Humble Pie was great, but here’s another company who knows how to look after their customers!
Friday – the day before my baby celebrated 1 year on the planet – we picked up our free cake from Thrifty Foods (a little something they do for 1-year-olds as part of their fantastic customer focus). I don’t mean a standard round cake – I mean a kick-ass slab cake that feeds 15-20 or more, depending on the size of the pieces. Not too shabby, eh?! And that’s only the beginning! I’ll let Patrick’s letter to Thrifty Foods tell the rest of the story …
To whom it may concern,
I want to tell you about the fantastic experience we had with the Thrifty Foods in Coquitlam, Austin Station, this past weekend.
Our son was turning one-year-old; my wife ordered a cake through the bakery as part of your first birthday promotion. We picked the cake up on Friday afternoon; it was nicely decorated with his name. However, by the time we got home in the afternoon heat the icing had slid/melted off the sides of the cake. My wife was nearly in tears and we had family coming to stay and nearly 40 people arriving the next afternoon to celebrate Nicholas’ birthday.
I called the customer service line and explained what happened. I was referred to the store where I retold my story twice more. Everyone was super understanding. Finally, I spoke to “Ray” who I assume was the duty manager. He had obviously been briefed by someone else because he apologised for not having a cake decorator in the store at that moment. He promised to communicate our situation to Trent, the bakery manager. We arranged for me to take the cake back to Trent and have him look at it and see what he could do. I was very relieved; I didn’t want to spend the night trying to recreate the icing on the cake.
The next day, I took the cake to the bakery department. I was greeted by one of the staff who already knew about our situation. She got, Trent who took the cake and told me to return in 15 minutes. When I came back he presented me with, what I suspect was a new cake, although I don’t know for sure.
Disaster Averted !!!!
I was stunned by the helpfulness and understanding of everyone I spoke too, especially, since this was a free cake to begin with.
There isn’t just one person who deserves credit for this it’s the whole team, from the Customer Service person on the toll free line, to the evening staff at the store and Trent the Bakery Manager.
By the way, the cake was delicious! We were already huge fans of Thrifty’s, but this has really gone a long way to securing our business even tighter (even though the store isn’t the closest one to us).
[...] Update: here’s another great customer service story … Thrifty Foods. [...]
How did you hear about the free cake offer for one year olds? Do they have a list of free stuff?
Paula’s note: I heard about it from another mum and confirmed it on their website.
[...] offer a FREE birthday cake to any little customer turning 1 year old – super timesaver! Then, they came to the rescue for Nicholas’ birthday party by re-icing his free cake … on the morning of the party [...]