More on that Customer Service thing..

As you might guess, we visit Lexington a lot.  I've stayed in several hotels there, but our most regular stay is the Doubletree Suites on Richmond Road.   We really enjoy staying there for multiple reasons.

You get that chocolate chip cookie when you check in.  Usually when we get there we are hungry.  We don't want to spoil our dinner and the cookie is just perfect to tide you over til then.   

It's a very nice hotel.  The rooms are all suites and have large jetted tubs in them.

They have a really good breakfast buffet.  It does cost 12.95 but you if you are Hilton Honors Gold or Platinum member, you get two of these each morning for free.

There is a Sonic and Panera Bread within walking distance.  That's perfect if you feel the need for a dessert.  We've had cookies and milk shakes on the spur of the moment multiple times.  There is also a Chilis, Zaxbys, and Krispy Kreme within half a mile of the hotel.

Both the UK campus and Downtown Lexington (Rupp Arena) are within a ten minute drive

Best of all of course, is it is within a half mile of Josh's apartment!

One thing you do have to beware of is the atrium.  It's very nice but sometimes booked for events that can last well into the night.  If you have a room where the bedroom faces it, it can be bothersome.  If you go to bed early, you should request a exterior facing room.

I was there a couple of weeks ago visiting Josh for the weekend so we could see a Reds Cardinals game at the Great American Ballpark.  As you know, I am big on customer service.  Is it the one thing to me that can make a business stand out in the fierce competition for dollars today.  I had some really great customer service while I was there.  If you read my last post, you'll know that I got a new pillow that I just love.  I brought it with me. As I was checking out Sunday morning, I let the housekeeper know I was leaving the hotel in case she wanted to go ahead and start on my room.  I checked out and got in my car to go get Josh to get to North Lexington for Bible Study and Worship.  As I got ready to leave, I was surprised by the housekeeping lady next to my car window holding up my pillow.  She had come all the way to the back parking lot to chase me down with it!  I was so overjoyed that I had to give her a hug of gratitude and many thanks.  The next day I had my usual message I get from the hotel manager asking if I enjoyed my stay.  I told him about this and requested that he give the young lady accolades for her great customer service.  He assured me he would and seemed genuinely happy to know about this.

If you do go to Lexington, I'd encourage you to consider staying at the DoubleTree Suites on Richmond Road.

Customer Service

Last weekend, Donna and I went to Nashville. We wanted to see our new nieces Charlotte and Catherine plus Brody and Amelia. We also wanted to see how my cousin Donna was (she had an extended stay there at a hospital). We had a really good time spending time with all of them.

On the way to see Donna, we stopped at Krispy Kreme. It was free doughnut day and they gave everybody a free doughnut (I got a chocolate cake one and it was great). I ordered a dozen more donuts. I asked for six of my favorite (chocolate ice-creamed filled) and six glazed. The lady went to get fresh doughnuts from the back and I paid for them and left.

We decided go to the Shoney's for dinner. I hadn't had a piece of hot fudge cake in a long time - I used to love it when we had a Shoney's in Paducah. We went to the Shoney's on Donelson Pike. It was busy (seafood buffet night) but not totally swamped. We were seated promptly and brought drinks. We ordered and waited. And we waited some more. I noticed our waitress was very exasperated and reached the point where she actually loudly complained and even cursed. I saw the assistant manager call her aside and tell her not to complain in front of customers. I saw numerous customers call the manager and assistant manager aside. Finally after 40 minutes, we got our food. It was cold which mean it had set out for a long while. We didn't feel comfortable there after listening to the waitress complain. I didn't bother ordering the hot fudge cake. So we left after we ate.

We went back to the hotel. I had solace in that I had my doughnuts waiting for me. I opened the box and was devastated. Instead of chocolate ice cream filled, it had chocolate covered glazed. I ate them and they were OK, but just not the same. At this point I went ahead and sent emails to both companies letting them know the issues I had and went to bed.

When I got up the next day, I had an email waiting from Krispy Kreme apologizing profusely for the problem. I hadn't heard from Shoney's but it was the weekend so I figured it might be a few days. We got back to Paducah and on Monday, I got a phone call from the manager of the Krispy Kreme we'd bought the doughnuts from. He apologized profusely and said I was to ask for him the next time I was town and he'd give me a free dozen doughnuts to make up for this. A few days later I received a coupon from the main Krispy Kreme office for a dozen free doughnuts that I had up to a year to use.

You might be wondering what Shoney's did. In a word, they did NOTHING. I have yet to hear anything from them not even a "Sorry, you just need to get over it". In this day and time where people are not spending money as freely as they used to and competition is fierce. it certainly isn't a time to skimp on customer service. You can guess what place I'll go back to and which one I won't. I'll have to get my hot fudge cake fix somewhere else.