What Dutch Brothers Has

I am always impressed by great customer service. My mantra since starting Toddler Tech USA has been "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless. Customer Loyalty is Priceless." My husband had told me this when he was taking a class/reading the book for his MBA and it has stuck with me ever since. If I get good or bad customer service, know that I will shout it from the mountain tops (or twitter). Good customer service buys you more business. Great customer service buys you my undying affection. I believe that this is where Dutch Brothers excels so much over Starbucks. Here's my story:

I am on a diet and refused to give up my coffee, so I made a compromise by adding 2 shots of espresso over a 1/2 cup of ice to mix with my sugar-free syrup and shake mix for the perfect iced coffee drink. Most of the time I just make really extra strong coffee with my French Press and call it good. But nothing beats 2 shots. Oh the looks I get when I make my order. What? No cream? No sugar? Uh-uh. Ohhhhh-kayyyy...

Here's the first place I notice how Dutch Brothers does it right. "No Problem!" says the uber-happy guy as he simultaneously works the yummy-caffeine-making-machine and asking me about my day. And this isn't an off-handed "How's your day going" with passing interest. He's being genuine. "That will be One Dollar" he says as he hands me my drink, precisely as ordered. Awesome! Not only do I have my drink, but it's a reasonable price and I feel liked not just as a customer, but as a person. 

When I asked for the exact same drink from a girl at the Starbucks drive-thru, I got nothing but attitude. It was as if I were subhuman. Did I not drive the right car? Was it because I didn't wear designer clothes? They stood there making whispered comments to each other and laughing. While I'm sure it had nothing to do with me, it still made me feel self-conscious. I got a snotty attitude and a teenage girl sticking her hand out at me saying "That will be $1.80" and not even looking at me. It took 3 minutes after she ran my card ($1.80??? Starbucks, are you on crack?) for them to hand me my drink, even though they had it sitting right next to the window the whole time. 

Starbucks, you get an F for customer service. First of all, you are WAY over-priced. Second, you've gotten too big for your britches if you think that allowing your employees to have an attitude towards your customers will help your customer base. I for one, will not be going back. And little girls that work at the store I visited; you work in Hillsboro, Oregon, not on 5th ave in New York, so you can ditch the tude. Ok...so I'm still a bit grumpy about it. 

But Dutch Brothers, you totally rock in my book. You have everything you need to keep your customers loyal. Great product, awesome price points, and above all, wonderful customer service. I need a DB window sticker...and a Dutch Press (how cool is that?). But I will have to settle with shouting out my loyalty on Twitter. 

Do you have a story about Great or Bad Customer Service you received? Please share!