UNITED STATES—We have talked countless times in the past about how bad customer service tends to transpire at many of our favorite retailers, companies that provide services and so much more. When you have a bad experience it totally frustrates you in a way that makes you want to never visit that establishment or utilize that service ever again. I’ll give you a prime example, I recently dined at a top-notch restaurant and the service was beyond abysmal, it was horrific.

I mean we waited far too long to be seated, the waitress didn’t stop by our table to check in on us and to place the nail in the coffin: our orders were completely messed up. I mean the waitress took notes and still screwed up multiple orders and didn’t seem to think it was a bad thing. On top of that, when you dine at restaurants with a large party you will always find bad service because you get stuck with gratuity even if the service is terrible.

Now on the flip side of things, imagine if you are visiting a restaurant where you receive top-notch service and I’ve seen this at a particular establishment not once, but several times. I mean the service has been FANTASTIC and I mean that. That is a very rare thing that transpires. Not only was the wait not long, the food was terrific and the service was stellar. The waiter came to our table several times to ensure all was food; the appetizer came within a reasonable time frame, not to mention soon after the main course was on the table.

This is the only establishment were I can argue that I have gotten so full and not spent a ton of money and still had food to take home at the end of the day. How many restaurants can you actually saw that about? There are not plenty. When the service is that strong then I am willing to not leave a decent tip, but a great tip. Servers have a difficult job and it’s not one that I think many Americans can accomplish. So when you see a server going above and beyond you want to reward them for it.

It is quite rare to see that happen, but it does indeed happen and it is a testament that good customer service does still exist, even though so many Americans like to think otherwise. I wish I could take snap shots of people who are delivering sensational customer service. Why? I want to show this to others. This is how you respond when things are tense; this is what you do to show that you care about your job. I mean I recently had my Cable provider go above and beyond to ensure an ongoing issue was fixed. Let me be clear this is not always the case, because I had internet issues with my provider for over a year that wasn’t properly fixed. So to see them actively work to fix a problem made me feel appreciated, and that is always a good thing for a customer.

So many people confuse customer service with this bullet point list of things that you MUST DO in order to satisfy the customer. That’s not it people! The key to good customer service is treating someone the same way that you would like to be treated. Do onto others what you would like to be done onto you. So many of us forget that little nugget and as a result we show our tails off in restaurants, at the bank, at the gas station, at the electric company, the list goes on and on.

When you see good customer service it always stands out, sometimes its stands out more than when you receive bad customer service. Think about it because if things are good you return to that place over and over again without any hesitation. We should be more focused on good customer services versus bad customer service.

Written By Kelsey Thomas