A passenger on the train seated behind me was talking excitedly to his friend, raving about Costco. Being a Costco member myself, the conversation piqued my interest, especially since he was talking in this booming voice loud enough to be heard by everyone in our section.
The passenger was excitedly relating to his friend Costco’s actions regarding the pistachio nuts recall. His wife received a call from Costco, saying that their records indicate that she had purchased pistachio nuts in the last 3 months. Given the recall, she was adviced to return the nuts to Costco with the original packaging and if possible, the receipt.
His wife said that they have already consumed about half of the nuts, but they have placed the nuts in a jar and threw the original packaging away. Plus, they don’t have the receipt anymore. The Costco rep said it’s ok – they can put the remaining nuts in a plastic bag and bring it to the nearest Costco, and they will refund her.
The passenger was so impressed with two things:
- The granularity of data that Costco has, tracking the items purchased by their members
- That Costco had to actually go beyond what is expected of them by calling their customers and making the return easy and hassle-free
This incident demonstrates that excellent customer service makes for happy customers. And happy customers will not just tell one, but several others, of their happy interaction with your business. Afterall, the people in our section of the train heard the story!