A.Connector

Ok I’m all fired up now. That’s right loaded for bear. Well actually it was reading this wonderful; post of good customer service in the face of difficulty that caused me to reflect on a bad service experience.

When I was in college at the U Of AZ and my grandmother still living in NY(she retired and moved out to Phoenix, AZ not long after), she came to visit one time. That’s great because my Nana(as mentioned in last Cast) was always one of my favorite people.

I was a good travel guide and took her all around to some of Tucson’s best tourist “must see’s”: Like Gates Pass, the Desert Museum, Old Tucson, and the Catalina Foothills.

On one of our stops for food we went to a national seafood chain place that I was not excited about but confident it would be adequate. The food was promptly delivered and of reasonable quality, but I took one bite of my scallops, and felt something that shouldn’t be there. In fact, there was a piece of glass which I promptly removed from my mouth. Of course we called the waiter and asked for him to get the manager.

When the manager came he was apologetic and showed concern asking if I suffered harm in any way. He then offered to replace my dinner and take it off the check. This is where he lost my approval. Why do you say? Well, the way I was raised, the correct thing would be for him to offer the replacement and “comp” the whole table which in this case was only my grandmother and I.

We are talking glass here folks-if I was some sue-happy miscreant I could have easily made a stink and possibly gotten a wad of cash just to leave quietly. How about the demonstration of good will or lack of it in this case. My grandmother saw that piece of glass come out of my mouth. So while comping her meal wouldn’t change that negative impression, it would at least show her that the restaurant took it’s customer’s dining experience very seriously.

The bottom line- we need to realize with out satisfied customers, there will be no “bottom line.”