Recently, I spent a week in Southern California and shopped at Trader Joe’s several times. If you don’t know Joe, he runs a successful food store chain that dots cities up and down the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts. Their slogan says that they won’t steal your money; they are not “Pirates.” And it’s true. I watched an employee jog from car to car in the parking lot looking for a customer that had left their $.99 item at the checkout stand. I recommend Trader Joe’s to a lot of people.
Two days after my last Trader Joe’s purchase, I was in Chicago on business. Our company has a contract with a particular Car Rental so we are highly encouraged to use their service. Their slogan says that they are trying to be the number one car company, but my car experience with them will be my last. After seven separate really bad screw ups I decided to talk to the Customer Non-Service Representative to get a refund for my GPS non-service. He insincerely asked how I enjoyed my car experience, so I told him. I’m not sure if he decided to give me a full refund before or after I described how the parking attendant threw the car keys at the windshield.
Trader Joe made true customer service a part of the store’s culture. His service is actually the best; he doesn’t just try to be better.