Learn how JetBlue made Blake Sunshine at the Brazen Careerist a loyal customer after just one trip with the airline! Jet Blue Reminded Me to Be Human.

Christina Bentley guest posts on Customer Service Stories about her bad experience with AAA (California) and her great experience with the Nissan dealership. Good customer service makes a difference when you’re stranded on a California highway!

Heidi Miller of Spoken Communications writes about the “revenue fail” of the airline industry and their baggage fees.

Chris Pugh says, “Bank of America needs to learn that If you can’t take care of your customers, someone else will.” Read about the Bank of America Customer Service Fail.

Bonus links:

Also, I found this blog that is filled with only raves. What a great idea! Not exactly a direct contrast, but Not Always Right is a blog filled with “funny and stupid customer quotes”. (It’s even funnier if you’re ever worked in the service industry!)

Do you have a rant or rave to share? Let me know in the comments or by emailing me at sara@customerserviceftw.com.

Warner's new running shoes.

This past weekend, Warner and I went shopping for a new pair of running shoes for him. Our first stop was DSW (Discount Shoe Warehouse) because they have a decent selection and often the best prices. There’s nothing really wrong with their service; I’ve actually found the employees I’ve encountered in the past to be quite friendly and upbeat. But there’s something missing. You get what you expect with DSW – a decent selection of fairly-priced shoes in an environment where you try on what you like and determine for yourself it they’re the right shoes for you.

Towards the end of our search at DSW for Warner’s shoes, I remembered Alan’s Shoe House (their web site leaves a bit to be desired), a Tucson-based business that’s been in business since I was a kid. I don’t remember too many details of my last visit (almost 20 years ago), but I remember that they were nice. Also, they had plenty of shoes in stock to choose from for a kid with big feet. (Shoe shopping has always been a bit traumatizing for me, since most places don’t carry larger women’s sizes.) I think it says something about how Alan’s runs their business that, almost two decades later, I still remember them fondly – and for someone who RARELY puts “fondly” and anything related to shoes in the same sentence, that says something.

But enough about the past – we were talking about Warner’s shoe shopping experience. After finding a few pairs that he liked at DSW, but none that he was really wild about, we headed over to Alan’s Shoe House. Now, I admit that it’s a bit like comparing apples to oranges here because DSW and Alan’s are two different types of shoe stores, so I want to emphasize that I mean no disrespect to DSW and how they do business. I’m merely using them as contrast to show how exceptional service can be. But I digress again.

The moment we walk into Alan’s, we’re greeted by at least two people, and Stephanie offers to help us find what we’re looking for. Since Warner had already found a brand that he was pleased with, we started there. Stephanie was able to tell us the difference between “training” shoes and “running” shoes as well as the many different styles of running shoes there were. As I mentioned in a previous post, people in the service industry need to know their product. Why? Well, I’ll tell you that Warner and I felt a lot more comfortable with our purchase at Alan’s than we would have at DSW just for the simple fact that Stephanie knew the products well, and she wanted to make sure Warner was getting the right shoes for his needs.

In addition to helping Warner get the right shoes, as with any full service shoe store, Stephanie put on and laced up all the pairs that Warner tried on. Seems like a little touch, but it makes a big difference. We didn’t realize that we were coming into the store at 20 minutes ’til closing, but Stephanie wasn’t bothered one bit, and we didn’t get a startling PA announcement from the manager warning us of limited time left. And you know what was the icing on the cake for this exceptional service? She offered us a bottle of water as we were leaving (because, yes, it’s still a bit warm in Tucson) and gave us a free flashlight, which will come in real handy during our evening jogs.

Sometimes it’s the little things that add up to make an exceptional customer service experience. Do you have any stories of exceptional customer service that you’d like to share? Let me know in the comments or at sara@customerserviceftw.com.

• An Open Letter to American Express (from Cracked.com) – This falls into the category of “you can’t be serious!” Read about the atrocious customer service this guy got from American Express.
• Now Hear This: Happy Customers = Evangelists (from promodiva.com) – I personally love hearing about this when it happens. Heck, I love it when it happens to me (like with CarMax)! Have you ever become a fan for life because you were just wowed by the customer service you received. Learn how SiriusXM made some already loyal customers into brand evangelists.
• How many times can you alienate a customer in one interaction? (from Customer Service Stories) – Stories of lost baggage and airline customer service (usually the lack thereof) are a dime a dozen nowadays.  But there are definitely some that still stand out as outrageous. Find out how many times Barry Dalton gets alienated by USAirways when trying to track down his luggage.
• Twitter: the killer app for customer service (from Church of the Customer Blog) – How did AT&T manage to impress this blogger with customer service? I think the first line of the post says it best: “Hello, this is Sam Kaufman from the AT&T Internet Executive Office, and I am calling about your tweets.”

Do you have a rant or rave to share? Let me know in the comments or by emailing me at sara@customerserviceftw.com.

Anyone who lives in Southern Arizona knows that wiper blades don’t last very long in the summer heat. And if you’re lucky smart, you’ll think to get them replaced before the first summer monsoon storm hits. A few years ago – I wasn’t. So, off I went to the nearest Checker, driving as fast as I dared (25 mph) because pouring rain plus shot wipers equals less than stellar visibility. Finally inside Checker, I asked the sales guy what type of wipers I needed for my car, expecting that I’d pluck them off the shelf and put them on myself. While the clerk was looking up things in the computer, I started the mental argument with myself about whether I should brave the ride home to put on the wipers or if I should get soaked in front of Checker so I could drive home safely. But before I could even answer myself, the sales clerk had the wipers in his hands and was motioning for me to follow him outside. I stood under the almost non-existent overhang and watched in awe as the man changed my wipers for me (and in less than two minutes, I might add!). Now that’s service!

But the above story is not why I’m a Checker fan for life. Nope. That was just icing on the cake, so to speak. My undying devotion for this auto parts store (yes, I just said that) came the night I was stranded 2 hours away from home in a city I didn’t know all that well with a faulty (brand new!!!) alternator. (One that, I might add proudly, my sister and I installed ourselves.) I managed to putt-putt the car to the nearest auto parts store – oh, how thankful I am that there was one close by! It was 8:55 pm and Checker was closing at 9:00 pm. The friendly guys there stayed past closing time to help me with my problem. I won’t mention that the alternator was from AutoZone and that the guys pulled the AutoZone sticker off of it and switched it out for free (surely not their policy to swap a part from a competitor). I also won’t mention that they let me borrow their tools so I could replace it myself in the dark (don’t know their policy on letting pseudo-customers borrow really expensive tools). And I certainly won’t tell you that, two minutes later, the guys were outside with a flood light, replacing the dang thing for me (I’m dead certain that’s against their liability policy – working on a customer’s car). I’m not telling you all this because I don’t want anyone to get in trouble . . . not that I remember their names or the location.

But seriously, how’s that for service?! You can’t beat that. Like I said, above and beyond.

Have you had an Above and Beyond experience you want to share? (I doesn’t have to be about an auto parts store, really!) Tell me in the comments or write to me at sara@customerserviceftw.com!