Last week Jason and I were thirsty for smoothies. It's hot in Houston, and the smoothie business is humming. Remembering I had a full punch card from Smoothie King, we decided to go there and claim the free drink.
I greeted the cashier and showed her my punch card. Uh-oh, I could see from her face that this wasn't going well. Here's how the conversation went from there:
Cashier: We don't take these any more.
Nancy: Oh really? What happened?
Cashier: I don't know. We just don't take them. I'll get the manager.
Manager: What's the trouble? Oh, one of THOSE. Haven't seen one of those since we stopped taking them two years ago.
Nancy: Ah, I guess it's been a while since I was in here. How is a customer to know that you're not taking them any more?
Manager: Well, we gave everyone six months, and then figured that they were mostly all in, and stopped honoring the cards.
Nancy: Hmmmm, I see. Well, this full punch card is the reason I'm here, the reason I chose to come to Smoothie King today. Our plan has been to use the punch card for one drink, and to buy an additional one.
Manager: I am sorry, we cannot honor the punch card.
Nancy: Since I am here because of the punch card, but you no longer honor the punch card, I will go somewhere else.
Manager: Good-bye!
No one was angry or frustrated; we just explained our positions. I had come in good faith, presenting a card that had no expiration date, even expecting to buy an additional drink. It seemed to me that he could have chosen to say, "We are so glad to see you back in our store again! Although this promotion has ended and we're not issuing punch cards any more, I'm happy to still honor this one. Please enjoy your smoothie and we hope to see you again!"
From his perspective, the manager followed his business plan. He didn't want to lose the cost of a smoothie by honoring a discontinued promotion. As it turns out, he lost more than the cost of the smoothie - he lost my additional business that day, any profit he might have gotten from my business in the future, and anything he would have gained from the business of my friends who have now heard the story.
Yesterday the boys and I were driving near there, and I told Allen the whole story. He observed that while the manager made a "correct" decision from his own point of view, he made an unwise decision from a customer service point of view. The more that we talked about it, the more we had smoothies on our mind! It's still hot, it's still Houston, so we decided to try out a different place.
This time we tried a new place, Smoothie Factory. We ordered our favorite flavors, and when it came time to pay, the cashier asked if we wanted a punch card. I am sure he wondered why we were laughing! The service was fine, the smoothies were delicious, and we will go back.
What would you have said if you had been the Smoothie King manager? Would you ever take your business there again?
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Talking about aging
I am 54 years old. Since it's likely that my life here is more than half over, I've been thinking some about aging.
In English, we have three main ways to describe this condition of living many years. We might say, "She is old." That one is depressing. She IS old. She has arrived at oldness. No turning back, no mitigating circumstances. Just old. I won't be ready for anyone to say this about me for a long, long, long time.
We also could say, "She is getting old." That one sounds a little better - at least it's a process, and she hasn't completely become old. The downside of this expression is its passivity. Oldness is just handed to her, and she wears it. The more that she is given, the more layers of oldness surround her. Soon she'll be completely covered.
The third way to express aging is to say, "She is growing old." Now I like this one! Oldness is something I want to grow into. This is so much more positive, suggesting that old age is something to be desired. It also infers a never-ending process, a journey of aging.
So... what about you? Are you old? Getting there? Are you still growing as you're getting older?
In English, we have three main ways to describe this condition of living many years. We might say, "She is old." That one is depressing. She IS old. She has arrived at oldness. No turning back, no mitigating circumstances. Just old. I won't be ready for anyone to say this about me for a long, long, long time.
We also could say, "She is getting old." That one sounds a little better - at least it's a process, and she hasn't completely become old. The downside of this expression is its passivity. Oldness is just handed to her, and she wears it. The more that she is given, the more layers of oldness surround her. Soon she'll be completely covered.
The third way to express aging is to say, "She is growing old." Now I like this one! Oldness is something I want to grow into. This is so much more positive, suggesting that old age is something to be desired. It also infers a never-ending process, a journey of aging.
So... what about you? Are you old? Getting there? Are you still growing as you're getting older?
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