Taking Care of Business
When celebrating my first birthday in New York last weekend I was happy to receive the wonderful hospitality of the city of New York; free champagne, free cocktails and my wallet stolen.
Yes, nothing quite puts a dampener on a night out than having all your valuables nicked. I’ve traveled and lived around the world many, many times and I’ve never had anything stolen so it was quite a blow for me, particularly when I was being responsible and had held off on the drinks. Note to self: responsibility gets you no where.
It was an interesting lesson however, in emergency customer service. As all my money, credit cards, bank cards and ID (not to mention my metro card and collection of VIP passes) were taken, I was left stranded in a foreign city with, with nothing.
In times of trouble the services around you become a focal point. And I must say my bank went above and beyond the call of duty. For the last 12 hours three people have been dealing with my case to make sure I am not stranded.
$500 emergency cash was wired to me from Australia. But not only that, the lady also found the closest money collection service to me, phoned them to let them know I was coming and checked they had enough money to cover my request.
Another phoned me letting me know they were UPS-ing a new credit card arriving within 12 hours.
Now banks give you the sh*%s quite a lot of the time but when I needed them the most they were there. My respect for them as a business has been heightened three fold. I would have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone and as a conversation point, continue to praise them to all that I come in contact with.
In times of crisis not only do your services need to be up to the task but also your customer relations. At all times, I had knowledgeable, sympathetic staff calling me every hour to update me on progress. I didn’t have to do anything but wait.
We all have mini crisis’ in our lives whether it be a computer malfunction, theft, fire or technology blunder, when your customers are at their worst are you at your best?
Nobody forgets a crisis make sure they remember you as their knight in shining armor.
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