BTW - On my way home from borrowing some popcorn (I ran out and who wants to go to the supermarket this time of night with millions of frenzied post-work Christmas-crazed shoppers) - anyway, on my way home, I decided that I needed something sweet. I dropped in to a local bakery/restaurant. They had a slew of interestingly flavored bagels. Usually I abhor sweet bagels, but this time I was willing to give them a taste. This is a place that usually has samples sitting on the counter. I asked if there were any samples available of the cinammon crunch bagels. The young clerk said, "Samples? No. I'll just give you a bagel. If you like it, you'll buy one next time. If you don't like it, I'll give you another flavor."
And he did. And I did like it. And next time I WILL buy one. Now THAT'S good customer PR!
I've had something similar happen to me, several years ago. I'd been stopping on my way from the bus stop to work to get a cup 'o joe at Starbucks, but was faced with increasing lines and, sadly, increasing rudeness from the staff. One morning, I simply skipped out of the line and headed on in to work. There was, however, an independent coffee joint enroute, so I went in there. Chris, the javameister, noticed my grumpiness and got me to tell my tale of woe. He told me that that day's cup was on the house, because if I liked it, I'd be back.
I never went back to Starbucks, never wanted to and never needed to. And Chris got a loyal customer.
