Going Above and Beyond for a Busy Working Mom!

Did you ever have an experience that made you say “there are truly nice people in this world?” Well, today started out as a stereotypical Monday… but suddenly with one unfortunate event everything changed! Here is how my day began:

• The alarm clock is going off in the pre-dawn hours so my hubby can make into work.
  
• Later I’m waking up tired kids after a long weekend of sporting events (so there was a lot of whining).
• Normal morning reminders are flying out of my mouth like they are going out of style: “Get dressed, brush your hair, brush your teeth, feed the pets, finish your breakfast, shut off that TV please, pack your backpack” (sound familiar to anyone yet?)
• I successfully get one child off to middle school and begin with the same morning reminders with my youngest child. Time ticks away and it becomes clear that my youngest is child (who has a reputation for being a little pokey in the morning) is going to miss the elementary school bus.
  
• My child gets in the van, I lock up the house, drive down the road and as I near the end of the street…. my van dies! This is the unfortunate event!
• I get my child a ride with a neighbor and my focus switches to what I’m going to do with this broken down van?

Here begins the “going above and beyond” part… I called a local auto repair business (one that I haven’t been to in a while, but, they are close by and offered towing services). The office manager explains that they are out on another towing call and it may be a while (so I’m envisioning hours going by before I see a tow truck) In less than an hour, a nice/polite young man arrives and tows the van away. Within a few hours I got a loaner vehicle from my parents (thank goodness for supportive parents willing to lend a hand) and begin my trek to work.

As I’m driving, I’m hoping the issue with my van isn’t anything major. Curiosity gets the best of me! So, I stop by the auto repair business to speak with a mechanic. As he begins to explain the the problem and solution, the office manager and the polite tow truck driver enter the room. The mechanic reassures me the problem isn’t major and although they had a pretty busy today, they’d have it fixed by the end of the day.

At this point, I’m breathing a sign of relief and I begin to walk out of the business office. As I did, I turn and ask “what time they closed so I can pick up my van?” to which they answered “5pm”. Oh” I said, “I’m not sure I will be able to make it back from work in time. What time do you open in the morning? I have an important meeting in the morning, but, maybe I can get here before the meeting or get a ride later in the afternoon to get the van before you close tomorrow”

At this point, the tow truck driver says, “I know your street, it’s not that far from here. We will drop your van off in your driveway, leave the key under the floor mat and lock the door.” I said, “well how am I going to pay you?” to which the office manager answered “we will leave an invoice in the van and you just come back tomorrow after your meetings to pay us!” Now that is SUPERIOR customer service! They just won my business for years to come!

Have you had an experience of extremely good customer service or courtesy that you’d like to share? Please leave a comment and share your experience!