Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Rising 2014 Customer Service Store: Harris Teeter

Okay, I'm going to show you a couple of pictures here. Harris Teeter Lincolnia had Dasani water on sale, 24 pack for $4.99 or about half off, but:

That's right, there was no Dasani water. And, last night, they had their store-branded organic plain yogurt on sale, two for $6, but again:

Yep, no yogurt.

So, today, in the store, I was like, "Okay, joke's over." Was this a new store policy? "Oh, we have stuff on sale, geophf, but you can't buy it! HA!"

So I went up to the cashier, a nice lady, and explained my frustration, and she said, "Ooh, go to customer service, they'll either get it for you if we have it in stock in back or they'll give you a rain check if we don't."

I did not know that. I walked away from that conversation a whole lot less frustrated.

So, I did go to customer service, and the young man there looked in the aisles and confirmed that, yes, they were not in stock. "I'll write you rain checks for them."

"Okay," I said.

But the manager, Kelly, walked up during all this, and it wasn't okay for her.  She said, "Ooh, the Dasani doesn't come until Thursday, do you want Deer Park or Aquafina?"

No, I don't. I don't like their waters. I like Dasani.

I'm picky, you see.

But she was fine with that, too. "How about these six packs instead, you could get four of those."

The problem with that was the the six packs were $4.99 each! Which would be four times as much as the sale.

But Kelly said, "No, I'll substitute them for the sale. Just tell the cashier that Kelly said this is the substitute for the 24-pack sale and all four packs come to a total of $4.99."

Okay, four packs for the price of one? I was absolutely thrilled with that.

But, in for a penny, in for a pound, yes? The Aladdin effect and all that.

Don't worry, y'all: geophf reads management-speak books, just hang in there for my happy ending.

I said, "What about the yogurt?"

Kelly said, "Well, we don't get that until Thursday, too, but would you be willing to take Dannon?"

Dannon? Ick. I said, "Um, no, I was talking about your organic plain yogurt, would you substitute Stoney Field?" I asked this hopefully.

Guess what Kelly said? "Oh, the organic yogurt? Sure, we can do that."

So, guess what? I got the Stoney Field plain organic yogurt, at $4 per quart originally at the sale price of the store-branded organic yogurt, and even got a discount off that for my time and trouble: two quart containers for all of $4.

Was I happy about this? You bet. Actually: I like the Harris Teeter store brand of their organic yogurt more than most other organic yogurts out there, it's really well blended and less OhMyGoshThisYogurtIsTooSWEET! that other organic yogurts suffer from. My preference was Harris Teeter organic yogurt, but my pleasure was getting (very good) organic yogurt when the supply just wasn't there.

And I have been without #skyr for too, too many days already.

So.

I told Kelly I tweeted my troubles last night and @HarrisTeeter often responds to my tweets.

"Yes," she said, "Harris Teeter is very customer-focused."

I have to agree. I'll go further: I have never received such good customer-focused service from a store, unless I have (and I have) stood in the middle of the noosphere and screamed my head off about customer neglect from other vendors, treating me with contempt, rather than with respect.

But that was another set of entries, not this one. This entry is about the respect I received from Harris Teeter today. This one, I told Kelly, "I'm going to mention you by name: you help has been simply incredible."

She was shy about that, saying: "Oh, you don't have to do that!"

But I did. The manager, Kelly (I know her last name, I'm just internet-protecting it, you know), at the Lincolnia Harris Teeter took initiative, and didn't just settle for Harris Teeter (good) policy of giving a rain check on a sale, she made sure her customer left her store not only happy, but amazed, and not only amazed, but simply floored at the way she, and, by extension: Harris Teeter, treat their customers: with respect, seeing they got what they came for, and were happy about it.

Kelly: thank you. Harris Teeter, thank you.

My nomination for rising 2014 Customer Service Store? Harris Teeter. They turned a doubly-frustrating experience, two days in a row, into one where I left the store an amazed evangelist.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Thanksgiving during job hunt


Dear LORD,

Thank You for today. Exciting day, what? with the interview with the test manager at FINRA and then the email from the manager at ICF. When Your blessings come, they come like rain, don't they? LORD, please keep raining Your blessings down on us like rain in the desert: a torrent of blessings for us, your beloved children.  Thank You, too, that while answering the prayers for the things I want and need, You also answer the things I want and need and don't ask for, things like heat in the house and food on the table and the love given and received in my family, Christmas gifts for the children from their Mama and from friends, neighbors and relatives, Atrium, swim team for the girls and dietbet [two words unreadable]. Thank You for this special quiet time away from the hustle and bustle of work that I can reflect and grow, and thank You for the hustle and bust of work, where I can be an example of Your charity and be amazed when I see You in others, in the littlest things people do for each other. When I gave Shantanu my Rosary bead from my broken Rosary, he received it with delight and wonder.  It was the simplest, silliest thing I did, but he reverenced it: he knew You are important to me, and he accepted my token with reverence. Please, let this be the seed where he finds true happiness in You.

LORD, I thank You that so many of my coworkers have found work again, and right away after being let go over Christmas. Please be with them and bless them in their work so that they may meet their obligations and be happy and fulfilled in their daily labors.

I ask you this through Jesus, the Christ.

Amen.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Happy New Year!

Dear LORD,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So many people still awake, celebrating the New Year. Except me, who woke up late to come here. Whoopsie! Sorry, LORD, and Jack!

May You bless Your people with many blessings this year as we await the return of Your Son, particularly those in need. May those hungry find food at the table. May those tired find rest and repose in You. May those who need shelter and clothing find a home with fresh, clean clothes to keep them safe and warm. May those without an occupation find work. May those in need of Love find You.

LORD, thank You for the blessings of this past year. Thank You for my fourth straight year of work (wow!), thank You for the creative spark to write and the drive to keep at it. Thank You for the blessing of my family: my dear, devoted wife, and my cute and cuddly kids.

Please help me get back to paying work and help our family return to sound financial standing, and from that secure position, help us to prosper financially and in Your Grace.

I ask all this in the Name of Jesus, the Christ.

Amen.