5 /5 Doug Herrick: Walked in just after lunch on a Friday afternoon. I needed a watch battery for my favorite watch and something totally unrelated--four tiny, missing screws replaced on my Canon pocket camera. Ive run service organizations as well as organizations on the receiving end of supplier service, so Ive managed both sides of the customer service experience, and Something Special lived up to its name.
First, I had walked from the east side of town with my border collie - Aussie shepherd and as I stopped in the doorway, the staff told me to bring my dog right on in--she was more than welcome there. Big points to dog friendly businesses. I walked to the counter at the rear of the store and in response to his query, told the gentleman who did repairs and battery replacement that I needed a battery replaced, as I took the dead watch off my wrist. He told me that this was not the day that he did battery replacement, but it would only take a few minutes, so he would be happy to help me. More points.
As he took my watch apart, the other staff offered my dog a biscuit, a rather sizeable one which I had to break in half for her and which she really enjoyed. Giving a nice treat to my dog--more points.
The battery replacement took the few minutes promised, and he said he would just set the proper time and leave the rest to me . . . yeah, he actually set the proper date as well. He told me what I owed (less than Ive paid in the past to local shops when we lived in the Silicon Valley, so I was pleased. At this point, I said I needed one more thing which would seem unrelated, but it actually made sense that I would ask him about it. I took out the camera and showed him the holes for the missing screws. He exclaimed at the tiny size of the screws, but agreed that this was a logical place to find screws that small. He worried that the threads might be different from what he had in stock, but what he had fit perfectly, and moments later, I was out of there with a repaired camera and a working watch, all for $6.50.
I wasnt buying fancy jewelry, I wasnt spending a great deal of money, but he and his staff treated me like I was dropping a couple of grand on purchases. And thats called customer service--its not always that easy to come by. Were not big on jewelry, but when the occasion arises, you know where we will be heading first.
