Everyone’s Driving Happy

(I work at a car rental office that is located near the major airport. However, as we have an airport office, my office does not provide pick-ups or drop-offs from the airport. We are generally cheaper than the airport office, due to the taxes and fees they have to pay to operate a shuttle. My office makes it a point to call every reservation in advance to make sure our customers are aware that do not have a shuttle and they will need to hire a cab to take them here. I’m on one such phone call. I call the customer, and explain the above to a nice gentleman. At first, he’s slightly upset about the added costs of the cab fare.)

Customer: “I know it’s not an expensive cab fare; however, it is still an inconvenience.”

Me: “I apologize, sir, that’s why I’m calling you so that you don’t have any surprises in the middle of your traveling. If you want, I can check to see what the airport office’s prices are and see if they are comparable?”

(He agrees to this, and when I bring up the website to check, I’m pleasantly surprised to see that they do currently have cheaper rates, and even with their additional taxes, our customer is still saving about $50. I give him the good news and then offer to book him a reservation with them, and cancel his current reservation with my office. He gives me the necessary information to send the confirmation number to his email. When I’m about to finish the call, he says:)

Customer: “Wait, before you go, I want to ask you something.”

Me: “Sure, anything else I can do for you?”

Customer: “You mean to tell me that you call all of your customers to confirm their reservations and tell them about a possible extra expense they may not have planned for? And when I wasn’t happy about it, you quickly got be booked at a different location that does provide a shuttle AND you saved me a significant amount money?! That is amazing customer service. Tell your manager you deserve a gold star.”

Me: “Well, customer service is our main priority here, and I’m glad it worked out for you. It doesn’t always. I appreciate you being understanding about the confusion.”

(What that man said stuck with me for weeks. I’ve since made a goal of mine to compliment good customer service in my own life.)