A nightmare.

My refrigerator started a slow decline this past week.

First the milk went sour before the expiration date. I tested the internal temperature and it was 42 degrees - not good. Just in case you wondered: it should be between 35-38 degrees.

I tried everything - even got out the manual but soon realized that I needed a repairman. No - I do not have a maytag.

They couldn't come for a week. During that time as the temperature continued to increase inside the frig I moved frozen goods (as many as I could) to a small freezer in the garage and started using up the other food before it spoiled.

Carl arrived Thursday morning - took one look in the freezer and said "Oh, here's the problem."

WHAT? Was it something I could have fixed? Nope - the heater had burned out and I had a three inch thick wall of ice from top to bottom. I have a side by side and so that was a lot of ice.

"You'll need to unplug the unit for a day so it can completely unthaw."

WHAT?

I would lose everything. I must have had a shocked/look on my face or perhaps it was the fact that I said out loud, "WHAT? I'LL LOSE EVERYTHING."

Because he took one look at me and said, "You know, there is another way. But it's messy."

Hey, I'm up for mess. He said "Go get some towels and hot water."

Gee, I thought they only said that just before a baby was due to be born.

So I grabbed a bunch of towels and he started making trips back and from my sink to my frig and in less than 15 minutes it was all better.

He didn't need to do that. In fact, he could have just told me what to do and moved on to his next stop.

But he stayed until the entire problem was fixed. He even helped clean up the mess.

It was a small thing. It cost him nothing but 15 minutes of his time. Would it be described as going above and beyond? Maybe not.

But to me - it was a BIG thing.

Could I have done it by myself? Sure. But we worked side by side, quickly and quietly and efficiently. It was a wonderful customer service moment.

The lesson for me was that great customer service doesn't have to be this big thing. You hear stories; hey I remember then when I worked for Pearle Vision when we'd deliver glasses to someone's home because they couldn't get into the store. That was going above and beyond.

But truly, great customer service can be as small as helping melt some ice.

As we start a new week - be on the look out for those small customer service opportunities.

Do you have a small CS story to share - either one you provided or one that was offered to you?

Please share.

Deborah Chaddock Brown
Professional Writer, Grateful for Carl
AllWrite Ink