Service with a Smile

A few things this past week have got me thinking about the thankless task of being in a job whereby you do things for others, whether you're a dealer in a Vegas casino, an insurance claims rep, or a cleaning lady.

Because of my military service, I'm eligible to use USAA for my auto insurance needs. I eventually started using them for financial needs, as well: banking, investments, credit... because of their stellar records for service. All my experiences with them have always been very positive. After Allan's car was hit, we began the process of filing the claim so we could get the car repaired. I hadn't anticipated any problems, but I didn't expect things to go as smoothly as they did. They made the arrangements for towing and for the adjuster to inspect the car at the repair shop. All we had to do was await a phone call to set up a time to meet with the appraiser. Of course, there's still work to do ahead of us, but so far USAA is certainly living up to its reputation, as I once made a point to blog about.

A conversation I had with a friend at work this week also made me think about experiences I'd had in a completely different setting: Las Vegas. The last time I've been there, before our most recent trip last week, was 5 years ago. Still on starving student budgets, Allan and I stayed at the Gold Spike, one of the more run-down and seedier hotels in downtown Las Vegas. Still, it was a decent hotel-- good water pressure and drainage (something you see a lot of complaints about), clean rooms, excellent food value for your money. All that paled, though, in comparison to the service! We didn't need anything out of the ordinary, but the staff we encountered everywhere in the hotel were exceptionally courteous and friendly, much more so than you would normally find elsewhere. My friend had a similar experience-- after having some trying luck with the casinos on the Strip, he tried one of the casinos downtown while his friends watched the Fremont show. And the dealer there took real good care of him, enabling him to turn his luck around a bit. It seems ironic that the run-down, shabby places, the ones most people would sniff their noses at, are the ones with the best service. Why is that, I wonder?

And finally, I noticed a little gem when I went to the restroom at work earlier this week. You know how, in upscale restaurants, your cloth napkin will be folded into neat shapes? Or in some of the nicer hotels, the cleaning crew will sometimes fold the towels into cute little shapes for you? Well, I came across this in one of the stalls. Not just a triangular fold job you see in most hotels, but an intricate little design. And not just on one toilet paper roll, but all the rolls in the stall! The person who did this was probably used to it and likely didn't take very long to do it, but I was particularly impressed just by this little gesture, especially given that it wasn't in some posh hotel, but at work. One little effort to spruce up the place, to give a little attention to detail, really showed how much the person cared about her work. It definitely made a lasting impression!