customer service and an owed apology

Customer service doesn't mean the same thing these days as it did years back. Years ago, when you got gas, there was an attendant, who was nice, said hello, washed your window, etc., etc. The definition of customer service has changed.

Once in a great while it comes back and it throws you (me) for a loop when that happens. I had one of those experiences yesterday. Since my Dad had heart trouble, he drinks a specific flavor of Fruit 2 O flavored water - watermelon kiwi to be exact. He's been having a hard time finding it lately and I've been able to find it off and on at my local Market Basket supermarket. My father asked his local supermarket if they could special order it for him and he was told no. I asked Market Basket and they said yes. So they ordered a couple of cases for me and called me to let me know they were in and I could come pick them up.

Yesterday after PT I stopped by to grab them. This is where the customer service aspect of the story comes in. I spoke to someone at the service desk, who paged the manager for me. The manager came over and talked to me about what kind of regular ordering schedule I'd like to have. He was extremely friendly and polite. He agreed to ordering one case a week for me and went back to get the 2 cases for me. He put them at an empty register and had one of the girls ring it up for me so I didn't have to wait in line. He then went and got a carriage, loaded them into the cart. After I had checked out, he grabbed one of the grocery boys and had him push the cart out to my car and load it up. All of which was unnecessary as I'm perfectly capable of picking up a case of water. But wow was it a pleasant surprise! I haven't seen customer service like that in a real long time and I have to admit I liked it. :)

I was shocked to see on cnn.com this morning that someone had admitted to the JonBenet Ramsey murder. For years and years there was a ton of speculation focused on the parents. The loss of their daughter was really traumatic enough without being the main suspects in the murder of their own child. I think they deserve an extremely humble public apology from the media. The mother has died without knowing they caught the person responsible. The husband's life is and was ruined by all of this. So much for innocent until proven guilty.

They deserve an apology.

D