Customer service isn’t dead, it’s alive and well at Central Market
First off, let me start by saying that I absolutely love Central Market. I do.
In fact, should I ever leave Texas to move elsewhere, I know for certain that Central Market would be in my list of the top five things I’d miss. The more times I make trips to my local CM, the more I’m reminded of why they stand out from all of your other generic megamarts.
Case in point: today, I had one of the best experiences in any retail store that I’ve ever set foot in.
Every year, Central Market hosts a Hatch Chile Pepper Festival. Now, hatch peppers aren’t your boring, plain old green chile pepper. They’re like the utility player of the pepper world. Naturally, CM’s Foodie newsletter says it best:
Hatch chiles aren’t about the heat. We love them because they’re so versatile. They are big and meaty and have a seductive, complex flavor that doesn’t overwhelm everything else on the plate.
During the two weekends the festival is held, you can find hatch peppers in everything from bread to cheese and ice cream to brownies to everything in between. Last year, during the festival, Wendy and I happened upon a delight of a dessert: a Hatch Chile Apple Cobbler. Apples and Hatch Peppers you say? Indeed. Sure, we were a bit skeptical of it at first, but at the same time, it was the pairing of these two completely different things that drew us to it. How could you turn something like that down?
Out of everything else we bought that year, the apple cobbler was hands down the best thing we had; so needless to say, we couldn’t wait for this year’s festival to roll around so we could partake in the apple and Hatch peppery goodness. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make it to the first weekend of the festival, so, we went on a Friday night of the last weekend, and found a lone cobbler, hidden beneath a loaf of sourdough bread. When we happened upon our discovery, our eyes darted around the store to make sure it wasn’t some cruel sick Candid Camera joke, and that we really weren’t gonna get the cobbler.
We got it home, unpacked all of the rest of our goodies (we did not buy one thing that did not contain Hatch pepper in some fashion), and placed our cobbler on the counter.
We left for a daytrip on Saturday, and by the time we got back, the poor untouched cobbler had started to grow mold. We were devastated.
I checked the Sell By: date, and it was for that same day, Sunday. I thought it was odd that it would grow that amount of mold by the date that it was meant to be sold by, so, we made the trip out to a different CM location (on our way to somewhere else), cobbler in tote.
We walked in to the store, and were greeted by a young man named Zachary. He asked if there was anything he could do to help us. I relayed to him our plight, and he didn’t respond with any inquiries as to where it was bought, he didn’t question the conditions under which it was left, he merely asked “Okay, how would you like us to handle it?” I was stunned. It took me a few seconds to think about what I wanted to say, as I was expecting to be told what was going to happen, not asked what I’d like to do.
I told him “Well, I’d like to see if you have anymore, and if so, make an even exchange”, to which Zachary said “Sure, I’ll hold this cobbler here while you go look, and either way, just come back here and I’ll get you taken care of.”
We made it to the bakery, and spoke with a girl named Holly. She regrettably informed us that they didn’t have any more cobblers. Without even having to ask, she excused herself to go see if they would be making any more, as she knew the festival was supposed to go through Wednesday. She came back and told us “I’m sorry, our manger here at the bakery is gone for the day, and I’m not even sure if we have the ingredients. Let me give you his card, along with the name of our other manger, and you can call one of them in the morning to ask if we might be making more.” She apologized again for the inconvenience, and handed us the card.
We walked back to the front, told Zachary they were out, to which he simply said “Okay, well, I’ll just refund you the amount. How would like the amount refunded?” I thought to myself, I have options? You’re not gonna force me to put it back on my card or get a CM gift card? You’re letting me choose? Shouldn’t there be some kind of 20 question process I have to go through, or long form to fill out?
Nope. I just told him I’d like it back on my card, and that was that. It took all of two minutes.
Now, I could have just stopped there, and been completely happy. But, I figured I’d give it a shot and just see if there was a chance we might still be able to get our hands on a cobbler.
Tuesday morning, I called the number on the card, and asked for Murray. The operator at the store put me through to the bakery, after which Murray answered. I told our story for a 3rd time, and he said, “Just one second, let me go check and make sure that we have the ingredients.” He came back, told me they did, and asked how many cobblers I would like. “Well, just one, if that’s okay.” “Sure. We should be able to have it ready for you later this afternoon, or tomorrow morning at the latest. Let me take down your phone number and we’ll call you once it’s ready.” Again, I was taken aback at how easy that was, and even more so, that a store would even do that for one lone customer who’s after a $7 dessert.
Fast forward to 12:30 that day. I get a phone call from Murray himself, telling me that the cobbler was ready, and that I could come by and pick it up whenever it was convenient for me. Since I was already on lunch, I went ahead and headed up to CM, walked back to the bakery, and asked for Murray. He came out, I told him who I was, he shook my hand, and told me he was sorry again for what had happened to us. We discussed what might have caused it to mold so quickly, and what we could do to prevent it this time around. He boxed up the cobbler, and proceeded to print out a label for it so that I could pay.
But wait.
He wrote something on the label, which I presumed was a code or something for the cashier to know how to ring it up; but instead, he wrote “No charge” on the label and initialed it. He came out from behind the counter, handed it to me, and said “I’ll go ahead and just not charge you for this one, so you’re all set.” I shook his hand one more time, thanked him, and walked away, stunned, yet again.
DId that just happen? Did I just get a Hatch Pepper Apple Cobbler baked specifically for me, after only talking to the store earlier in the morning? And did the man just give it to me for free for my supposed “troubles”?
Look, maybe this kind of thing happens all the time, maybe it’s happened to you. The point is, I really just expected to get my money back, if that. I mean, technically the fact that the cobbler molded was partly Wendy and I’s fault for not immediately refrigerating it.
However, Central Market took it upon themselves to see that I was taken care of, and in the process, cemented the fact in my mind that I know that I can go into any one of their stores and be treated like a human being, not just another sales figure, not just The Faceless Customer, but, someone who enjoys food just as much as they do.
Consider me a happy customer, and one that won’t hesitate to tell my story to anyone else who will listen (heck, I’m writing this book of a post aren’t I?).
Thanks Central Market.
To all of those who say you just can’t get good service any more, I say: “While it may be hard to find just anywhere, I know for sure where to find it from now on.”
And no, you may not have any of my delicious Hatch Apple Cobbler.
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Wow, that is pretty crazy. Way to go Central Market. You see this sort of customer service with very small businesses most of the time because that’s the only way they can survive. When I worked at a small town bakery, I would sit and talk to people about bread, doughnuts or sandwiches forever. I would give out free food here and there when people were upset. It made them happy and they came back and told their friends. The fact that a large corporation is using this same tactic is just smart. I mean, you wrote a blog post about them. That could, potentially, be worth far more than your Hatch Pepper Cobbler. I have to say, I’m intrigued by this “Hatch Pepper”.
As a past employee of HEB (the parent company), I can say it totally is something we used to do all the time. But it shocks me too sometimes. I work down the street from the Southlake CM and go there often. They are so helpful, I love them. I have 2 stories to add to your awesomenss:
1. I had checked out and had a bunch of stuff, but of the random not-terribly-expensive-or-gourmet variety. Of which was one bottle, of probably the cheapest wine they had. I take it to the car and as I’m putting it in, it falls out of the bag and shatters. as I’m slamming my head into the card door for being dumb and not putting it on the floorboard, a cart guy comes up and asks me if he can help. I figure with the broken glass. He picks up the wine bottle bits, finds the label, walks me back into the store, tells the customer service dude that my bottle fell out of the bag, he goes back to the wine section, gets my bottle, wraps it, hands it to me, all while I’m standing in customer service with my mouth agape. No new receipt, no nothing. a cart guy. in the middle of summer. no.words.
2. first, you gotta try their spicy buffalo brats, to die for. I go in, always look for it, and they’re out or haven’t made any. I finally asked one of the guys. He goes and checks, comes back and tells me they haven’t made any all week. Hands me a card with the managers name, tells me to call the morning of my next planned visit or the night before, they’d make me as much as I want and set it asside. I forgot to call, but I have no doubt they’d do it.
I. Love. C.M. they are da bomb.