Importance of customer service

Over the past weekend I had several customer experiences that I want to talk about and stress the importance of delivering customer service experience at every point of contact.

I was dropping some books off at Half Price Books in Highland Park to sell. When I dropped off the books the clerk was quite rude. I was just bringing in some books but his attitude was one that turned me off and really gave a bad impression of the brand. When I told him I was leaving the store to drop my son across the street for his haircut and that I would be right back - he said you can not leave the store - I will have your books done in 15 minute. So after waiting 45 minutes I asked if he was done and he said I will call you when I'm done. Hold it here - shouldn't a customer be treated with some courtesy? I'm sure this is not what the owners of the store/brand want me to walk away with.

And then for lunch we went to a Dairy Queen Grill and Chill in Highland Park to use a coupon for a BOGO burger offer we got. Well again the person who took our order charged us for two burgers instead of one. She said she couldn't figure out how to make the coupon work and had to charge me for both burgers? Huh? Could you ask another person working at the store?

And I compare this with my experience at a local True Value hardware store on East Lake Street in Minneapolis. Went in to pick up my lawnmower after it's yearly check-up and I got great customer experience. Thoroughly went through the stuff they did to the mower and they helped me get the mower into the back of my vehicle. Great customer service and I place that I will always go back to.

Think about the customer service experiences that you get on a day-to-day basis. How can brands consistently deliver a great -well even good customer service experience each and every time. Clearly most brands want to do this but at the end of they day it is up to their employees and it really reinforces the manta that "every moment matters".

Let me know about some good or bad customer experiences that you have had recently.