Cool Customers

A letter and some thanks

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:38:11 GMT

Dear young Asian gentleman,

I can honestly say I was a little bit wary when I started serving you and realized you cannot speak much English. Normally this is a red flag that it will be a difficult transaction.

You, however, were nothing but patient, polite and a delight to serve. Your charades were easy to understand, your smile was adorable and you never once got mad at me because I only speak English and French.

The bow you gave me when we finished the transaction also warmed my heart. I hope my return - surprised - bow was sufficient.

Much luck in your time spent here,
The girl selling chocolate

To all the customers that have patiently waited their turn in line: Thank you
To all the customers that have been a delight to make small talk with: Thank you
To all the customers that have whistled and muttered "damn" when told the price of something, but not made a scene or blamed me: Thank you
To all the customers that have patiently watched, or even offered to help, when I'm struggling to make the bow on your box of chocolates pretty (I'm new): Thank you

Wow!

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:54:37 GMT

Today was extremely busy. There was a constant long line at the register and we were understaffed, so I was bracing myself for an inevitable suck, especially being on the register for four hours straight with no breaks.
There were none. The customers were absolutely fantastic. In fact, they continued to be fantastic for 7 out of the 8 hours I was there. There was some minor stupid thing, but this is the wrong community to post. 99% of them were patient, polite, and gracious. Thank you.
To the man who told me the other day I had the "perfect haircut." You made my day. I will pass this on to my hairdresser and make her day too :o)

:D

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 03:58:24 GMT

Big Yellow M.

Though I make use of the suck community every so often, I thought I should post some things here too. XD

A lot of my regulars are very nice people and I'm genuinely happy to see them every morning. Then there is this one guy who comes through not-so-regularly, who I have decided is my favourite customer ever.

He is so friendly and a really nice guy - I don't think I've ever seen him irritated or impatient with us, ever. I will never forget the day I was presenting in DT and after being handed his food, he told me I always had a bright smile and to "never change [my] personality". I have honestly never been told something like that and just felt so touched and a little embarrassed. XD I'm pretty sure I blushed.

Today, it was an extremely busy lunch hour and we were making use of tandem again (which I hate). He reaches my window and I have to ask him to place his order at the next window. Jokingly, he acts all offended how after he's been so nice to me and everything, I won't take his order, haha. Since he was stuck by my window as the line wasn't moving, I ended up having a lovely chat with him. :)

With some customers, it's awkward trying to talk with them but with him, it's almost like we're friends. I discussed my schooling and he offered suggestions of what I could do along with some anecdotes of his own. It was just a very bright point of my day in the middle of a stressful lunch hour. Thank you for being such a great person. :D

And as a bonus, to the two customers who proceeded to the next window without me having to dread asking, THANK YOU. At least I know some people have learned AND pay attention.

And another bonus - thank you to the people who actually read the damn coupons. Our BOGO sandwich coupons were changed to require the purchase of a medium or large fries with them and the majority of people get all pissed off when I point that out, even though I have no control over it. SO THANK YOU.

Nice lady and responsible family

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:57:26 GMT

To the lady with many, many items in her transaction:
Thank you for your patience and understanding. Most customers would have been huffing and puffing because the transaction took so long, but you were friendly and polite throughout the entire transaction. That's why I tried so hard to make sure you got the discount off the item you wanted :o)
To the family that was in children's today:
Thank you for picking up after yourselves. After you were through, all the stuffed animals were back in their place and most of the books you looked at were in a neat pile, making my job a lot easier. I wish more customers were like you.

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:56:31 GMT

I volunteer at a local thrift shop which raises money through the sale of donated items - money that is put towards services for women and their families who are/are getting over abuse. Every second Sunday (the weekday that I work) everything in the window display goes on sale, at a first-come-first-serve basis.

This week's window was First Nations-based, and as expected, there were a heck of a lot of people lined up. Three women, coming together, were lined up at the door at seven thirty in the morning. We open at eleven. These three women requested to look at and purchase a lot of items in the window - definitely about half of it.

One item was a gorgeous, handmade buckskin jacket that one of the three woman was intending to buy. That jacket was also being coveted by the woman in line behind them - a Native woman in maybe her mid forties. When they asked her why she wanted the jacket, she told them that she'd been clean and sober for a year.

When it was time for the three women to cash in their purchases (which came to over $250 - a number that means a lot considering almost all of this money goes to battered women's services) they also bought the buckskin jacket, which wasn't exactly cheap at $50... and gave it, as a gift, to the woman who had been clean and sober for a year.

There were at least fifteen people in the store waiting for window items, there was another woman who definitely belonged in a post at customers_suck in the way she was huffing and hawing at the number of items the people first in line were allowed to have, and it was a hot and stuffy day - but that one single gift definitely perked up my day. Things like that restore my hope for humanity.

Nice lady in the bookstore

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:21:05 GMT

Most of the customers at my job are decent people. I do my best, but as many CSR's know, we rarely get commended for excellent service because most people view it as "doing our job."
It was my second day of training as a bookseller at a large bookstore chain. I was still getting to know the layout of the store, deliver excellent customer service, and now the policies all at once. We were pretty busy, since the weather was nasty and people are starting school shopping and lots of students are trying to get there summer reading done, so most of my more experienced coworkers were occupied. An older woman approached the information desk and asked if I could show her where the coin collection books were. Luckily, my boss had just walked me over there earlier, so I knew exactly where to go. I pulled a few books down for her, chatting with her to get an idea of what she wanted. She seemed very pleased with what she found, so we walked back to the info desk.
It's great to have such a friendly customer, but to add to this, she knew my boss/trainer. She told my boss that I was very helpful and was hoping I would get commission for the sale, None of us get commission and she was very surprised that it was only my second day. Still, she was a delight and I hope to see her in the store again.
It's nice to get praise for "just doing your job." :o)

Don't Wanna Stop

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:29:44 GMT

First time poster here, because usually all that stand out are sucks. Fortunately, I have a new job (at a place that is not Starbucks, because we know the difference between a cappuccino and a latte, thank you very much. :P) and, so far, the rock far outweighs the suck.

But, today, we had to have had the greatest customers on the face of the planet.

We have a meeting room in the store that people can reserve if they agree to follow some basic rules, and, as long as they buy drinks for five or more people, the room is free of charge ($25/hour if they don't get the drinks, plus no outside food/beverages are allowed) and, today, someone came in to forewarn us that their group was coming.

Already a great group, because usually people just show up. This gave us time to make sure everything was stocked and ready to go for a flock of people.

So, about fifteen minutes later, a limo pulls up and its passengers exit. Two young men and a woman go to the doors...and assist a group of about eight to ten elderly ladies out. They'd kept the location a surprise and booked the room for the 80th birthday of one of the ladies! They were all absolute dolls, as well, telling us their favorite flavors and listening to our suggestions based on that, and asking clear questions if they wanted to know about a drink. After the party was over, we went in to clean up to find that everything short of wiping down the table and taking out the trash had been done for us, including replacing the chairs we'd brought in from the lobby to accommodate everyone.

They were all first-timers to our store, too, and I hope they become regulars.

Speaking of...

To the majority of our regulars: thank you so much. You're there enough that you know the staff and immediately recognized me as the noob. You introduced yourselves and explained your usual to me, if it was a bit odd, and were all-around great people. I apologize for still not knowing your names and only being able to recognize that you are a regular without knowing your usual, but your banter and apparent happiness as you all settle in like it's your own living room always makes my very early morning amazing. And thank you, sir, for complimenting my cappuccino. It was the first time I'd made one and I was told that you are very particular about yours.

tl;dr: Sweet, old customers celebrate a birthday and show the young'ens how courtesy is done, yo. Then, regulars rock my socks off.

HI HOW IZ YOU

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:07:50 GMT

I just had to share.
This this customer that comes in occasionally to my wine shop. We'd always have a really good chin-wag about wine. I moved to a different shop a few months ago and haven't seen him since.
I bumped into him into the street and he was actually genuinely interested to hear about how I was, where I'd been, what I'd been up to, etc/ And we had a good ol' chinwag about wine in the high-street :D
I had the warm fuzzies all the way home <3

So I'm new!

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:02:32 GMT

I work at a Starbucks, I'm used to entitled soccer moms pitching hissy fits at me, so when this gem happened to me this morning I just had to share. <3

Me: "Good morning and welcome to Starbucks, my name is Renata, what can I get started for you today?"
Customer: "You know, you have a beautiful voice. It's like liquid silver."
Me: (insert swoon here)

Truly one of the strangest but sweetest compliments I've ever been given.

=D =D

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:48:39 GMT

I work at the place where they tell you to 'Expect great things!'

Today, about halfway through my shift, the power goes out in my store. Even the generator failed to turn on, so we only had random floodlights through the store.
We rounded up all of the customers, and everyone complied nicely, and in lieu of them having to stay there and wait until the registers came on, they could put their items on hold if they wanted to come back later or tomorrow.

This one lady stayed, she told me that she had been here about an hour and a half shopping and she just was going to wait instead of taking more time to come back.
She waited, patiently, without complaint for about 30 minutes in the dark with the employees.

Then, the power got back up, but our registers went blank again and were taking time to reboot. Cue another 15 minutes of her waiting, no complaints, being totally understanding.

Finally, registers come on, and we're ready to ring her up. The cashier takes care of her, and her purchase adds up to $770.somecents. Our store manager came by and authorized a 45% discount for her, AND ended up with her getting a store credit account. It came down to like 400something dollars, and her being totally happy still walking out the door, after almost an hour of waiting.

This. lady. rocks.

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:46:43 GMT

This is from a little while ago, but I just found this place and really wanted to share.

Ma'am, when the screen went out on your phone and I replaced it for you, you were so thrilled and thanked me about a hundred times. That would have been enough to make me beam for hours, the way you were so pleasant and sweet.

Then you came back the next day with a thank you card and with a BevMo gift card. That was seriously the most awesome thing I have ever had happen to me in my entire life. I am not kidding either. Please, feel free to come in anytime. I will always have a smile and a hug for you. ^_^

Tue, 06 May 2008 18:35:30 GMT

I work at tech support for a DSL system. At the call center, usually we get rather nice customers; while most are rather annoyed if their lines are down, we also get some that are quite willing to actually pay attention to our directions.

One of the customer types I like most is the typical lady that admits not knowing a thing about computers, slightly embarrassed, but then goes through all of it smoothly and without complaining nor mistakes. They always think they have done something to mess up their internet, and it's a pleasure to help them sort it out.

I also like the savant customers. Not those that rush through the whole test-your-connection process without listening to me, but those who know exactly what they want when they call. There are few things nicer than a client calling and immediately asking for DNS servers and were to make a download of some drivers.

And then, there are the customers I absolutely love. I'm Portuguese; English is my second language. We get a few English customers, and most of the time they are so profusely nice they make me grin.

Three particular examples:

An English man called a few weeks ago. After we set up his router and connection, I asked him if there was anything else I could help with. His reply? 'You are brilliant.' Made me beam on the line. Thank you, kind sir.

Another English man had constant breaks on his internet connection. He had had several tech visits already, but it wasn't fixed. During the call, I managed to find out what -exactly- was happening to his line, and set on to repair it. He was the most charming gentleman, and while I was waiting on some tests to run through, he made very polite, interesting conversation. If you call again, I hope I get your call. You are wonderful.

An English-speaking lady (I suspect she was Finnish) was trying to set up her connection, her mail, etc. The call was almost an hour long, I was tired and wanting off my shift, but she was very kind and patient. You made my day, lady.

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 17:58:00 GMT

Dear Mrs. R. in West Virginia;

You are wonderful for being so happy with what we came up with to help you out. It wasn't much of a help, but you were over the moon and so thrilled that we were doing anything, and you recognised that we didn't have to do anything legally. You were patient for the couple of days it took us to get an answer for you, and you're so much in love with your car that I played one of your voicemails for a couple of my co-workers, just because it made me so happy. It brought a smile to their faces as well. In a job where everyone we deal with is usually stressed out and frustrated, with a tendency to take it out on us, you were a little oasis of joy. Thank you.

I hope your car never breaks again, and if it does, I hope you call me.

Yours,
Me

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:58:23 GMT

Dear Little Old Southern Lady:

You rock my entire sock drawer. You came in all "my car is a lemon, rah rah" - but you allowed us to fix it for you. And you were so totally happy about the extended service plan I put on it because you HAD had a bunch of things go wrong in warranty, and were understandably concerned about what was going to happen once your warranty was up. Most people who think their car is a lemon want a new car or else they sue us; you let us actually help you - it was a delight to talk to someone who realised they were getting a good deal, and who loves her car as much as you do. It made the rest of my otherwise miserable day talking to people less sensible than you so much more bearable, just to have one person who realised that I honestly, truly was helping and taking care of them.

Thank you. May your car never, ever break again while you own it.

- Me

Dear Customer

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 14:19:04 GMT

Background: I am a deli manager for well known supermarket chain in Australia. Because we are a 7-day trading store, and trading hours have not been de-regulated, we are restricted to a maximum of 13 staff working in the store at any one time. Hence, only one person works in Deli at a time.

Woman Customer: I just wanted to tell you something...
Me: -braces for rant- Yes?
Woman: You do a really good job here, you're always so fast and efficient.
Other Customer, waiting patiently: Shes right, you do!
Me: Oh, thankyou!
Woman: You have a good day.

I love you, Lady, you made my week!

I do entry-level tech support for Blackboard, our course-management system

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:24:55 GMT

(this transcript is condensed)

Caller: I would like my Teaching Assistant to help with grading and entering things in the gradebook. How do I do that?

Me: Have you added her to your course as a TA?

Caller: No, I wanted to call and make sure that was the right thing to do.

Me: Your instincts were correct! Let me walk you through it; it's a two-step process.

[takes caller through the steps of adding someone to his site and changing her status from student to teaching assistant]

Caller: Thank you! Are you going to create one of those ticket-things?

Me: I don't usually if I'm able to solve the problem and don't need to bump it up to an admin, why?

Caller: I'd like you to put one in so I'll get the survey and can tell your boss how very helpful you've been.

Me: *whoa* Why, thank you! I'll set up a ticket and set it to resolved. Give us a call back if you run into any other questions.

(xposted to my personal journal)

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 20:58:07 GMT

We were in line at the checkout this morning (me, my wife, and our 3 kids, aged 4-5.) A young boy (I would guess around the same age as my kids, maybe a year older) wanted to get at the candy display in the checkout lane. He very politely (yet not meekly - he was loud enough to be easily heard without being pushy, rude, etc) said, "Excuse me," then waited patiently for us to get our kids to move. He then switched out the candy he had in his hand for a different flavor of the same item.

It's so refreshing to see a youngster who had been taught manners.

Witnessed cool customer

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:43:19 GMT

I was at a local McD's today, getting breakfast and while I was pondering what I wanted to order from their menu, a lady came up to the counter (no one else was in line) and handed over a covered plate to the employee. She was apparently a regular (the employee knew her name) and the plate was apparently full of homemade fudge.

Hamper man

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:35:15 GMT

I work in a department store. I'm in Books, but this time of year I end up in Christmas as well.

This morning a customer waited patiently in my line at Christmas (a customers_rock in and of itself) to ask for some help choosing some Christmas gift hampers. He wanted 33 hampers ranging between $70 and $130 to give to clients.

When he wanted another couple of one type of hamper and I said I'd go to the dock and check for more, he told me not to worry because he didn't want to waste my time and was happy with a different one.

He rang another guy from his office to come and help us, and they both happily helped me carry the 33 hampers to the register.

He worked out a system between the three of us to make it quick and easy to scan the hampers and pack them into a trolley (and he had to pay $1 for the trolley at the supermarket next door and didn't complain about it) and get them wheeled out to his car.

He declined my offer of arranging parcel pickup for him and his enormous number of hampers because he didn't want to cause me any trouble.

He didn't complain when Security stopped him to check he had a receipt for the trolley full of hampers he was wheeling out of the store, and in fact seemed PLEASED that they were doing their job.

He thanked me profusely for all the trouble I'd gone to help him out even though it was really no trouble at all. In fact, I'd have been happy to go to vast amounts of extra trouble because he was so NICE about it all. He was friendly and polite and quite funny.

Come to think of it, can a customer like this actually be human? No customers are this fantastic. I'd think I dreamed it all except that I had a co-worker witnessing it all.

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:01:11 GMT

Hi, I'm Lily, and I just found this comm. There's one woman in particular I need to sing the praises of RIGHT NOW.

Two years ago just before Christmas when I started working at my current supermarket, a Kelly Clarkson concert had just been cancelled. I was gutted, and happened to mention it to this random woman, who I later came to know as D. She told me her son, L, then aged 4, was a huge Kelly Clarkson fan, and often stood out on their back porch and gave his own Kelly Clarkson concerts.

I went home and made him a copy of her CD yes I know it was pirating and I'm sorry but he was a four year old kid and really really cute okthxbye.

The next time they were there, about a week later, I gave it to him, and he came out with the biggest grin I've ever seen. The week after, he presented me with a hand made Christmas card.

D, to this day, comes through every Tuesday and seeks me out. Out of 24 open checkouts, she will wait for me to finish, no matter how long my line is. She took her family to Australia, and they brought me back presents. I don't know these people outside of the supermarket, and the fact that they shop every Tuesday, but I'm kept abreast of sporting victories, structural damages in the house, vandalism at their school, temporary depression in D (which she beat, YAY HER!).

Maybe it was good service on my part, initially, but they're the reason I wake up on Tuesday mornings. They, as customers, ROCK.

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:22:27 GMT

Hi there your friendly checkout chick at a well known supermarket in Australia here

I'd like to thank a few customers that made today bearable

The elderly bother and sister who jokingly argued through the both or your transactions. You were a hoot.

and the lovely lady who complimented me on my packing. thanks

Great department store customer

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 04:43:38 GMT

My wife works in the stockroom at a Bullseye store. Her job includes putting some stuff away on the sales floor and helping customers when she's in sight. Yesterday, she had a gentleman knock on the door to the storeroom to get someone to help him. He wasn't rude about it, but couldn't find anyone on the sales floor (they were very busy and short-handed.) She was trying to find something that his wife wanted (he was on the phone with her, but not rudely so.) She looked and looked and looked and couldn't find the location. She finally found the location, but they were out (completely.) During the process of looking, he found out (from her answering a coworker's question) that she was supposed to be off. He offered to find someone else, but she insisted she was going to help him find this. Once she got the number from the location tag, she told him to come to the electronics counter with her, and she would get him a rain check (emphasizing that SHE would get it, not pass him off.) When she handed him the raincheck, he asked her to write her name on the back. When she commented "Uh oh," he said, "No. Don't worry. It's a good thing."

So, thank you (on my wife's behalf) for being so understanding AND for (we're assuming) letting the store know how helpful she was. :)

Cashews?

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 23:58:39 GMT

I only just found out about this community, and felt I needed to tell about this wonderful woman.
A couple of weeks ago, our card machine stopped working completely for no reason, which meant cash only. This meant a lot of unhappy customers getting in a huff. Right at the end of the queue was a lady I've seen a couple of times. She came in just to get a bag of cashew nuts. She said I looked streesed, so she opened up that bag and poured me a hand full and said she hopped it got beter.
I nearly blubbed, that was the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for me.

(I work in an off-licence, by the by).

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 00:25:57 GMT

Dear sir;

You initially yelled at me, cut me off on the phone because you did not like the news I was giving you, demanded my supervisor (who I could not give you, because she's me) and hung up on me.

You then called back and apologised, saying you had no right to be rude to me. You thanked me for my help, and said you were glad the matter was resolved, even though you were not glad about the resolution itself.

That was grace, and I am very impressed and appreciative. You're a rare one. Thank you.

- Me.

Weee! Look at me trip. :/

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 03:53:52 GMT

I just wanted to let everyone know about two really awesome customers I had today. Mind you this was while I was leaving the store (off from work), but it really made me happy. Well, I was doing a run/jog out of the store as I usually do (been working there for a year, give or take a few days). Anyway, I tripped over a speed bump. Yep, round of applause everyone. In any case a guy comes over and helps me into the store (I wasn't very focused at the time, and of course was crying), making sure that I'm ok. I then go over to the Customer Service desk where they help patch me up. A guy comes up to the Customer Service Desk for help, but lets the people there know that he was waiting until they fixed me up. He was really nice.
Anyway, I'm still in pain, and work is going to be annoying tomorrow, but it was nice to have some customers who were really kind to me. :)