EOC week 1: great customer service

“Good customer relationship management creates customer delight. In turn, delighted customers remain loyal and talk favorably to others about the company and its products.” (Book, page 21)

I had one such experience a while back. I had gone on a weekend trip to the Grand Canyon. The day I was about to leave Flagstaff Arizona to go home, I noticed a problem with the car, it wasn’t shifting properly. This was a Sunday and many places were closed. Finally I found an Aamco transmission place that was open. They told me to leave the car there and have breakfast while they looked at the car. So I came back from breakfast an hour later and they confirmed that it was a problem with the transmission, they said I needed a new one. They told me to leave the car there for a few days while they rebuild it. I told them that was not an option, as I had to be at work in Los Angeles the next day. So the manager told me it was not their usually policy but they could get me a rebuilt transmission from Phoenix, but that it would take all day as Phoenix was a few hundred miles away and they would have a truck pick it up there and deliver it and put it in my car. They gave me a rental car to drive for free and told me to enjoy my day and come back at 6 pm. I went sightseeing with the rental car while they fixed my car. I came back at 6 pm and nervously asked them how it went. The manager said the mechanic had finished and was just taking my car for a test drive. He said if the mechanic parked the car in front of the garage, then things didn’t go well and it wouldn’t be ready, but if he parked it in visitor parking then the repairs went well. I breathed a sigh of relief when the mechanic brought the car and parked it in visitor parking, the car was fixed. I drove straight home that night, 500 miles, arriving home at 1 am, and I went to work the next day. That transmission lasted me 40,000 miles and it saved my trip. I will never forget the kindness and decency of the manager at that Aamco…..