Still No Power & Customer Service Lesson

Day 5. Still no power. We are growing restless! Slowly power is being restored, but they are still saying it could be 14 days for some people. I will say that I am getting more sleep this week as when it’s dark in the house, you might as well go to bed. It’s nice to go to work just to have light, a/c and email and internet access.

We just heard there are some generators in stock at Lowe’s and my husband is in route to get one. Hopefully they will still be there when he arrives! I am crossing my fingers. The borrowed generator we have only holds about a gallon of gas and runs out in about 2 hours. Of course it’s Murphy’s Law that if we do purchase a generator then the power will come back on! I heard there was a utility truck in the neighborhood. First one we’ve seen since Sunday. I just dropped off 30 lbs of laundry at the laundromat. They weigh it to give you your price. For $23 they will wash the 30 lbs of dirty clothes, dry them and fold them for me, plus they are using their water, electricity and detergent. That seems like it’s a pretty good deal, whether you have power or not!

Switching gears for a moment, I had two good examples of customer service in the same day today. First one was at the laundromat. I had been in there maybe 3 years ago and dropped off a comforter to be washed. I recall the conversation because the lady working had a young daughter that liked art and we talked about that. I never expected her to remember me years later. She asked my name today and when I told her my last name she quickly looked up and said “You’ve been here before, and I know how to spell your name.” She remembered my last name as being German. Impressive. I told her I remembered her daughter, because back then I had planned to drop off some art supplies to encourage her to follow her creativity. I didn’t do it then, but now wish I had.

So in my 2nd occurrence today, I went to lunch at Famous Dave’s (BBQ). I had not been there in awhile and the waiter had waited on me at least 6 months ago, if not longer. I sat down, he pointed his finger at me and said “iced tea.” Yep. He remembered that or just got lucky, I thought. I had a notebook with me and a magazine today. He returned with my drink and said that someday he hoped he’d see me come in and not be studying for school. I told him I finally got my degree in April and my school days were over. And now I recall that I was taking a tough class when I was talking with him last, so I think it was almost a year ago when I was taking economics or something like that.

So the moral of the story is, remember your customers. Take mental notes. Remember their face, their name or something about them. It will pay off someday down the road. I was impressed that these two remembered me!