Hey, Gresham Village Dairy Queen in Tyler, Texas? KUDOS on a perfect example of customer service.

First of all, even the very best businesses make mistakes. Ya know why? Because the people running those businesses are human beings. And we are ALL prone to at least an occasional error. But a true test of a human's character is how they react when they realize they've made a mistake.

Last night I got tied up with work projects and decided to head over to the DQ in the Gresham Village Shopping Center just south of Tyler. Although I've been doing my best to eat "healthier," I confess I splurged a bit and decided to order one of their new Cheesy Dude burgers. If you're not familiar, get familiar with it. It's like their other Dude, chicken fried steak burger with mayo and veggies. The difference in this one? Well, like its name indicates it's really deliciously cheesy.

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When I got home with my order, all of the other parts of my order were there... EXCEPT for the Cheesy Dude--which was like, the MAIN part of the meal.

(Also, the Texas Toast was missing from the chicken finger basket we got, which is always sad, of course. But one can survive.) LOL.

When I discovered the missing parts I was obviously annoyed because I am also only human. It had been a busy day and I did NOT feel like getting back in the car and heading back to the DQ. But I called anyway to share the situation and they asked me to come back up and they'd fix the order.

And once I got there and saw how well the manager Sarah Grace handled the situation, all of that annoyance dissipated and I was really, really impressed.

Sarah Grace, the manager at this DQ location in Tyler, TX, displayed a shining example of customer service.

Sarah apologized for the mix-up and not only replaced the missing parts of the order, but asked the kitchen to re-make the ENTIRE order so that it would all be fresh. That alone was impressive. But THEN, she told me she'd refunded my order and ALSO gave me some token for two free Dilly bars on my next visit.

After she relayed all of this to me at my car window, I literally stared blankly with my mouth open for a few seconds. She smiled at my amazement and apologized again. I thanked her for her gracious response and assured her I would definitely be back.

I'm not sure why some businesses do as little as possible to try to make up for their errors. Maybe they think they're saving money. Perhaps they feel some of those who complain are lying. Whatever the case, I would re-think that position. Of course, we want to minimize loss and optimize profit in any business--but not at the expense of the human beings who make our businesses thrive.

Thanks to Sarah Grace at the DQ in Gresham Village, I will be back to that location to spend dollars again and again and again.

Well done. And thank you.

Dear Reader, have you had an extraordinary customer service experience in East Texas? I'd love to hear about it. My email is tara.holley@townsquaremedia.com.

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