Is Customer Service Dead?

The classic consumer lament is that customer service is dead. The complaint is not completely without merit. Being a consumer in today’s world is not the warm and fuzzy experience it was when everyone shopped at the neighborhood grocery store. Times have changed, but there are still plenty of retail associates, fast-food workers and hospitality employees who go above and beyond to make their customers happy. Here are some of their stories.

Morton’s Steakhouse Delivers

An entire team came together to deliver a surprise to business consultant and author Peter Shankman. Hungry and bored to tears on a 2.5-hour flight, the last leg of a long travel day, Shankman tweeted a message to Morton’s Steakhouse. His tweet, “Hey @Mortons - can you meet me at newark airport with a porterhouse when I land in two hours? K, thanks. :),” was meant as a joke. Imagine his surprise when he stepped off of the plane. A man in a tuxedo handed Shankman a bag with a 24-ounce porterhouse steak, potatoes, shrimp, bread and eating utensils. It was truly an amazing feat since no one at Morton’s Steakhouse knew Shankman’s flight information or exactly where he would land.

Chef’s Mother-in-Law Saves the Day

A family arrived at the Ritz-Carlton in Bali with a son who had severe food allergies. Unfortunately, the safe food they packed for their son was destroyed en route. The Ritz-Carlton manager was unable to find the required food in town, but the hotel’s executive chef remembered that a store in Singapore sold the required items. The chef’s mother-in-law lived in Singapore, purchased the items and took a 2.5-hour flight to Bali to deliver them to grateful family.

The Spa Comes Home

A writer staying at the Gaylord Opryland loved the clock/radio/sound machine, particularly the relaxing spa-style music included in the sound machine repertoire. During her stay, she tweeted the hotel folks, asking where she could get one of her own for home. They informed her that those particulars units were made exclusively for the hotel and referred her to a similar Sharper Image model. It didn’t have the spa music, but she thanked the employees for their efforts on her behalf. When she returned to her room hours later, she found a second clock radio next to the first, with a note that read, “We hope you enjoy these spa sounds at home.”

Trader Joe’s Braves the Snow

An elderly WWII veteran in Pennsylvania found himself at home in the midst of a snowstorm with little food. His daughter tried to find a nearby store to deliver items, but the only store that did was Trader Joe’s. The daughter ordered approximately $50 worth of food and the clerk suggested a few more items that fit in with her father’s low-sodium diet. The food was delivered within 30 minutes of the call. What makes this store an exceptional example of customer service? The Trader Joe’s employee who delivered the food refused payment for the order. What makes this story even more of exceptional? Trader Joe’s does not normally make deliveries, but they made an exception for an elderly gentleman in need.  

An Airline With a Heart

It’s not often that great customer service and the name of an airline are used in the same sentence, but this time it fits. After a flight delay, Kerry Drake was certain he would miss saying goodbye to his mother, who was gravely ill and expected to soon pass away. Flight attendants on his United Airline flight noticed his distress and asked what was wrong. After he explained, the flight attendants informed the captain who then radioed to pilots on Drake’s connecting flight. The connecting flight crew delayed take-off until Drake’s plane touched down and he boarded. He arrived in time to be at his mother’s side during her final hours.   

Searching Nordstrom’s

Nordstrom's employees didn’t have to dumpster dive to help their customer, but it almost came to that. A security guard noticed a woman crawling on her hands and knees on the sales floor. When asked what she was doing, the woman replied that she had lost the diamond out of her wedding ring when she was trying on clothes and was frantically trying to find it. The guard got on his hands and knees to help search and recruited a small team of employees to help. The diamond was finally found, but not before employees had sifted through the dirt from the store’s vacuums.