This past summer, my friend Noam and I went to see the San Francisco Giants play the Philadelphia Phillies. We took the Broad Street line down to PNC Park and set out to buy some tickets. Given the Phillies were having a rather down year, and that this was a mid-day mid-week game, we weren’t planning on spending too much. And we didn’t. As soon as we emerged from the station, vendors (aka scalpers) awaited, eagerly ready to provide tickets to anyone interested. We efficiently negotiated a pair of upper-level tickets at a quite reasonable price. We then headed over to the turnstiles, ready to enjoy America’s favorite 20th century pastime. As the gate agent scanned our tickets, a beep sound rose from the scanner. We were asked to step aside. Clearly, something was off with our tickets. Noam and I looked at each other, believing we had been swindled. 3 long minutes later, a ticket manager came over, scanned our tickets again (with a manager’s scanner), and told us that our tickets were invalid copies, that the true ticket holders were already in their seats. Oh, man….
We turned around and headed back to where we had made our purchase. Noam was convinced that we weren’t going to get anywhere with these guys, but I felt it was worth the effort to find out. As we approached the same group of scalpers, they didn’t recognize us and began to ask if we were looking for tickets. I replied that we were looking for tickets that worked, not the one’s they had just sold us. Immediately, the guy who sold us our tickets recognized us, pulled out 2 other tickets, and began to walk with us back towards the gate. As we walked, he apologized and spoke about his ticket business, how he works to make sure his clients are happy, and the shows and events he works around the county. He walked all the way up to the gate and kept on eye on us until he saw we made it in. He then gave us a thumbs up and went back to the other parts of his business. And although we were a little annoyed at the mishap, his actions to rectify the situation made it fine. And soon we got a beer, food, and sat down to watch a rather uneventful 2-1 game. And who won? Well, everyone.
This scalper could have easily left us hanging, but didn’t. He demonstrated the kind of customer service that builds trust (or in this case, relief mixed with thankfulness mixed with a little why-did-it-have-to-come-to-this?). And we got to do what we enthusiastically set out to do. So, what do you do when you fall short of your customers/clients expectations? Do you rectify? Do you fix? Do you ignore? Do you apologize and walk them to their solution? You know what you do…
Oh, the Phillies won, and the Giants won the Series.