Shopping experiences at big box stores are not always bad. Below is the text of a letter I am sending to John Menard:
Dear Mr. Menard:
I am writing about the extraordinary customer service experience I had recently at the Menards store in Onalaska, Wisconsin.
I am an amateur woodworker, and my shop is also my garage. Over the last several years, I have been using a particular model of a Shop Vac (Hang-Up) to suck up the water and gunk that melts off my car in the winter time. The salt and sand is hard on the vacuum, but it does help keep the shop dry.
After our recent 16.6” snow fall, I was sucking the snow melt up when the old Shop Vac gave up the ghost (bearings went haywire).
I went over to the nearby Menards, and looked for a replacement. There was a display model of the one I wanted, but none in boxes on the shelf and teh display model was not complete.
A Menards associate (Marcus) came by and asked if I needed assistance. I pointed out the product I wanted, and he took me to the hardware department where he looked it up in the computer. He said the computer indicated there were two in the store, so he asked a supervisor (Bob H.) where they might be located. After a few minutes, Bob H. determined they had just come in that day, and were most likely still on pallets unloaded from the truck.
Bob H. asked if I needed it right away. I said I would like to have it, so he asked me to wait by the service desk while he and Marcus went to the back stock.
A few minutes later, I was walking out of the store with my Shop Vac Hang-Up.
I cannot ask for better customer service than that!
—Gerry
-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"
9 comments so far
FirehouseWoodworking
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568 posts in 1443 days
#1 posted 883 days ago
That’s the way it should be done! Well done for Menard’s!
-- Dave; Lansing, Kansas
Dennisgrosen
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10854 posts in 1285 days
#2 posted 883 days ago
glad to hear some service still excist in big stores
Dennis
b2rtch
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2957 posts in 1219 days
#3 posted 883 days ago
Too often we forget to say thank you or when we were pleased.
Thank you Gerry for not forgetting this time.
-- Bert
Bob Simmons
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505 posts in 1184 days
#4 posted 883 days ago
Gerry…Great customer service needs be applauded. Yours is a wonderful example of appreciation. Good job!
-- Bob Simmons, Las Vegas, NV, http://TheApprenticeandTheJourneyman.com
SPalm
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4114 posts in 2052 days
#5 posted 883 days ago
And you Save Big Money too.
Nice story,
Steve
-- -- I'm no rocket surgeon
Shopsmithtom
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768 posts in 2365 days
#6 posted 883 days ago
I’ve noticed over the last couple of years that the helpfulness & attentativeness (probably not a real word) at Menards is way better than it used to be. As a result, if I need the stuff they (and other big box stores) carry, I will pick my local Menards over the others.
-- Accuracy is not in your power tool, it's in you
juniorjock
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1774 posts in 1936 days
#7 posted 883 days ago
Most workers never get to hear they have done a good job. The only time they hear anything is when someone is bitching that they screwed something up. Believe me, I know. Worked in the newspaper business for about 35 years. There were lots of complaints about us screwing up but I did get a few “thank you” notes too. Because of that, when someone does a good job for me, I tell them. I was working in a shopping center a couple years ago and some days we would go to the Ingles market in the center to get lunch. Once when I went I got a meal with things I haven’t had in a while. It was good. Good enough for me to call the market and ask for the cafeteria. I’m sure the lady was bracing for a complaint, but I told her how good the food was. Same for a pizza place in town a while back. I called and told them they had the best pizza in town. So, TELL someone when they do good.
- JJ
RonPeters
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709 posts in 1051 days
#8 posted 883 days ago
Lowes and HD are pushing customer service lately. Apparently, the competition is heating up! If I had to make a choice I’d say HD is kicking some major hiney around here. It seems they hire folks who actually know something.
Nothing wrong with feedback. It’s always a good thing to let them know if they do a good, or bad, job. It’s the sign of a good organization if they ask for it.
-- “Once more unto the breach, dear friends...” Henry V - Act III, Scene I
dusty2
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281 posts in 1600 days
#9 posted 883 days ago
I too have noticed an increase in the interest level that Lowes and Home Depot employees pay to customers. It not only occurs as they enter the store but also back within the various departments. I hope that this is not a seasonal thing that goes “back to normal” after the first of the year.
-- Making Sawdust Safely
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