Kudos

There's a lot to be said for good customer service. The last three times I've visited the Hy-Vee on University, I've left there feeling like my business was appreciated.

Saturday: L and I had stopped to pick up a few things, one of them being a bottle of wine. The bottle we decided on had a really cool curved shape to it. So we get to the check out and the guy bagging the groceries made a comment about how cool the bottle was. I told him that was the main reason we picked it and he then stated, "I don't know if you've ever seen Star Trek, but this looks a lot like the bottle of Romulan." It was pretty adorable how excited he was to tell me this, with his face all lit up.

Monday morning: I had left early enough that I had time to stop by and pick up something for breakfast before going to work. My pick - chocolate chip muffins. In the 2 minutes I was in the store, I had 3 employees greet me and ask if they could help me find anything. Then, another worker opened a cash register for me so I wouldn't have to wait in line. Such service!

Monday evening: I had a few odds and ends to pick up, including a bottle of champagne. A 20-something year old girl was ringing up all my goods and she started conversing with me about the finer points of my selection of Asti. "I love this wine," she says. "Usually I'm not a wine drinker, but I dunno, this one is sweet - I just love it!"

As I walked out to my car, I thought about these pleasant experiences. From the trekee to the "wine" lover - regardless of the topic, I appreciated their efforts at making conversation with me, a stranger, but also their customer. It's so much more enjoyable than getting rung up by the crusty old grump who takes her hatred for her job out on you and just angrily throws your purchases into the bag without so much as a word or smile.

So kudos to you, Hy-vee, well done.