Well done?

For a while now I've been thinking about how we respond to products or experiences; at work we had a discussion a little while ago about how you're more likely to tell people about bad customer experiences than good ones. It's something I've been thinking about ever since.

I'm aware of the fact that I've told loads of people about our nightmare experience trying to get two iPhones on a contract with Tesco, but I've not really told many people about the fact that Vodafone were really helpful and got everything sorted for us very quickly. The same is probably true for other experiences; it's always the bad ones that seem to spring to mind, while the good ones get sort of forgotten.

Flowers? Chocolates? Or thank you card?

So I'm trying to make more of an effort to let people know when I think they've done a good job or the service has been good because I know myself, it feels good when someone gives you a pat on the back.

There was the girl in the dining area of Cardwell Garden Centre who, when we asked for a bag to take some puddings home in, dashed off to get one for us right away, even though she was in the middle of cleaning up.

There was the eBay seller who sent me my wool vacuum sealed so it could be posted through the letterbox, saving us a trip to the sorting office.

And then there was the nice lady when we were buying tickets for the ferry who was just generally chatty and pleasant, even though she's having to stand out in the cold drizzle taking tickets from people who are snug and warm in their cars.

Why don't you share some of your good experiences?