my experience in the store made up for a lot.

The salesgirl, Tameka was honestly helpful. Quit snickering, I’m serious. She was a very pleasant young woman who miraculously understands the concept of customer service, real, old-fashioned, assist the customer type customer service. She asked intelligent questions, made informed recommendations based on the answers and was knowledgeable about both the products and services offered by T-Mobile.

And later, when I returned to the store later for something else, she didn’t cringe or run away when she saw me. Yes, I admit it. I was misbehaving just a bit as we all know I do from time to time. But this charming individual handled it extremely well and was truly impressive throughout the entire time I spent with her.

I sincerely doubt that T-Mobile appreciates the treasure they have in Tameka and that’s too bad for them. She’s an asset to their company and trust me, they truly need her.

The Next Saga

Howie.

I was impulsive last Sunday. While out and about I decided it might be a good idea to get Howie’s oil changed. Huge mistake! Remind me never to do that again. I stopped at NTB, National Tire and Battery. I have a very picky friend who goes there and trusts them for things such as oil changes so I thought it would be okay. I thought, since there were only a few cars, that Howie could be finished within the hour and we could be on our way, on to the rest of the day. What a fool I was!

I was lounging on their curb in a sunbeam, happily reading, when the counter guy came and asked if I had trouble with the passenger window. Um, no! Never! He informed me the mechanic put it down by mistake when going for the driver’s window in order to see to pull Howie up on the ramp. And it wouldn’t go back up. Worked perfectly fine for me on Saturday. Of course he didn’t believe me. Naturally I was upset but I was much better behaved than you’d think, considering they broke Howie.

They were mean to me. Downright hateful, treating me like I was lying to them. They told me it wasn’t their problem and oh well, I’d have to get it fixed. Three and a half hours later, I left in tears. The window was wedged up but the whole door was screwed from them doing that. No lock, no alarm, no mirror adjustments.

I called Monday and spoke to the manager who was slightly less rude though not by much. When she finally accepted, with a dramatic sigh, that I wasn’t going to go away, she told me to go for an estimate and have the garage call her before doing anything.

Off Howie went, at the inconvenience of my wonderful friends who transported me for the day. The garage called and surprise, surprise, manager lady wasn’t available and counter guy was nasty to them after leaving them on hold for an extended amount of time. Even though she told me not to do anything without her approval I had Howie fixed. What was I supposed to do? Leave Howie there in pieces and beg my friends to tote me around another day? Have them put him back together and then charge to rip him apart again?

I called the national complaint number that I wrote down in the store. Should have set off warning bells, having it posted so plainly but again, my picky friend was happy with the place. The woman I got there was at least polite to me. She took down all my information, agreed I did the right thing by authorizing the repair and gave me a case reference number, saying I’d hear back within two days.

I did. Unpleasant store manager lady. Yes, they will reimburse me for the repair. But in saying that she had to get in several digs about how she seriously doubted her mechanic had anything to do with Howie being broken. I repeated that the window was fine when I used it the day before which she questioned repeatedly and sarcastically.

So Howie is fixed and paid for and I only had to put up with tremendous abuse and two wrecked days for it to happen. Who else do you know who goes for an oil change and ends up with a broken window/door instead?