The TRUE Meaning of Customer Service Excellence
What if after buying your stuff in a store and left home and you find out that there are some missing items in your bag? This was the question I was confronted with when we got home on April 4 from SM Fairview where we bought our grocery and other home needs.
It has always been a family affair going to the grocery store in SM Fairview every Saturday, because after the grocery we treat our kids for a lunch and that Saturday morning was not an exception, only that during that fateful Saturday morning, I accompanied my son to meet and treat his classmates as his blowout for his being TOP ONE in his Grade IV Class. So I just asked my wife to do the grocery with my two daughters.
As usual, my wife submitted the grocery cart in the cart park area adjacent the SM Grocery Store and together with my two other kids went walking around just to while away time and wait for their tummy to complain before they take their lunch. My son was not so comfortable with me around and with his “crush” also with them, so I decided just to join my wife and kids with their lunch. After our lunch we did some more “pasyal” after which we decided to go home.
My wife handed me the receipt and the tag number for me to claim the grocery bags in the cart park. There has yet no loss incident involving any grocery items I bought from SM since then, so having that confidence, and with the taxi already waiting with our two daughters inside, I did not actually paid attention when the SM Service Crew informed me about the number of bags he was turning over. I just called my wife to sign the logbook because I was busy carrying the bags towards the compartment of the taxi.
In contrast when we reached home in Bulacan, I checked that all the bags were disembarked from the taxi cab. I also did the storing of the meat products inside our freezer. Though I noticed the unusual absence of chicken meat products that time, I did not call the attention of my wife about this. It was only the following day when my wife noticed the absence of the chicken meats in the freezer. She checked her receipt and the said chicken meat products were appropriately receipted and all in all, there should have been 11 bags. The bad thing, I already mixed the bags used with other SM grocery bags at home and could not longer claim with certainty that there were only 10 bags received.
I told my wife that based on circumstances, we could no longer claim the stuff from SM worth 7 hundred pesos plus (P700.00) for two obvious reasons:
1. We received the goods from the service crew in the cart park and signed the claim logbook. Technically this will prove that we received the goods in good order ;
2. We already got home and SM may reason out that the goods may probably have been left in the taxi or elsewhere.
In other words, I said, we just have to “charge this to experience, ” and next time we just have to be careful and watchful of the things bought and count it properly before leaving, which of course, I should have done that in the first place. Later during the week, when we were in SM for our last grocery before the Holy Week, I personally reported the incident to the Customer Service Assistance Counter. My intention was just to put that on record for their future case reference. I was entertained by a certain “MS. JENNY” of the Customer Service Counter. Talking to Ms. Jenny was very easy as she was impressively accommodating. At that instance I actually admitted to Ms. Jenny that I did not count the bags before leaving. She asked for a time to look into the case and informed me that I could follow up the case later when I come back. Last Sunday I was in SM to shop for some stuff. I happened to pass by the Customer Service Counter and I just casually talked to MS. Jenny what happened about the case.
To my surprise, Ms. Jenny informed me that SM decided to replace the lost bag of chicken worth P700.00. So I went home that afternoon with a bag of chicken, very happy and very much happy on how SM treated my case. SM could have just invoked the circumstances behind the loss and say “sorry, ” but they have gone beyond technicalities for the sake of customer satisfaction.
Viewing the incident in various angles, SM I think, deserves nothing less but my utmost appreciation. To replace my lost bag of chicken was a decision based upon no other argument, but the “GOODWILL” of the store. It was a clear manifestation of how the store values its customers. I don’t know but I could consider this as the store’s expression of the ancient business adage, “Customer is Always Right.”
Equally appreciable is the excellent customer service approach shown by MS. Jenny. I wish SM employs more MS. Jenny’s. With this experience, I think SM now earned my family’s lifelong patronage.
Sam
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