Recently... Mosaik Mastercard & Burger King

Hi everyone...

seems I have been doing tons of running around re: errands lately. I have been so frenetic... that my usual keen eye and ear for customer service has not been as acute as it usually is.

Last Friday, I was on the phone with Mastercard... as my number somehow had been stolen and used for "online poker"!!! (more on another of my blogs re: that) So we were getting geared up for a new card... and I had to blog about this guy who helped me... He told me his name was Wadjie... I may well be spelling that wrong and he was situated in London, Ontario. He was everything a customer service agent should be. Warm, personal, reassuring, interested... but not TOO interested... LOL... he asked a couple of questions about my weekend plans and then at the end of the call wished well with them, remembering what they were. He provided extra information but when I mentioned I knew it, he backed off... was amazing. So I told him that I blog about customer service and how exceptional he was.... and that I hope the call was recorded as he exemplifies the "right" way to be! He was delighted.

Wheras... on the opposite end of the spectrum... I was at the Burger King drive thru yesterday, for Karin as she loves it... and the girl at the window was looking and speaking as if she had had 7 million people before me and it was as if she was in a zombie state... when I asked for a tray as she tried to hand me two drinks and I had nowhere to put them... I believe she may have attempted to roll her eyes but did not quite make that either... due to the extreme comatose-ness of her manner... so when done, I stayed at the window... just for an extra minute or two. She did not notice. She continued her robot-like movements getting a drink for the next person behind me, a manager then joined her but neither were looking at me... so I said in a loud cheerful voice, "Thank-you so much! I hope you have a wonderful afternoon" and not in a sarcastic voice either. She turned slowly, and looked at me, really looked at me, and her mouth dropped, she seemed genuinely astonished. The manager turned and looked confused and looked at her for clarification and then I smiled and drove away.

Dollarama

I had to go to the Dollarama recently to pick up 45 5 x 7 frames AND 30 8 x 10's. So I don't have high expectations of dollarama staff ... really I don't. So I head to the frame aisle and begin to count out the frames. I have my 5 yr old with me... and she is not overly interested in helping. The frames are almost completely inaccessible as there are boxes filling the aisle blocking the frames. After much contortioning on my part as well as box hefting to and fro... I get the 5 x 7's done. whew! So now I am sort of perturbed... and my cart is full as well.... so I go looking for a warm body that is wearing a smock proclaiming their employment. I ask if someone can count the 45 in the cart and can someone come and assist me with the bigger frames as the aisle is full of boxes.... might as well have asked for the man in the moon to come and visit from the stunned faces I saw.... they kept saying... "such and such can do it", "no, such and such could" ... eventually someone came and helped but they resented it man.

The Disney Store in Dartmouth

In Dartmouth, Nova Scotia there is a Disney store in Mic Mac Mall. There is a wonderful manager named Ann. She is warm and personable and pleasant. She is also friendly and helpful.

There is a wonderful sales person named (I believe) is Donald. He is always friendly. You can describe anything or come up with any question and he is at the ready. You can suggest an age that you need to buy for or mention just an idea of a present and is ready to suggest ideas and knows the store like the back of his hand.

hats off to both Ann and Donald! they rock!

McDonald's + Fish Philosophy = A Shining Moment

McDonald's tends to give good customer service most of the time, I have experienced... of course
it is unsually through a window so how much could go wrong?

Anyhoo.... on one occassion, I recieved exemplary service, absolutely stellar, at McDonald's. And so... upon reflection... I thought I should share it with you.

At the organization I work at, we watch the Fish Philosophy video on a regular basis. I love it and think all organizations should not only watch but practice it. Customer service would be phenomenal if this were regularly a part of employee integration and training.

So I was in a drive-thru line up with my children in the back of the car... and I was behind cars as well as ahead of cars... obviously could not leave the line... when I get to the speaker to order (speaker / microphone). I have now realized that I have NO cash and my debit card is in my other jacket... could not believe it... my kids were stoked for Happy Meals and I had no way to pay. So I explain to the speaker box... "Hi there. I have don't have my debit card. I just realized it. And I have to drive thru as I am trapped between cars." And then...

a friendly voice asked "What would you like to drink?"... I thought she is not listening perhaps... I explained again, and she responded "Yes I understand but perhaps you would like a drink while waiting"... My mind was utterly baffled... is she suggesting McD's would give me and my kids free drinks while we sit here in embarassment? "uhhhh, sure" I say "I would like a coke and my kids would like fruitopia." "No problem" she says, "see you at the window in a moment or two".

I was in awe. What exceptional service! It was like a ray of heavenly light shone upon this particular location's golden arches and this goddess inside with the headset on was their to deliver perfection in service. Wow!

I whip out the cell phone and call hubby. I rapidly tell him how amazed I am and advise him to scamper out in the other vehicle down the road to the other McD's and get the sought after Happy Meals. I assure the children once we are through the line and get home, Daddy will have our meals waiting.

Once at the window, I receive a wonderful smile and our drinks. I tell the smiling lady that we have McDonald's en route for us. She smiles at that and says that she was glad to have helped. And I believe her.

After I get home and eat my meal... I could not stop thinking about it. I track down the phone number and call. I ask for the manager and explain the superb service I received, then I ask her if they watch the Fish Philosophy video there. She laughs, the service was from her, the manager, and yes they do watch it and practice it she says. We chat for a moment about our beliefs in customer service and then hang up both feeling pleased.

I use this example every time I discuss customer service or the Fish video. It was a shining moment in the experiences I have had as a consumer.

Unfortunately, she is no longer the manager there... and I have realized that it is not enough to have the video be shown and embraced on the part of an organization, it takes individual commitment to ensure its regular application.

Thank you very much. I will pass along your communication recommendation to our Front Office team. We certainly appreciate the valuable feedback you have offered us.

Please feel free to post our response on your blog.

Regards,
Robert


Hello,

Thanks so very much for responding. My family and I would love to try staying again at the Westin once renovations are done. I did not see the banner at all... but having read your letter and asking my husband, he says that he did see it, so I am sorry to have missed it. I did see renovations being done the other end of the hall of the floor I was on but I guess it would have been marvellous to have had the person checking me in, point the banner out to me and perhaps indicate to me that there might be issues in my room or within the hotel itself. I have many fond memories of the Westin years past so I look forward to seeing her re-furbished. I attended a prom there around and about 25 years ago and a wedding about 20 years ago so it should be great to seem some of her majesty return or be re-born anew.

Would you like me to post your response on my blog so others know that it was addressed?


Subject: RE: My stay in the Westin this past weekend

Hello,

Please allow me to introduce myself, my name is Robert MacNeill and I am the Manager of Six Sigma and Brand Standards at the Westin Nova Scotian. I am responding on behalf of Guido Kerpel who is currently unavailable. Firstly, please accept my apology for not responding to you earlier.

Thank you very much for taking the time to provide valuable feedback on your experience during your stay at our hotel this past weekend. We certainly appreciate all feedback, both positive and negative, that our guests provide in order to praise our associates and also continuously improve. I would also like to apologize to you and your family that your stay was not to your expectations. The phrase “this is how is should feel” is a Westin saying that basically tells our guests that we want you to leave our hotel more refreshed then when you arrived. I want you to know that we are certainly working toward this overall experience as we are in the midst of an $8 million complete room renovation which I would have thought one of our associates would have informed you about when you discussed your room challenges with them. We also have a large banner titled “Rebirth of a Classic” which is located beside the front desk where you took the picture of the mirror to go along with a renovation letter located at the front desk.

In response to your mechanical failings, our hotel is a 78 year grand dame built as one of the original railway hotels in Canada and along with this does come some physical limitations. I have followed up with our Engineering department to address the issues you mentioned to see where we can improve.

Your communication challenge is one that certainly surprised me and I apologize for this. We certainly strive for perfection and I cannot be sure of the complete situation but I do know that we had a very busy weekend with the AGM you attended and your adjustment appears to have fallen through the cracks. Again, I will follow up with that department to ensure future requests are immediately addressed. I am pleased to see that it was rectified in the end though.

Without delving too deep into our financial details, I do apologize that you feel the additional charges are unnecessary. We do offer complimentary internet access in our Business Center as well as free internet access with your laptop in our lobby area which our associates promote when asked.

I hope I have appropriately addressed your concerns with our hotel. Our room renovation will be complete in May and I would like to invite you back to our hotel for a complimentary night stay so we can show you how it really should feel! I hope you will provide us with this opportunity to show you our improvements and if you choose to return please contact me directly so I can ensure a great stay for you and your family.

Sincerest regards,
Robert


Hello

I stayed at your hotel this past weekend and have just blogged about it on my blog including some pictures and
wanted to make sure to share it directly with the hotel as well.

I would appreciate hearing back from you with regards to my experience.

Here is the link:

http://whereiscustomerservice.blogspot.com/

A full day of Service Issues: The Westin Nova Scotia and then another pool and Wendy's

When you first enter the Westin Nova Scotia and approached the desk to check in... or inquire about something... you see this beautiful mirror behind on the wall. It reads "this is how it should feel".... this intrigued me.... I must remember that I thought... how it should feel? what do they mean exactly? do they mean I should feel stressed out and harried as I do now that I am finally here and now I have to get up to my room and get organized and hustle... ? No, surely not... they must mean that I should feel delighted... at peace... excited about a place that is an escape from home... an elegant warm inviting environment that shall take me away physically, emotionally and spiritually from the busyness and laundry of my home. I filed the message away and thought I must remember to pull it out again later... must remember... "this is how it should feel".... .... .... .... .... must remember.

So I stayed for two nights at the Westin for an AGM and a convention this past weekend. First off, when you called, you were told that they were fully booked. Which I get... as I am a procrastinator. But having been told this by the Mariott in June for a National Conference I was attending... I had then learned that hotels always have a block of rooms (well that is big hotels that have booking available on-line) set aside for on-line customers. So I knew right away I could get a room on-line... and lo and behold! Voila!

Now I really take exception to this. While as a procrastinator, I benefitted and now have the knowledge to apply to all future hotel bookings.... I disagree with telling a customer that "we are fully booked" when they are not. I interpret this as lying, as presenting false information... you get my point. How about saying "We are fully booked for you non-tech savvy people but if you go on-line we still have a block of rooms available"? or perhaps "We are fully booked for the archaic telephone-in customer" or something like this. This is not a complaint I have with the Westin... it is with all big on-line booking hotels actually.

Although, since no one really reads my blog... my venting will make me feel better about this secretive sneaky "fully booked" phone spiel and the procrastinator in me shall have hotel room fast tracks for as long as it takes for the rest of the world to catch up.

As I have digressed, I shall return to my weekend:

So the convention printed material said that you had to book a hotel room by January 15th to get the convention rate... but that while it would not be guaranteed after that date... to still mention it. So when I checked in on Friday, I mentioned that I booked online and I would like to get the convention rate as there was a place to put in a coupon or special code but nowhere to reference the convention. So this incredibly attractive, very personable, polite young man typed several keystrokes and looked at the computer screen and said --- and I quote --- "I will take care of that now for you". How would you interpret this? I would interpret this as... the keystrokes meant he was checking it out... and the "I will take care of that" meant he was doing it.... so I was delighted... tickled pink so to speak.

I went up to my room (Room 540 for February 8th and 9th, leaving on the 10th) and here is what I saw... well actually, first I saw the physical bad things of the room then I saw the room service menu and the internet note but can't seem to get these pics in the order I want dammit! LOL

This is a picture of the thermostat that I had to set at high fan and all the way to cool on Friday night as the room was too hot and therefore uncomfortable. This did the trick and I was able to sleep in comfort, temperature-wise.

Although since I stayed 2 nights... it did not work Saturday night and me, my hubby and my two kids... who joined us Saturday afternoon... slept in a far too hot room Saturday night.... even though I had left it on "high fan" and "cool" since I arrived. Nothing like waking up after a hot night... you feel all icky and your head throbs and you all sound stuffed up.

Throughout the room there were references to "heavenly"... in the gorgeous folder on the desk, which had the room service menu in it, there was "heavenly" brochure to order the "heavenly" sheets and pillows.... the showerhead even said "heavenly The Westin" and I must admit the pillows, the sheets, and the shower were indeed "heavenly" but the atmosphere was not remotely heavenly.

It does not give the actual temperature though... which is always a piss-off as you want to know what temperature it is when you are freezing or sweltering.

This is the revolting plug in an otherwise lovely bathroom that was necessary for me to plug my flat iron into it... very rusty and gross looking.... how much is a plug cover anyway????

These are some holes in the wall above the thermostat and under the smoke detector.... nice eh?

This is the room service menu.... we ordered room service the evening the kids stayed with us... I almost died of shock!!! it says... $2.50 delivery charge!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jesus H. Christ!!!! r u kidding me????? for someone to carry our food, of which you are making a good profit on, up to our room and remember there are elevators to access our room on the 5th floor, you are going to charge us an additonal $2.50 before tax and gratutity of course right? I recently stayed at the Inn on the Lake (an indulgent night by myself my co-workers gave me for my 40th) and I order supper and a daiquiri and then LATER ordered dessert and another drink... well I stressed to the kids that at the Westin we would not get dessert cuz we would be dinged another $2.50 and also we debated telling the lady on the phone that we would be going downstairs to get our meals (on principle) and haul them up to our room ourselves.... but I held myself back... and when she arrived with the big tray... I was glad of the decision.

My supper was divine!!! absolutely delicious! worth every penny of the room service bill. See... I can give praise where praise is due!

oh and by the by... there were water bottles on top of the tv stand and the price tag on them was........ .... ... drum roll..... ..... $4.95!!!! No we did not buy them or anything in the mini bar either.

this would be the note on the desk stating the various internet prices.... I paid $9.99 for one day to check my emails, research a couple articles and to spend 5 minutes facebooking.... Every single hotel that my laptop has visited in the past 4 years since I got it... has had FREE internet for guests!!!! I forget the other options but they were both more then $9.99 / day so I went with only 1 day of the 2 I was there and selected the cheapest option.

This would be the dresser in my room... and below a better picture... notice the lack of a handle! nice.... remember.... "this is how it should feel".

The room had two double beds... with exquisite white bed covers and sumptuous pillows... the beds were elegant looking, inviting and immediately gave you a sense of refreshing and cooling.... and sort of an "ahhhhhhh" feeling. As a mom, my immediate next thought was oh my god! these must get tons of stains in them... as room service bore out on Saturday night with ketchup stains... there really was no table for the four of us to eat our meal at so the kids sat on the floor (and as you can imagine from episodes of CSI going through my head with regards to the sanitary state of hotel carpets) and hubby and I ate on the beds. I am the one who spilled two drops of ketchup and freaked when it happened.

There were two pictures over one bed and this was what was over the other bed. nice...... .... ... soooo did someone steal it? did it fall down and break? is it behind the headboard? what the heck? remember.... "this is how it should feel".

a close up for you to appreciate the gouge.

and this is the most attractive gouge out of the closet door... I was most unimpressed with it immediately upon arrival as the closet is right there when u walk in.... but my 8 year old... the next day... with an active imagination said... "what happened there mom? that looks scary" what could I say... could I say... "well honey, you know how mommy tells you to take care of your things and your room as others will see and recieve the message that you are a responsible caring person who appreciates how others feel? and perhaps the Westin does not want to convey that message?" or should I just say "don't worry about it?" Happily, saying "let's change for the pool" distracted her.

and the pool.... was nice... the hot tub by the pool... nice... but the decor and ambience at the pool was lacking... the walls are blank... and blah and austere.... not really inspiring at all... and seeing others working out while you are swimming is not fun either... and they can see us... and they had these cool lockers... that you can program 4 digit lock codes in ... but of course... my luck... I got a broken one.

The elevator to the pool... a specific one... was broken... so we walked down 5 floors to the pool (maybe more as it was in the basement). The kids found the stairs scary (often stairs with spaces between them freak kids out and some adults too eh) and I will admit I was quite pissed re: this hike but did not vent as my hatred of stairs in general was probably exacerbating my reaction. Then after our swim, as we did not want to go up the same stairs, and the elevator was still broken, we had to traipse through the hotel lobby and go up the main elevators thus enabling my fellow convention delegates the opportunity to see me in all my wet, dishevelled chlorinated glory.

The restaurant, Elements was awesome!!! felt great and warm and was also delicious! the staff there were superb! ate there once by myself and then once with hubby and two kids. The decor and ambience were lovely, the service impeccable! A-1 marks for Elements!

The meal I had at the luncheon for the convention was also excellent! The ballrooms were lovely, the chairs comfy so the convention ammenities seemed great from my perspective!

When I went to check out, I was dismayed to find I did not have the convention rate. While I had not booked by the 15th of January, the gentleman who assisted me on check-in had seemed amenable to my query and responded positively to it so I am certain that anyone else would have expected it as did I. So I asked. I was told that that was Jonathan (told by Jason) and that he had then checked with him and Jason had said no it was not possible. I told Jason I had not recieved any word of this. He said "Johnathan did not call you?" and I said "Nooo" (believe me if that handsome man had called me I would remember it!) (further sidebar: Jason was quite handsome as well). Jason immediately changed the rate. I mentioned the missing picture and asked if that was common and we chatted briefly. I then made a point to say I was impressed with him knowing what room I was in (he had read the room number upside down without me noticing and then said my name which seemed both professional and warm).

Soooooo.... the food experiences were great, the convention was fabulous as were the ammenities for it I believe, the people service was exceptional: from Johnathan, to Jason, to the lady who brought up our room service, to the man who unlocked the bathroom as it had locked itself when I shut the door, to the guy who passed us a towel at the pool and the exceptional staff at Elements who not only were responsive and warm to me but were wonderful with my kids.

Peeve / Disgusted Summary:

• the physical attributes of my room: the missing picture, the broken dresser handle, the rusty plug outlet, the gouge in the closet, the holes in the wall.
• The mechanical failings: the overheating of the room, the pool elevator, the bathroom door locking and the locker at the pool.
• Communications: The lack of a phone call to advise me of the room rate not being given: I would have been fine with this as my print material advise me of a date... but not hearing back was dropping the ball.
• And lastly, in addition to the gouging in the closet door is the gouging of my wallet. The internet not being free and the charge to deliver room service is just blatant currency-sucking. The Westin makes a healthy profit (I believe but have not read their financial statements) without having to charge for these two things. The majority of hotel consumers require internet. And room service prices are geared for profit without a DELIVERY CHARGE. I mean honestly........

My dialogue with Jason upon leaving included a discussion re: the rates. He explained that online booking is a set rate that is non-negotiable (my word, not his) and that it is discounted already from the regular rate. "Whaaaa?" I said... mouth gaping, "Are you kidding me?" I said in awe. "how much would that room have been regularly?" He responded with "about $169" ... ... .... I was shocked.

I must not get out much. I had treated myself and my hubby by building some romance time in on Friday night and having convenience of being near the convention events. I had also treated the kids by letting them have an adventure at a hotel and swimming Saturday night (Nanny had had them on Friday night). We did not take any vacation last summer so I felt ok with treating.

what do you think of my Westin stay? I want to know, really I do. And remember!!! "This is how it should feel........"

________________________________________________________________

The day the kids and I left the Westin, they wanted to swim more so we headed to the pool at Quality Inn & Suites on Parkland, near where we live. We have been swimming there for years and loving it. It is $4 / person for as long as you want. They have a waterslide and a hot tub. It is awesome! So we got there and paid and then.... while in the pool... a lot of people cleared out and suddenly we had the pool to ourselves. A guy came in and said "the pool is cleaned from 2:30 - 4:00. There is a note on the door". whoa! that is a new one. Did not see the note. So... in the pursuit of exemplary customer service.... I go to the desk and explain that we are sorry we were still in the pool but we did not see the note and when did this begin and also would it be too much to ask that we were told that upon paying. The desk guy agreed 150% and advised that the next time I am in and he is on the desk, we can have a free swim. That is great service. Even better would be to jot my name down and whether or not he is there, my swim would be free. I also shared that the pool had freezing spots throughout today which I had never experienced. Freezing cold water was shooting out of the jets. "We are filling it up more" he said. "Very sorry".

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So then we were starving, so we headed to the Wendy's in Bayer's Lake. We, of course, checked the bags before driving away. My neice was missing her fries, my hubby's salad was missing croutons, my niece was also missing dressing for her Caesar. My daughter was missing fries and a toy in the kids pack bag. Honestly! We caught three out of the five missing items and the worst was that my other daughter had a toy in hers and the response was... "that was the last toy". So the clerk (do you call them that?) stared at me through the window while I patiently explained that if there is more then one kids meal per vehicle and you are down to the last toy, parents everywhere would prefer two things to happen: 1) tell the parent you are out of toys 2) do not give one child a toy as a war may break out. She stared vacantly at me like "uhhh.... uhhhh... uhhhh... whaaaa?" The expression either indicated she didn't get it or she did not give a crap. Not sure which. So it was at that point I asked for a manager. I was not going to mention the 2 missing fries etc.... just was trying to stop toy wars in the future for all parents going there... and the manager... a young woman whose shirt was a different color.... looked seriously frazzled and said "oh ok" and also anxiously looked at me like "plllllllleeeeeeease drive away now or I will have a breakdown" so I did. When hubby discovered no croutons and neice discovered no caesar dressing at home.... we took solace in the fact that we caught 3 out of the 5 errors and what the hell do we dare expect anyhoo?

Then I realized that I had pursued cutomer service repeatedly the whole day....

At the Movies

I love love love to go to the movies. I always have and my children love it every bit as much as I do.

So I headed out yesterday and arrived at the theater. The line for tickets at the cash was huge and as I am a late person I took line for the express tickets. There are 6 screens to order tickets at. I have not seen all 6 working in ages. So here it is, the weekend... lines at both the cash and the screens and only 3 screens are working for us to order at. I was disgusted. But wait! I should not use the word disgusted just yet! I debated taking pics and vids with my phone to accompany this post.

Get my tickets and head into the bathroom as I pass the concessions area and see popcorn all over the floor. I really have to go so I ignore that mess although I did briefly ponder how the heck the mess could be so bad when they had only been open a couple of hours at the most. So I get to the ladies bathroom and stop at a standstill in shock... the counter is gross! water is running and soap is everywhere... I shuddered. Bleck!

So first stall... eww! second eww! I find one I can safely use but damn did not check the toilet paper! so... there are 5 rolls and only cardboard on them all! I have to beg passing women to take pity on me, track down some t/p in the massive bathroom and pass it in.

well at least the movie was good.