I don’t know about you, but I always dread when I have to make a change or address a problem with my cell phone carrier. My carrier is Verizon. I tell you the name because this time the story has a happy ending.
Verizon has two stores near me, one is a company store, the other is a contracted store. The company store, which is actually a little closer to my home, unfortunately is not very helpful. They will not take a walk-in, you have to make an appointment, and even then they are not all that nice. However, at the contract store, an employee, Kelly, has made our experience pleasant several times. First, we needed to add my in-laws to our plan. There was also a deal for getting new phones for my wife, our daughter and me, so we ended up getting four new phones and changing our plan. Kelly, sat down with us and explained everything. She transferred data from our old phones to our new phones (the company store won’t do that anymore), and helped us get all set up. We did this all in the store, and while it took a little while to get my in-laws’ phone number from their trac phone switched to their new Verizon phone, Kelly was pleasant the entire time. We actually enjoyed our time in the store. In addition, my phone was out of stock, so we hadn’t ordered it yet, but Kelly texted me one day (and it was actually her day off) to tell me that the deal was about to run out, and we needed to get my phone ordered if I was to get the “free” phone. She didn’t have to do this, especially on her day off, but that simple gesture won her customers for life. As long as she is at that store, she will be our go-to person.
Recently, my wife and I were planning for a trip to Europe. My wife spent several hours on the phone with Verizon, trying to get us set up for using our phones while there and making some calls in preparation. After several hours and three different people, my wife had us partially set up, but we were a little confused because we had received different information from different customer service reps on the phone. I went to Kelly at the Verizon contract store and had it all complete and fully explained in 15 minutes. As we mention in our book, that kindness, respect, courtesy, and accuracy that Kelly provided made all the difference.
-Ed