Customer Service Pays?

Last weekend, my wife and I went canoeing with our friends. It is a well known fact that New England weather is very unpredictable and this year the statement is being strongly validated by Mother Nature. Our spring was like summer and our summer is like spring, with heavy downpours and thunderstorms.

Anyhow, coming back to our canoeing trip. My friend and I have been planning this for a long time, but couldn’t go because of our scheduling conflicts. Finally we made it last Sunday. Four of us rented a canoe and started rowing down (or up) the Concord river. Ten minutes into our trip, dark clouds rushed in  and started pouring water on us. Luckily, we steered our canoe to a nearby bridge and stayed under it for a while. It was a good experience watching rain drops kissing the river.

Well, we managed to canoe for an hour without getting (much) wet. When we returned the canoe to the dock, the clerk at the counter said “Sir, hope you really enjoyed your canoeing. Its too bad thunderstorms came on your way. Rent for an our is 12 bucks, but since rain ruined your fun, I am going to charge you 7 bucks”. We were pleasantly surprised. In this day and age where big airlines find any possible reason to avoid refunds, here is a small entrepreneur who is willing to pay us back for no fault of his.

And to end the story, On the counter there was a small tin box for tips. Typically we would have paid a buck or two for tips. But after the service we got, we decided to pay the money he gave back to us as tips ($5). I don’t know if i should call it as honesty or customer service. In any case, the canoe company owner/employee got good money and more than that he earned a repeat customer.

Customer Service pays !!!