The "Super Service" Recovery Paradox

 

It's now been over three and half years on the road as digital nomads and we've crisscrossed this great country a number of times... something we have come to appreciate is "Super Service" as long drives and road fatigue can wear the tires and the soul!  So when we encounter a rest stop, restaurant or retail shop that goes above and beyond - we happily take notice!  

In the days of old when families began to take long haul automobile vacations, "Super service stations were an evolution and elaboration on the original filling stations. Introduced in Los Angeles prior to World War I, super service stations combined operations that had previously been handled separately. Before that time, a motorist went one place for gas and oil, and other places for lubrication and cleaning, repairs, or for tires and other accessories. Combining these activities was convenient for consumers and opened up new marketing possibilities for those interested in taking advantage of the boom in automobiles."  It was also a time, until the mid 1970's when station attendants who still pumped your gas, cleaned your windshield and checked your fluids - ok, that was a long, long time ago!  

In our opinion, one of today's equivalents of a Super Service station are the Wallys and Buc-ees travel plazas... super-sized gas stations with massive stores filled with food and an array of "Chatskis" that nobody needs - but everybody buys! 

We, and others, also use the term "Super Service" to recognize businesses that make-it-right-when-it-goes- wrong. As Jer's father used to say "there are no perfect circles," meaning even the best of people and places still have areas of improvement or an off day in general.  

This past year, we encountered the term “service recovery” when staying at Hilton’s St. Louis Union Station Hotel… Reggie was a seasoned front desk clerk who recognized our frown when attempting to sign in for an early Christmas stay at this famous venue.  Reggie worked some magic on the keyboard and smiled, as he confirmed that a room had just become available - and we were surprised and delighted, as he intended. As the famous football coach Vince Lombardi once said, "It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get back up." Our loyalty to Hilton was solidified that day.

In today's age of electronic check-outs and call centers located in some far off country - we appreciate it when a business staffs a team who are empowered to make-it-right when things sometimes fall off the rails. We find that there is an authenticity and strong sense of loyalty on our part to support organizations that truly care about their customers and "recover" us when there is an issue!  

Technically,  the Service Recovery Paradox is a situation in which a customer thinks more highly of a company after the customer encounters a problem and is upset, then the company corrects the problem with their service. Another example that we personally experienced was when we attempted to plan our first scheduled maintenance on our new Hyundai Hybrid Tuscan this past December.   

As digital nomads, we continuously travel.  We were hoping to get our vehicle serviced at our dealership in Illinois while we were briefly passing through.  The service scheduler was nice, but couldn't get us in because it was Christmas week - and everybody wanted their car serviced for their own holiday trips.  The terms of our auto purchase made this particular timing mandatory - we had to get it done within a particular timeframe or lose our warranty.

With frustration, we sent an email to the service manager pleading our case. Pete responded promptly and after reviewing the situation told us to bring our car in for service first thing the following Monday and he would work us in - turns out that at that time that Pete was off on vacation - while accommodating our request by servicing us on the eve of Christmas Eve! We were impressed.

We showed up as requested, and our car was taken in for service right away. We asked to see Pete while we waited and thanked him and his crew at Patrick Hyundai for squeezing us into the packed schedule - evidenced by the filled waiting room!  

We were so grateful and because of Pete's Super Service, we were able to join our family for the holidays  - while maintaining the maintenance plan for our new ride!  To say we are now loyal customers of that dealership, is an understatement... Super Service at it's Finest! 

We'd love to hear from your and your experiences with Super Service... please comment below!