don't cry

Retailers can earn a customer's loyalty through excellent products or excellent service or both. Today I had an experience that would fall under the category of "both." We buy our groceries at three or four different stores but we buy our skim milk only at Weigel's. The milk tastes better and costs less there. Plus they offer a punch card that we redeem for a free gallon after every sixteen gallons purchased. Today one of those brand new gallons fell on the kitchen floor and burst open at the seam. Milk spilled everywhere. We had to use beach towels to sop it up.



When I went back to Weigel's to buy a replacement gallon (and a small container of egg nog), I asked the clerk if they had received any complaints about defective milk containers. He didn't know of any but immediately pushed some buttons to void the transaction in the cash register. My replacement milk would be free of charge. The whole experience felt like it came right out of "In Search of Excellence." The clerk working the Sunday evening shift was entrusted to make a customer service decision on the spot. Potential employees are told that Weigel's operating standards are very high. They proved it to me tonight.