I was at the PostNet store down the street this past week. I was in a hurry, on my way to an appointment, and needed to get two packages sent with tracking numbers. The clerk, named Rico, looked at the two packages and told me immediately that one of the packages needed to be re-wrapped. What happened in the next ten minutes should be a case study on great customer service:

"Yeah, the Post Office will take packages wrapped in brown paper, but UPS and the others won’t. The paper can clog up their sorting equipment. You’ve done a great job at wrapping this but they still won’t take it." Hmm….makes sense. And thanks for acknowledging that I’m not wrong. I just didn’t know the rules.

"Oh, I usually go to the Post Office and they never say anything about the brown paper. I came here because I’m in a hurry and knew I needed the packages tracked."

"I know what you mean. The Post Office loves the brown paper wrapping. But even they’re starting to re-think the brown paper. They’re going towards the high-speed sorting machines as well. " This guy knows his stuff.

"Well, here are your options. Looks like this is a shoebox under the paper. Is that right?"

"Yeah." This guy knows his stuff.

"UPS won’t take the shoebox as is. I can give you a cardboard box from the back. Or you can go home and wrap it in your own box. Or you can mail it using the Post Office’s Priority Mail with a confirmation receipt. You won’t know where it is in transit but you’ll know when it gets there. And it wil cost about twice as much." This guy really knows his stuff.

"Oh, I’m in a hurry. I’ll take it home, repack in a new box, and come back another day."

"Look, I’ll give you a box from the back and fill out the paperwork while you repack. "

"Okay, that will work. " I can trust this guy to get me out of here quickly. I’ll go with his plan B. The box he gave me was perfect in size. I repacked quickly.

"Do you have any tape?"

"Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll do it for you." This would not happen at the Post Office.

"Oh, I have to put this return authorization number on the outside of the package."

"Don’t worry. It’s already printed on the label. But I’ll also write it on the package as well." This would not happen at the Post Office.

"What’s inside?"

"A phone adapter from Vonage." I gritted my teeth, thinking about the poor service I had gotten from Vonage over the past few months. I finally wised up and switched back to my local provider.

Rico stared at his computer screen. "Looks like there’s been alot of people doing the same thing recently, sending packages back to Vonage." I can count on this guy to give me extra information that’s useful.

"It seems like you’ve been doing this job for awhile. You’re very knowledgeable."

"Oh, just a few months. But you learn alot as you go."

Rico handed me the slip with the tracking numbers and ran a yellow marker over the numbers to highlight them. This guy makes it easy for me.

"Was everything to your satisfaction?"

"Yes, very much so. You know, I just want to shake your hand." I looked Rico in the eye as I shook his hand. I loved this man.

"Well, I’m Rico. I hope you use our service again."

"Don’t worry. I’ll be back."

I looked at my watch. I had enough time to make it to my appointment, even with the repacking. When was the last time you mailed a package and felt like you were walking on air? When was the last time someone made it easy for you to do business with them? When was the last time you walked away from a customer experience, loving the person who served you and feeling a loyalty to return?

Thanks, Rico, for reminding me what great customer service looks like.