And Whole Foods Didn't Even Know I am a Blogger
Some of my out-of-town co-workers are in town for our HR Summit and yesterday afternoon, we planned a little impromptu barbecue at my house. I would never agree to something like that (let alone offer it) with only 2 hours notice were it not for my Roomba (here, you vacuum while I do other stuff), the fact that my house is generally clean and that they opened a new Whole Foods close-by. Oh, and also my friend Brian who has earned a reputation as the Burger Master.
Anyway, I dashed to Whole Foods, filled my cart to the rim and jumped into the check out line, possibly with a slightly crazed look on my face. Someone brought ice up for me, we filled up my two carts with the goods and a really nice gal helped me out to my car (she told me about sampling all the food as a new employee and the five pounds she has gained in the month the store has been open...cute!). I get home and unload the car and realize the box of wine...let me say that again, the bottles of wine loaded into a box, were still sitting on the counter of the check-out lane. D'Oh! I asked a friend to pick it up on the way over and then I got on the phone with Whole Foods. They were waiting for my call.
This is where it gets good. When I let them know a friend was on the way to get the box, they offered to deliver it. When I said no, they wanted to know if I was sure because they would be happy to because they were really sorry. My friend picked it up and Kelsey, the gal at the check out line (who looked wistfully at the wine anticipating the end of her pregnancy) told him how badly she felt (I was telling her how I had 2 hours to get my barbecue mojo together) and they gave us 5 bags of ice for free. And a bouquet of roses (beautiful!) AND a $25 gift card. Wow!
I didn't really think that them forgetting to put the wine in one of the carts was a big deal (and I could have realized that the wine was missing when loading the stuff into the car). What I will remember from that shopping trip is everything Whole Foods did to make it right...better then right. I don't think that they would ever want someone to have the experience of getting home and finding that something is missing. But I think that this type of event presents an opportunity. They can either allow the situation to stick in the customers mind as mildly unfortunate or they can use the opportunity to show how awesome they are and build some customer loyalty. In my situation, they excelled at the latter.
Here's where Whole Foods differentiates themselves in a major way. They empower their employees to make it right. They were willing to have an employee driving around greater Redmond to make me happy (it's not about one transaction, it's about lifetime customer loyalty). They got creative about how to make it better (the roses hit the spot...it's like they actually know me). Would another store do that? I doubt it.
Juxtapose that with a recent situation that I had at Safeway about 3 weeks ago (Safeway is another food chain here for those that don't know). The check-out person lost track of what she was scanning and when I asked her if my card had scanned properly, she barked at me" "God, stop asking questions!". I kid you not. You should have seen the look on the face of the nice man behind me (and incidentally, my friendly attitude changes at that point because nobody talks to me like that...it's just not necessary...nobody). Am I going to remember that situation? Oh yes, I will. And ever since, I have been driving out of my way to Whole Foods.
Whole Foods, you had me at "I'm sorry". And my moderate obsession with the grocery shopping experience continues.
Edit: changed QFC to Safeway (it was the one on Woodinville-Duvall road and Avondale.....double checked)
Comments
Anonymous
October 12, 2006
Nice story. They obviously get it. Being at the top in a business like grocery chain is tough. You definitely don't compete on price. What's left? SERVICE. Sounds to me like they got it right and took a page right out of Nordstom's book. Thanks for sharing.Anonymous
October 12, 2006
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October 12, 2006
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October 12, 2006
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October 12, 2006
Heather, I'm with you and I am all about the shopping experience. Not being a "shopper" per se, a pleasurable experience to me is the better one. I'll go to smaller hardware store, even where the guys are kind of surly, because I prefer it to the Home Depots where it's really about stuffing my house with items at the cheapest price point. Can't stand Wal*Mart and Costco for the same reasons. I don't understand cheaping out by using the reasoning, "I'm just trying to make it as another middle class American". I spend a lot of money on stuff I don't need all the time (turns out bars aren't exactly giving beer and wine away, there's a 500% mark-up), so I might as well enjoy the experience while I'm at it. It's not for everyone, true, but I like your Whole Foods story, and it's enough to make me test it out. BTW, save me a glass of red?Anonymous
October 12, 2006
Wow Heather, you had yourself a Seth Godin moment!Anonymous
October 12, 2006
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October 13, 2006
Wow, I wish all stores had similar customer service. I'm curious if the Roomba actually works for you? Maybe you could give it a review in a future post? I'm still skeptical about the device.Anonymous
October 13, 2006
Yeah, I like it/ I was skeptical but my dad got one. SO I saw it in action. It doensn't replace a regular vacuum, but it does work very well (especially because it gets under stuff regular vacuum's can't). It's for the vacuum adicted like me. Good for regular maintenance vacuuming and then every once in a while you get out the big vacuum.Anonymous
October 13, 2006
Cool that they did right by you. On the Roomba thing I think they are cool but I work from home so I am the Roomba :) If my employer ever buys an office out here though so I actually have a place to go to for work I'd like to get a Roomba.Anonymous
October 13, 2006
A - my Roomba battery died a while ago, I am jealous. Now I am movtivatied to search out a replacement. B - I am glad you like the service at WF. I have found that I can't shop there due to the crowds (one of my many quirks, crowded grocery stores freak me way out). The WF on 65th in Seattle has come close to putting me in the psych ward on more than one occasion, so I vowed out of being a WF fanatic for my mental health. That being said, other WF sites may be less crowded but the image of my mind of the WF near me will stick for a long time. I am a Trader Joe and Safeway kind of guy, and I dont' think either chain would be as kind as WF was to you.Anonymous
October 13, 2006
Andy-see what that says about me. I works from home AND have a Roomba. Vacuuming is not my favorite activity and I found that I was spending too much of my weekend time on my cleaning rituals. Roomba lets me take back some of that time. Patblue-there's a website for appliance replacement parts. I have it written down somewhere. I'll find it. You should try the WF on Fall Creek....it's just down the road from your office. Hey, maybe we can meet there for lunch sometime...do the little sushi bar thing. I'm with you on TJs though. Love it! It's less of a grocery store to me though and more of a speciality store (meaning I need to go there every once in a while but their selection isn 't broad enough to meet all my grivery needs). I'm addicted to their Tamari almonds.Anonymous
October 13, 2006
I love my roomba. My dog, not so much....Anonymous
October 13, 2006
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October 13, 2006
Hmm, that makes me want to say something about dinosaurs thinking humans taste good with ketchup but I can't quite find the right words. Have you seen the internal group that is all about bad autosigs? It's in the public groups directory. Man, people can be harsh but I have to agree that I'm not a big fan of the quotes in signatures. I feel like saying "thanks for the inspiration but I was really just looking for your contact information". Maybe that's just me.Anonymous
October 13, 2006
Oh, and also, Pat...sorry for the incontinence.Anonymous
October 13, 2006
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October 13, 2006
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October 14, 2006
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October 14, 2006
For those looking for replacement parts for household equipment such as batteries, remote controls, adapters, check out: http://www.partstore.com/ Full disclosure: I do not own the company, nor do I work there. But they have most everything someone needs when it comes to replacement parts.Anonymous
October 14, 2006
Hmm, there aren't Roomba parts on that site, but the iRobot site (https://store.irobot.com) has acessories and internals.Anonymous
October 14, 2006
Geez... something like this story would never happen at the Piggly Wiggly. Trust me... you probably wouldn't even be able to buy the alcohol there... (Does anyone know what a dry county is?!) Some people are just soooo lucky!Anonymous
October 16, 2006
It's not lucky...you can always move : ) Not that alcohol would be something that is important enough to move for, but still...Anonymous
October 18, 2006
Wow, what a way to make it right!