I've been remiss telling this great customer experience story. About three weeks ago Kay, Kelly and I had dinner with our good friends Art Turock and Haley Ashland.
We chose Joey Southcenter, because we enjoy the food (blue cheese covered french fries!) and the waitresses are very easy on the eyes. 🙂
I ordered the burger with cheddar cheese and mushrooms. I've had it before and it's great. I did ask to hold onions.
When the food arrived, I noticed there was an onion slice on my burger. Now this is absolutely no big deal to me, but I stupidly mentioned it. Our waitress, Mayliza, graciously offered to take it back. I said no, I could just put it on the side of my plate and not to worry. Nothing more was mentioned about the onion.
When the check arrived, Mayliza leaned over and said, "I didn't charge you for your burger since it had onion on it."
Excuse me? I'm not getting charged simply because they inadvertently put a slice of onion on my burger? I said, "But it was no big deal, Mayliza. The burger was great and I'm happy to pay for it."
"No," she said. "We made a mistake and we don't feel you should have to pay for it."
Below is a photo of our receipt. You can see where Mayliza deducted my burger from the bill. But look at the symbol at the bottom that says, "Every Customer Leaves Happy." And it's signed by Mayliza.
Did I leave happy? No I didn't. I left AMAZED. I lefted WOWED. Will I go back to Joey's? Absolutely. Will I tell others about Joey's? Absolutely. Would I recommend Mayliza as your server at the Southcenter location? Absolutely.
Clearly, Joey's walks its talk. How far are you willing to go to keep your customers happy? (And don't go commenting, "Oh, it's only a $12.49 burger!" Imagine what Joey's would have done if we'd REALLY had a problem!) I ask again, how far are you willing to go to keep your customers happy?
And am I emailing her manager to tell this story? I already did.
Yes, I was impressed, too. The server, Maylize, went “above and beyond.” (I didn’t notice, but apparently she was also cute, LOL).
I have to compare this to our recent visit to Salty’s. They made a mistake in the kitchen, and I had to wait an extra 10 or 15 minutes for my King Crab Legs. While everyone else at our table was served, and enjoying their meal, I waited and watched. The manager came over to apologize. However, he made no offer of a “comped” dessert or drink, etc. Although I didn’t complain, my impression of Salty’s changed based on that unsatisfactory experience, and the lack of any gesture on Salty’s part to show that my satisfaction (let alone happiness) was important to them.
Just as Joey GAINED (more) loyalty on the evening of our visit, Salty’s LOST some of my loyalty when we dined there last.
Kudos to Joey. It’s one of our favorite restaurants, and we will definitely be back.
Here’s simple but impression-making WOW experience we had over the holidays. One of my favorite local coffee/sandwich shops is Cafe Milan, in Fayetteville, NY outside of Syracuse. Their sandwiches and soups are consistently fresh and tasty. I took my mom on Christmas Eve for a quick lunch as we made our way out for last minute shopping. We ordered sandwiches at the counter,then sat down to wait for them to arrive. when glanced up, there on the other end of the counter were four beautiful platters of hors d’ourves set out by owner Mel for her customers – Mel’s way of saying “Merry Christmas.” Before lunch came, we got to taste several of Mel’s signature appetizers(she runs a bustling catering business)which were delicious. We felt the glow of unexpected, special treatment, an experience that cements a positive image for Cafe Milan and Mel. She didn’t have to treat her lunch guests with complimentary apps but because she did, she earned a new level of loyalty from this local patron.
Some businesses “Get it” and some don’t. The former are only too happy that the latter are still clueless.
There’s a regional restaurant chain here in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas named “Taco Palenque” If you ask for a side order of their hot and fresh tortillas, they don’t charge you for them! It doesn’t cost them a lot but it has a big impact on their customers!
Tom Shanahan
Had a similar experience just last week at a local restaurant here in Los Altos CA. The Los Altos Grill is not a place we have eaten regularly but has always had good food and is reasonably priced.
WE stopped in and ordered our meals. One of the daily specials was a salad that my wife ordered. When it arrived it was full of cilantro which my wife is allergic to. We got our waitress and she immediately addressed the problem. On top of that, my wife had gotten the last salad. So she asked for a caesar and had them take the steak from the original salad and put that on the new one. The manager came by and apologized and our waitress was very concerned. We were a bit non plused by the whole thing. Then the bill came. We were a bit shocked but pleasantly surprised when we found that they had not charged us for either salad! Needless to say, not only will we eat there more often – a lot more often but we have already told just about everyone we know in town. I don’t think they could afford that kind of PR.
Do they get it? Yessir!
As we kick off 2011, I think this story is very inspiring for all of us who work in businesses that revolve around customer service. This story serves as a great reminder to all of for how far great customer service goes. People want to share it with their friends, but as Kay mentioned the bad experience with customer service at Salty’s also leaves a bad taste your mouth and leads you to share that experience with friends as well. Let’s all strive to make 2011 a great year and do our best to make sure EVERY CUSTOMER LEAVES HAPPY!
Talk about going above and beyond! I will stop here next time I am in town.
I’m constantly amazed at how many businesses let something small slip through their hands and let money walk out the door.
Just like a relationship, it’s the little things that count. This was a little thing which exploded the rating you had of that restaurant.
Businesses need to realise that their customers do talk, do tell people about good or bad service. Just look at this post alone.
The next time I’m in Tukwila, I’ll pop to Joeys. And I know where I won’t be going – Saltys.
The Internet opens up channels of communication that every business, and I mean every business, can’t afford to ignore.
Delighted that you shared this story. I love when businesses go that extra mile (I’m a big proponent of relationship marketing).
Cheers,
Denise