I want to share with you one of, if not THE, best customer service experiences I ever had.

So I was missing a receipt that I needed to turn in to my workplace, a receipt from this regional grocery store chain near me. I went into the store to the customer service desk, and the young woman there (Tynesha) was very kind and understanding when I told her my plight, and did what she could in trying to find the receipt on the computer…however, the computer can only do so much (in order to find the exact receipt, you have to go through EACH. INDIVIDUAL. SALE.) and OF COURSE I couldn’t remember the exact time I was there (the “afternoon” is pretty vague) or the exact price. I did, at the very least, remember what had been purchased, which helped a little bit, but…not a great deal.

Anyway, I realized this was going to take more time than I had, so I thanked her for her help but told her I had to leave, at which point she VOLUNTEERED to keep looking for me! I hadn’t asked her to do this, and by no means did I expect her to do this—but she truly, willingly wanted to help me, and so I gave her my cell phone number, and wrote down again all the items that had been purchased…and wouldn’t you know it, an hour later, I got a phone call from her telling me she had found it!

I just couldn’t stop smiling, but I also couldn’t stop feeling AMAZED by the generosity and kindness of this extraordinary person. And simply saying “thank you” to her (many times, both over the phone and in person when I went back to collect the receipt) was by no means enough. I spoke with the store’s manager, but I also wrote a letter–a very detailed letter–to corporate, telling them about this person, how amazing she is, and how they want to do everything in their power to keep someone like her on their team; these are not simply the qualities you want in an employee, these are the traits you hope to find in a fellow human being.

I can’t speak for corporate, but I can say that the manager seemed very happy by my story, perhaps because store managers are often left with negative feedback rather than positive.  And this is why positive feedback is SO IMPORTANT!  I don’t know if, in the long run, it will do anything like give Tynesha a MUCH DESERVED pay raise or a higher position, but I can certainly hope! At the very least, I hope that my story and other positive stories people share will get companies to see employees as people–people who deserve the best treatment from their employers.

Seriously, it’s people like Tynesha that will get me to come back to that store and offer my business, more so than any sale.