does free stuff = good service?

i ordered some leggings online at discount dance supply a couple of months ago. they were inexpensive and comfortable. perfect. but they started to fall apart right away. not good. so i sent a note to the customer service folks on the

discount dance supply website:

Comment...hello. i'm writing in disappointment. a couple of months ago i bought a pair of leggings from this website. they arrived promptly, and i was happy with the look and feel of them. they seemed to be a good bargain. however, after wearing them only one time, the seams have started to come apart and there is a run in the same place. i treated them with care and followed washing instructions recommended. it isn't a good bargain if i can only wear them once before they come apart. i look forward to your response. thank you.

within a couple of hours i got the standard, "we've received your message" reply:

a couple of hours later i received another message from them:

hmm. maybe they were sending me a new pair? hard to know as the message was automated and made no mention of my specific situation.

and a couple of hour later still:

a new pair seemed to be on it's way. but how odd they seemed to be sending without any actual contact with me. perhaps their automated systems were getting ahead of themselves.

fast forward a few days-- a package arrived for me. could it be a new pair of leggings? it was. i never heard another peep from discount dance supply. but whatever. they replaced my leggings.

good service? you decide.

dinner and a show

i had dinner at veritable quandary (vq) in downtown portland last night. the food was yummy (and pricey). this isn’t a restaurant review, however. it’s a service review. and the service was just that little extra that one remembers. it isn’t the service i got while at the restaurant that impressed me (the wait staff were pleasant but nothing to write home about). it's what happened when i called for a reservation that stands out. a friend and i were planning to see the nutcracker at the keller auditorium and decided to go to vq for dinner beforehand. the restaurant tends to be busy on show nights so i called to make a reservation.

this is how it went down:
me: hi, can I make a reservation for monday evening, please?
hostess: sure, for how many and at what time?
me: for two at 6pm, please.
hostess: ok, will you be attending the ballet after dinner?
me: umm…actually, yes.
hostess: would 5:45 work for you? that’s the latest we recommend dining with us to make a 7:30 show. just to be safe.
me: yes! 5:45 would be fine. and thanks so much.

what a difference a simple question and a change of fifteen minutes can make. my friend and i didn’t have to rush and worry about making it to the show on time. the folks at vq didn’t have crabby and hurried customers trying to get out of there to make the show time. everyone wins.

and the ballet was great, too.

get less at ross dress for less.

i finished most of my christmas shopping this weekend. it wasn’t so bad. most places actually had it together-- i guess they were expecting lots of business and planned for it. how innovative. there was one place, however, that seemed to have not planned for it. i guess they didn’t know christmas was coming. or they didn’t care. either way, i stood in line at ross dress for less in the cedar hills crossing shopping center for what felt like forever. (admittedly, the small child with a big voice in line in front of me didn’t help it feel shorter.) i understand this is an extremely busy time of year for shopping and i expect to stand in line. but there were seventeen people in line in front of me. seventeen. and there was one (not particularly efficient or excited to be there) cashier. one. it doesn’t take a math whiz to realize that just doesn’t add up. the prices at ross dress for less are less indeed. problem is, their service is also less. much less this past weekend. so if you’re heading out to ross dress for less in the coming weeks, bring a snack as you’ll be there a while.