My visit to Red Robin was this past Sunday shortly after the restaurant opened. I was there as a part of a party of four. I was with my friend and her two children, ages 12 and 15. It was 12:15PM.
When we arrived, the door was opened for us by a friendly employed and we were immediately greeted by the hostess. She politely asked the younger child if they would prefer a child’s or an adult menu. When he asked for an adult menu, she obliged and immediately showed us to our seats. She asked if we had ever been to a Red Robin before, and upon learning that we had, she took our drink order and let us know the name of our server.
In less than two minutes our server brought us our drinks, asked us if we had any questions, answered one for the older child, and let us have more time to make our selections. She returned, took our orders, and they were out in about seven minutes. She also delivered two refills for the two empty beverages. She checked back frequently, but not too often. She refilled drinks, brought containers for our leftovers, took desert orders, promptly delivered deserts, and was friendly with every interaction with our party. Her service was excellent.
Towards the end of our visit, while we were having our check prepared, the manager on duty stopped by our table to ask us about the service during our visit. We answered that it had been excellent. When the manager asked about the quality of the food, we responded that it had been excellent as well. When asked if we would return, the children answered that we would (Red Robin).
Target
I had several reasons to visit a Target store recently, and I needed to visit different departments within the store. I was doing my errands early on a Friday evening, and it was busy in the parking lot, there were not many carts in the corral outside the store, which usually means that it is busy, and the customer service line had 9 people in it when I entered the store.
I had a return, so I first waited in the customer service line. There were two representatives working, and considering that I was the 10th customer, a six minute wait was not unreasonable. I was returning a flat screen television that had a crack in it the screen when I got home and took it out of the box the previous week. I was worried that a large return would be an issue as well as would the representative not believe me that the crack was there when I purchased the item. When my turn came, I showed the representative my receipt, explained the situation, and she called an associate from electronics.
The electronics customer associate was considerate but explained after checking inventory that the particular television that I had purchased had only been ordered for this store since it was a sale item, and not something that was usually carried. I had two options: I could have the same set sent to my house as a replacement or get a comparable one in the store instead. I decided that the comparable would suffice, and they had one placed up front on hold for me.
I also had items in the men’s department that were on sale to purchase during my trip. All of the items were easy to find and available in the necessary sizes.
Lastly, all but one item I needed from the grocery section were also available.
When I went to check out, there were no issues with the television. The cashier called for someone to help me load it into my car. Once again, even though there were several people in each line, the lines all appeared to move quickly. The cashier was polite and efficient (Target).
Lowe’s
During a recent trip to Lowe’s Home Improvement Store, I was going to need assistance from store associates in three different departments: lumber, key cutting, and millwork. I knew that I would need to have sufficient time to be able to get the needed service in all three departments, so I tried to be proactive and go during the dinner hour on a Sunday afternoon.
The lumber department was burdensome. I could not find anyone to ask for help. After a hunt and peck mission, I finally found what I was looking for in the correct size and color, but I still needed someone to cut it to my precise measurement. I used the phone in the aisle to call for assistance, three times, and someone came. He said he could not operate the saw, but would get someone. Ten minutes later, I used the phone again. In another ten minutes, someone came and made my one cut.
In the key aisle there was an associate hanging merchandise. I asked him for help and he had my key cut in about three minutes. He gave me much better service and a more pleasant disposition.
After I selected which storm door I wanted to order and wrote down the item number, I went to the special services desk. Again, I needed to wait about ten minutes for service, but that is because the representative was helping the two people before me. She was efficient, acknowledged that I was waiting, so I was patient. I showed her what I wanted, she confirmed that it came in that size, set up the order, explained the installation process and warranty, and completed the order in about seven minutes. She was efficient and courteous as well (Lowe’s).
References
Lowe’s Home Improvement Store
Red Robin Restaurant
Target Department Store
