Onions and Orchids

In the recent issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine, there was an article written by a former TWA employee on the issue of filing complaints with companies she has had to deal with.

She writes about how the airline always received negative letters - my luggage was lost, my plane was delayed, so-and-so was rude to me - but never anything positive. Where were her letters about how planes were on time, smooth flights without turbulence, wonderful flight attendants? (Possibly because those instances are pretty slim, but not the point....)

When she left TWA, she made it a point to write those letters. She takes a notepad with her everywhere she goes and writes down names and dates of every customer service contact she has had. And then she writes letters. Good letters are called Orchids. Bad letters are called Onions. She receives handwritten apologies in the mail, coupons for services, and overall she is happy that her letters are being read and that some action is being taken to correct the negative experiences. I thought that was such a great idea and I started to contribute to her cause by writing my own letters.

I was a supervising manager for a CVS throughout college and on occasion I play secret shopper. I know what good service is supposed to be, and what can be improved in certain stores. CVS has forms available at the door to every store with the location stamped on the top and a request for customers to fill out and send in their positive and negative experiences. And they did. I think it's a great way for stores to improve and a way for those in customer service to stand out when they do something remarkable, like prompting a customer to take the time and write something positive about them.

Maybe I need to relax more, but when someone is rude to me as a customer, it pisses me off to some extent. I'm pretty laid back and understanding if someone is new and doesn't know, or just not as personable. But when someone is outright rude, it gets to me. And so to make it better, per se, I figure I'll let the boss know what's up. I wrote two letters so far. One to Stop and Shop complaining about a cashier, and one to a restaurant commending their great service and food again and again, and naming the server of my most recent visit. I'm not doing it to get rewarded by the company (though I am a little curious...), but mostly because I like knowing that my comments will be read and (I assume) action will be taken to prevent another negative experience from happening.

I just want to be appreciated, dammit! Is that too much to ask?