I sent my plate back (oh, horrors!)

Josh and I went to May Street Market for dinner last night and while my appetizer (tuna and salmon tartare) was delicious, my entree was inedibly salty. I hesitated for a moment, trying to decide what to do, but when our server came back to ask how everything was, I admitted it was too salty to eat.

And what followed was textbook customer service. They didn't make me feel like a squeaky wheel, but apologized that the dish was not to my taste. They asked me if I'd like to have it remade or if I'd rather choose something else. I opted for the turkey burger (with no bun) and they brought it out as quickly as possible, checking in with me a couple more times to make sure I was happy. And the bonus? They didn't charge me for either entree! Go May Street Market!

We finished our meal with coffees and an awesome creme brulee that was make with chevre and served with a ball of blackberry sorbet.

A very, very good day

Not only was my heart filled with hope (and my eyes with happy tears) as I witnessed the swearing in of our new President this morning, I came home to find $70 in free money in the mail!

T-Mobile sent me a $20 Visa card to thank me for my continued patronage (I've been with them since the old days of Voicestream). And USAA wrote me a letter apologizing for my poor experience with their Roadside Assistance program that came with two $25 American Express Gift Cheques!

Old Navy and Starbucks made my day

I managed to leave Old Navy today with a giant shopping bag full of clothes (all gifts, BTW) for only $8. Not only was everything on sale or 60% off, I had $30 in ON Bucks Back. I left the store and headed south on State to The Children's Place, where I was going to pick up some cute warm clothes for my niece and still-in-utero nephew to wear when winter comes to Australia. Only I realized at the cash wrap that my wallet was missing. Fortunately my Old Navy cashier had saved it for me and management told me they had it as soon as I called. Nothing was missing and the manager even checked my face against my ID, which I appreciated. Yay Old Navy. Now I have one more reason to love you.

Can you bear another rave for a national chain? Since one of my favorite coworkers gave me a Starbucks card for the holidays, I headed downstairs for a latte treat. My barista gave me a complimentary double shot and told me about how Starbucks has an internal website where employees can pick up shifts in any city in the country. She lives in Oklahoma where apparently all the Starbucks are drive-throughs ("It's like working in a fast food restaurant"), but she was financing her visit home to family by working part-time while on vacation. Interesting, huh?

I heard on NPR earlier this season about how the economic downturn is improving customer service by bringing highly qualified people front-line service jobs, and I'm beginning to think there's some truth to that.

Great moments in customer service (not)

Okay, so the spending ban isn't working out so well.

But Josh encouraged me to shop for some new clothes to celebrate my new job. So I hit State Street over lunch today. Picked out some really cute stuff at H&M--I can't remember how long it's been since I bought something trendy! I was feeling pretty good about myself.

Then I hit Nordstrom Rack and found a dress to wear to our synagogue's gala event this weekend. I'm at the checkout and the cashier's bagged my dress, stockings and socks. As she swipes my credit card, she looks at my midsection and asks, "Are you having a boy or a girl?"

I guess I'm better make sure those stockings are control top. Sigh.

Lowes, you're no friend of mine

I shopped at Lowe's for my bathroom remodel because I've had such terrible experiences with Home Depot. But now I don't know where to go for my big box home improvement needs.

You see, not only did they screw up my pick-up order by giving us the wrong toilet tank and the wrong vanity cabinet, they've treated us like criminals when we come in to exchange the items for the ones we actually purchase (with a receipt, mind you)!

Trying to make the exchange of the vanity go as smoothly as possible, I called ahead and was assured by customer service that the exchange would be approved. I talked to the plumbing department to verify that the correct vanity would be in stock. I arrive at the customer service desk with my return and my receipt and there's no line. Yet it still took them 40 minutes to process my exchange! An exchange that never should have been necessary since they gave me the wrong item!

Professional Eye Center: Not very professional

In this age of 1-800-Contacts, can you imagine waiting a month and a half for a couple of boxes of contact lenses?

I went to the Oak Park office of the Professional Eye Center for an eye exam and contact lenses fitting in mid-August. I chose them because they're a member of the VSP network (my vision insurance) and I'd had a good experience with their optometrist in the past. My exam--aside from the breastfeeding comment--was uneventful and I placed my order for 6 months' worth of contact lenses. Since the enhanced vision insurance I bought through work covers the cost of eyeglasses or contacts up to a certain dollar amount, my exam and order only totaled about $30 out of pocket. I was told my order would take about two weeks.

After wearing through my trial pair and an extra set of lenses I had lying around the house, I started to get antsy. A month had gone by! I called the office and was told my lenses weren't in yet, but it would probably come in the following week. I could stop by to pick up another pair of trial lenses.

Fast forward two more weeks and I still hadn't heard from The Professional Eye Center. When I called back today they told me they didn't know why my order hadn't come in, and they didn't know when it would. But I could stop by and pick up another pair of trials.

Compare this to the customer service at For Eyes, which is just down the street from TPEC. I bought my glasses from them a few years ago and I stop in about once a year to have them adjusted so they don't fall off my face. Every time I appear, the friendly staff help me immediately and don't charge me a penny. It's a shame they're not in my vision care network, but I'm guessing they don't need the extra business.

Another Mattel recall

Apparently Mattel is set to recall even more Chinese-made toys later today. Stay tuned and keep an eye on your kids' toy boxes.

Southwest Airlines: I think I'm in LUV

Apparently customer service is not dead, even in the much maligned airline industry. Quite the opposite. You see, on June 18th, Southwest Airlines took a poor customer experience, one which was due to a situation out of their control, and made the best of it. A thunderstorm threatened the Chicago area and air traffic controllers put a stop to all north and westbound flights, including our Chicago to Omaha route. We boarded our plane at 3:15pm for a 3:30 flight, but we ended up sitting on the tarmac for a full three hours.

Now a three hour delay for an 80 minute flight is exceptional, and since I was 36 weeks pregnant and traveling with a 2 1/2 year old to a funeral, it wasn't fun either. But my husband and I appreciated the crew's attitude. Every 15-20 minutes, the pilot would update the passengers on the situation and give us a revised estimate of when he thought we might take off. The flight attendants handed out water, peanuts and pretzels and did their best to entertain the unaccompanied minors across the aisle.

But while the behavior of Southwest employees on 2081 kept me from swearing off flying the discount airline ever again, the letter we received from Southwest has forever cemented my loyalty to the company. You see, they sent us unsolicited apologies along with a $75 travel voucher for each traveler.

Here's an excerpt from the letter, which was dated just three days after the flight:

"[W]e truly regret you had this unfortunate experience, and we would like to have another opportunity to provide you with better memories of Southwest Airlines. In this spirit, I have enclosed a LUV Voucher that we invite you to apply toward the purchase of a future reservation with us. Of course, this goodwill gesture may not offset the total amount of each person's inconvenience, but I hope it will be accepted as our acknowledgement of the frustrations created by this situation."

Did every passenger get this treatment or did we qualify because we're Rapid Rewards members who purchased full price tickets (the only fares available on one day's notice)? I don't know, but I hope we aren't the only ones feeling the love.

And there you have it. Thanks to Southwest's unexpected, authentic gesture, I'm spreading positive word-of-mouth for a company that I could just have easily been complaining about.

How not to reward loyal customers

Yesterday I received an email from Cold Stone Creamery inviting me, a valued customer and member of their mailing list, to take a customer survey. In return for my time, Cold Stone promised me a free Like It (small) ice cream treat. I took the survey, which was a quite a bit longer than I expected, and a few hours later an email arrived titled "Survey Reward for Cold Stone Survey." I clicked on the link to get my certificate, and a web page opened with my confirmation code pre-populated into the appropriate space. Only when I pressed enter, I was told that my code had already been used. No ice cream for me.

So now I've given Cold Stone Creamery 15 minutes of my time and oodles of thoughts on what I think various sizes of ice cream and cake creations should cost. I've done everything asked of me, but their reward system is basically accusing me of certificate theft. I've responded to the survey email address letting them know about the problem. We'll see if I'll get my cake batter (or do I want coffee?) ice cream with Health bar crunchy bits.

UPDATE 2/8/07: Apparently I wasn't the only customer locked out of a reward. CSC sent me a generic apology ("We're sorry if you had difficulty accessing...") and a fresh link to the free ice cream coupon.

UPDATE 2/12/07: Now here's the customer service I was hoping for! A fairly personal letter from CSC arrived in the mail today. In it, they thank me for bringing their website problem to their attention and they attach a certificate for a free Love It (large) ice cream creation.