What a GREAT day for customer service!

Okay, Nan. You're gonna like this. I not only have one, but TWO good customer service stories that happened today. Can you handle it? Here goes. First, I went to get my car washed at Xtreme Clean today. I love the fact that they are open on Sunday's and you do not have to get out of your car. Anyway, at the end of the line, as two guys were drying, one of them looked at the front of my car and shook his head and motioned me to go back through. I, of course, did not understand. Had I done something wrong? As I pulled out of the bay, he said that the front had not been cleaned very well, that there were still a great deal of bugs, and I should go back through for a FREE wash. WOW! I thanked him, but said it was okay, as I was driving to Dallas tomorrow to shop for a dress for my daughter's formal and would only get a multitude more. Do you think he really cared about all of that? Probably not, but he listened anyway.

If you think that was a good story, you are going to love this one! Early in November, my seven year old daughter broke her arm. We had planned a ski trip for the week right before Christmas, and when her cast was removed on the 25th of November, her orthopedic said that she was not allowed to ski. WHAT! She and her older sisters were devastated! So, I called the resort in Telluride to cancel our reservation and was told that since I was not in the 30 DAY CANCELLATION PERIOD AND THAT I WOULD BE CHARGED FOR 2 NIGHTS PER ROOM. We had 2 rooms. UGH! I was literally calling to cancel on day 7 outside of the cancellation period, which means there were 23 days left before our trip. I asked if a doctor's excuse would help (you know, like when we were all in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL). She said probably not. UGH! I proceeded to tell the reservation agent what I thought of their policy (sweetly, of course!), when she suggested that I move the reservation to a different time. I thought that would work and then I could cancel then. She said NOPE, you can only modify it again, no cancellation period. So I tried to move it to next Christmas. She said that they could not book that far out. I then just picked some random days and then had to remember to keep calling to cancel. What a pain. You know, I can't remember anything! So...today I called to move my reservation, again. When I told the nice agent named Kim that I needed to modify my reservation, she asked if I was just calling to confirm. Nope, I need to move to the next time that I won't be coming to your lovely resort. I then explained the whole thing to her. She suggested cancelling and putting a note on the file explaining the broken arm and that I would need to fax in something from the doctor and we would get our deposit back. HMMMMM. REALLY? Didn't I suggest that earlier? Anyway, not Kim's fault. I told her that if that would work she was the bomb and that I would blog about her today. So, here's to Kim at the Peaks Resort in Telluride, CO. YOU ROCK!

I guess good customer service does exist. Yeah! It's a Christmas miracle!

Keep gabbin'!
Erin

Footballing comes to Abilene!

I know, I know. Erin interested in football? Stranger things have happened. Like yesterday, when my oldest was nice and my other two were naughty. It was like the twilight zone. Today is a new day, we will see what happens.


Yes, I am excited about the Ruff Riders football team coming to Abilene. Nan, Dave and I are their number one cheerleaders (maybe on the field, too!). We had Coach Dockery on our radio show on Thursday. He is a great guy. He will be on Dave's show today at 12:00 (1340 am). Who knows, there might be a couple of surprise guests! Stay tuned for more on the Ruff Riders. I don't know much about Indoor Football(ing), but I am willing to learn. Abilene needs this and I am all about supporting things that are good for Abilene.



Okay, Nan. You wanted an example of good customer service...here goes! On Monday, I was on my way home from Lost Wages, with a little bit of concern about the weather. You know, Vegas had three inches of snow this week! AMAZING! My flight from Vegas to DFW was two hours late leaving. Oh...did I mention that American changed my flight number and time and did not notify me? That's for another day. As I was waiting for the ticket agent to show up at the counter, to see if there was another flight out of Dallas that I could get on, since I will be missing my connection, a lady came up to me and said, "Is there no one at the counter?" Here's Your Sign! Then she started in about how she is going to miss her connection because her flight is 40 minutes late...BLAH BLAH BLAH. To which I replied, "We are all in the same boat." Oh so sweetly, of course. After getting rid of her, I got my ticket changed. I wonder if she ever got home? Oh, well. Now for the good customer service part...After arriving at DFW, I boarded my flight home at 8:45 p.m. Wheels up was at 11:30 p.m. Arrival into Abilene was at 12:10 a.m. Do you see the problem. We SAT on the runway for 2 hours and 45 minutes. The problem? We were number 15 in line for deicing. The pilot was AMAZING. The flight attendant was AMAZING (he brought the drink cart around a couple of times!). The people on the plane did not get upset. And do you know why? The drinks? Yes..No. Actually, the pilot kept us informed the whole time what was going on. He was just as miffed about the wait as the passengers where. He then had what he called a strange request...He asked us all to go to page 91 in the American Way magazine and write a letter to the powers that be about the fact that we had to sit that long because there is only one deicing machine. Now, he did not say whether it was per terminal or the whole airport. I would suspect the whole terminal. So, lesson learned. The pilots and attendants are only doing what they are told. They can not control the weather or the airport. All they can control is the plane and let's hope they do a GREAT job of that!



I know this in lengthy, but I have not blogged in a while and Nan has been on me to blog, so I am making up for lost time. Be sure to post your funny Christmas stories, or better yet, call into the show after Christmas. We'd love to hear from you! Have a Merry Christmas (yes, I said it!), and we will GAB at ya' later!


Peace!

Erin

NAUGHTY OR NICE??? MMMMM...........

Which is better? Naughty is probably a whole lot more fun, but nice can be good for the soul. I guess it depends on the situation. However, I would LOVE to hear which you like best and why??? Please share stories and details. Keep it clean!!!!!!

By the way.....I'm still searching high and low for a great story regarding GREAT customer service!!! I do have a small one. My husband's car had to go into the shop for even a BIGGER car repair bill than mine! Geez, he's so competitive on so many levels, but he didn't need to be on this one. Not his fault though! However, the wonderful car repair man did gave us a bit of a discount. That's definitely a NICE one!

PLEASE let me hear one from you! NAUGHTY OR NICE!

Gotta Go and Get this House in GEAR!
Gabbin' Gal Nan

Back to Customer Service....or the lack thereof...

Just got a HUGE car repair bill!!! Kind of blows the budget especially at this time of the year, but what's a girl to do? And besides, my daughter's bicycle has a flat so that's not an option. Therefore, gotta get it fixed and FAST! Why you ask? Well... if you are a woman who has kids, works, drives a carpool, runs errand after errand after errand, etc. ~ you get the picture. We women need our cars! I just about live in mine, so gotta have it!

Anyhow, here's the deal...if you are going to have my car for only 1.5 hours and charge me 1/2 of what my house payment is for PARTS and LABOR (highway robbery), don't you think the the very least you could do is add a little something unexpected. Here's some ideas...throw in a wash and a vacuum, maybe a free tire rotation, heck - a bottled water sitting in my cup holder and an air freshner hanging from the mirror would suffice and be a nice, sweet surprise. Won't cost much, but it will cost you a lot more (i.e. repeat business) if you don't do it! Just a little tip from a gal who truly appreciates a business going the extra mile instead of one that made her feel financially violated and not appreciated!

Gotta go, but I promise to be back with a Good Customer Service/Appreciation Story. I KNOW there is at least one out there for me to enjoy and to share with you!

Gab at ya later!
Nan

Need a Mid-Week Chuckle?

I sure did! So here ya go.....

Make sure volume is on and watch till the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzrfk1giibw

Gab On...............................
Nan