Use These Customer Service Tales to Make Your UX Better *

Why do consumers enjoy reading stories of great customer experiences?  It might be that these stories personalize your business and provide a constant reminder that there are amazing professionals and companies who create a customer experience with their unforgetable customer service.

Trader Joe’s Actually Delivered

A woman was worried that her 89 year old father was snowed in at his Pennsylvania home and wasn’t going to have enough food for the holidays because of the bad weather in the area.

She frantically called multiple stores in a desperate attempt to find anyone who would deliver to her father’s home.  She finally reached someone at Trader Joe’s.  The Trader Joe’s associate politely told her that they do not deliver … normally.

Given the extreme circumstance, they told her that they would gladly deliver directly to his home, and even suggested additional delivery items that would fit perfectly with his special low-sodium diet.

After the daughter placed the order for the food, the employee on the phone told her that she didn’t need to worry about the price; the food would be delivered free of charge.  The employee then wished her a Merry Christmas.

Less than 30 minutes later the food was at the man’s doorstep — for free!

In refusing to let red tape get in the way of a customer in need, Trader Joe’s shows that customer service doesn’t need to be about the fanfare.  By empowering their employees to act outside of company guidelines, Trader Joe’s shows that their company philosophy is customer focused rather than operations focused.  

Their employees embrace making the customer the heart of their customer experience.  Your companies core values are integral to making your customer experience simply about doing whats right.

Dying Mother Changes United Airlines Flight Schedule

When Kerry Drake got on his United Airlines flight, the mother he was en route to see was facing her final hours.  To add an extra layer of distress, Drake knew that if he missed his connecting flight he would likely not see her before she passed.

After his first flight got delayed, Drake broke down into tears on the plane.  The flight attendants soon noticed his state and quickly found out what was wrong.  Within minutes, Drake’s dilemma was re- layed to the captain, who radioed ahead to Drake’s next flight.

The flight’s crew responded by delaying the flight’s departure to make sure he got on board.

“I was still like maybe 20 yards away when I heard the gate agent say, ‘Mr. Drake, we’ve been expecting you,’” he said.

When Drake finally sat on the second flight, he realized how much went into getting him onto the plane.  He realized how the United Airlines flight crews had put his needs above their flight schedule.  They were able to do this because they felt that the customer’s needs were greater than any company mandates.

Kerry said, “I was overcome with emotion!”

The result of many staff members working together to go above-and-beyond the call of duty.  They helped this customer, Kerry Drake make it to the hospital in time to see his mother.

“At one point she opened her eyes, and I think she recognized me,” said Drake, who spent the night at the hospital.  “Around 4 a.m. she had a real moment of coherence, a last rally, although we didn’t know it at the time.  It was the last time.”

She died that very morning.

Drake wrote the staff a heartfelt thank you letter expressing his immense gratitude for a team who was willing to pull together and pull out all the stops to assist in any way they could.

In the coverage of this story on CNN, consumer advocate Christopher Elliot said:

“Airline employees are evaluated based on their ability to keep a schedule.  Airlines compete with each other on who has the best on-time departure record.  When the crew on this flight heard about this distraught passenger trying to make his connection, they must have said, ‘To hell with it’ … and they made the right call.”

We think so, too.

Joshie the Giraffes’ Extended Vacation at Ritz-Carlton

The story of Joshie the giraffe certainly presents a compelling case for “yes!”  In case you’ve never come across this fantastic tale, the story begins when customer Chris Hurn’s son left his favorite stuffed giraffe, “Joshie,” in their hotel room after a recent stay.

Mr. Hurn assured his distraught son that Joshie was just staying a few extra days on vacation.  He then called the staff at the Ritz and relayed the story he had told his son.

In an all-star effort to make everything right for their customer, the staff at the Ritz created a series of photographs that included all of the activities Joshie had been involved in during his “extended vacation.”

First things first.  They knew Joshie couldn’t just be aimlessly wandering around the Ritz without a staff card … so they made him one!

After that, Joshie headed over to the pool area to relax.

Not one to sit around and do nothing, Joshie helped out in the loss prevention department.

Joshie then decided to melt away some stress with a spa day.

To top it all off, the Ritz sent Hurn and his son a booklet filled with information about Joshie’s stay as well as a host of pictures showing what a good time he’d had.  What a story!

Bungie Studios Created a Holiday Smile

The story begins with a distraught father whose son had to receive liver transplant surgery around the holidays.

Since being in the hospital left his son unable to play the newest release of his favorite video game franchise, Halo, his dad reached out to Bungie.

The response he received from the company went far beyond what anyone expected!  First, the entire Bungie team signed and sent a card with get-well wishes.

To make up for missing out on playing Halo, the team built him a custom helmet based off of the main character and sent it along with shirts, toys and custom art from the game’s designers.

His father later posted a thank you thread and a collection of images on Christmas day, which was when Bungie visited his son in the hospital and brought the gifts.

“He was absolutely shocked when he saw the custom helmet from Halo Reach!  Bungie, you have played a huge part in making this smile!  My family can’t thank you enough!”

A Loyal Customer is ‘WOWed’ by Gaylord Opryland

During each stay McMenemy found herself entranced by one of the features in her hotel room.  She loved the alarm clock that played light music, much like the kind of music that you’d experience in a highend spa.

McMenemy loved the clock radio.  She felt that she had never slept better than she did while using it.

For three years McMenemy tried to find the exact model clock from her hotel room, but to no avail. McMenemy had nearly given up hope when she messaged the company’s Twitter page during her most recent trip to Opryland.

Resigned to her fate, she attended the conference and let the alarm clock hunt go.

But upon returning to her room she was surprised to find not one but two spa clocks and a letter with her name on it.

Opryland recognized an opportunity to make sure a long-time customer had one of the best experiences ever.  And they didn’t just win a customer for life, they also bought plenty of goodwill with folks at the conference and beyond who subsequently heard about the story.

“You reaffirmed that there are still companies out there focused on great service, and you’ve made a lifelong fan out of me.”–Christina McMenemy

Luka’s Day is Saved by a Lego Service Rep

Luka wrote a letter to Lego explaining his loss and assuring the Lego staff that he would take extra-special care of his action figure if they sent him another one.

The response he received from Lego customer representative Richard was nothing short of amazing.  Richard told Luke that he had talked to Sensei Wu a Ninjago character, and wrote:

Sensei Wu told me to tell you, “Luka, your father seems like a very wise man.  You must always protect your Ninjago minifigures like the dragons protect the Weapons of Spinjitzu!”

Sensei Wu also told me it was okay if I sent you a new Jay and told me it would be okay if I included something extra for you because anyone that saves their Christmas money to buy the Ultrasonic Raider must be a really big Ninjago fan.

It’s so rare to see such a thoughtful, creative response to a distraught customer that this story went viral.

Jim Shukys’ Auto Service Sweats the Small Stuff

Many of the memorable stories that we’ve covered so far focus on a company’s stellar response to an usual situation … but what about those day-to-day service stories?

The best part of this tale is that despite the fact that this image was shared on the internet, random commenters started pointing out that they knew who this was:

“I used to live in Streetsboro and I know exactly who that is.  He’s a good man, stay with him!”

Now that’s the definition of memorable service!  The praise continued with noncustomers, too, with one commenter saying,

“It’s little things like this that earn business.  If I got this card I would never use another mechanic in my life.”

Do you have a great customer service story you can share with us?  Tell us how someone went ‘above and beyond’ to give you a truly memorable, remarkable and relatable customer service experience….