But even through it all, marketing and business and such is still on my mind. So, I have a story I would like to share with you all.
The morning of April 16th my wife and I were taking our cat to the vet to be put to rest. She'd rather quickly developed stomach and kidney cancer, and she was pretty old, and would probably not have survived any procedures, and just wasn't handling it very well, so we did what we had to do. Anyways, our vet is/was very nice, and that's what we'd expected. They sent us a berevement card with her footprint in it and such, it was very appreciated.
But that's not the story, even though it fits with the post. We chose to have the cat cremated so that we may spread her ashes in a couple different places, as well as plant something as a memorial and put the remaining ashes under it. Our vet said that private cremation usually will take a couple weeks, which is understandable, because it's a process, and who knows how often they deliver, and so on.
Skip ahead to yesterday (April 23rd) - we got a phone call from our veterinarian, there is a "package" waiting for us at the office. Needless to say it's obvious what that is, of course.
Of all the places to have good customer service, and to make due on a promise better than the promise, I would have NEVER expected an animal crematorium to be such a place. In the wake of a truly horrible situation, you don't think to hope that promises will be kept, and things like that.
I would like to thank the staff at Chippens Hill Veterinarian in Bristol, CT for being so awesome in general, especially at this time. I have no idea where you sent the cat, but they're cool too, in my book.
This was my cat, Abby. She was awesome, I will miss her.
What kind of unexpected experiences have you had with customer service, good or bad? Please share...
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Not customer service related... but we just put my cat to sleep at the end of March.. also named Abby. Sorry to hear about your Abby!
ReplyDeleteAs sad as this may sound, whenever I'm treated well by an employee or company ~ I'm surprised. Service really has taken a slide lately.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, my husband and I went to a Furniture Liquidation outlet in a 'poorer' part of town today ~ and the service was AMAZING. We purchased two complete bedroom sets (for our daughters) at an incredible price. The gentleman in charge was so kind and helpful - we felt so good spending money there.
We experienced this same feeling in Mexico a few months ago. It almost seems like the best service can be expected in unexpected places -- when people really value your business, they show it.
I also had to show humanity to a pet cat as you did -- and my experience with the vet and crematorium was similar to yours. So thoughtful, kind and unexpected. I was so grateful.
Great post and question ....
Thanks for your comment, Caitlin. Sorry to hear of your cat as well. Thank you for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteSally,
ReplyDeleteIt does seem like customer service has taken a huge slide lately - its sad when bad service, or average service is what is expected, and good service is a surprise.
We're also experiencing both the good and the bad servicewise while we shop for baby stuff as well.
Sorry to hear about your cat!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sally that I am always surprised when I get good customer service..
My mother is a veterinarian and she has the best CS with her clients - I love knowing and seeing that...
I also had to have my cat of 20 years put to sleep while I was pregnant... I couldn't handle it emotionally so my husband took him in... I have usually found good CS with Veterinarians (I have not always lived by my mom)
I'm trying to think of a bad CS experience I've had recently, but nothing is popping... more just the ones that are indifferent!