A couple of weeks ago, I took my daughter for breakfast at a Tim Horton’s located on Caledonia Road in Toronto. In addition to our two breakfast meals, my daughter asked if she could try their new yogurt smoothie.
After making the payment, we waited for a few minutes and the cashier handed us our order. We took our seats at the table and began to eat when my daughter took a sip of her Tim Horton’s smoothie. Although she normally devours such a beverage, I could tell that she didn’t like it because she only took a small sip, and didn’t touch it again.
Having worked in the restaurant industry, I didn’t want to throw out the smoothie due to the possibility of creating a big mess in the garbage container, so I handed it back to the cashier, and asked her to pour it down the drain instead. The Tim Horton’s cashier asked me if there was anything wrong with the smoothie, and when I told her my daughter just didn’t like it, Rather than simply taking the smoothie away, she asked if she could get my daughter something else to drink.
By asking that question, the Tim Horton’s cashier recognized there was a problem and went above and beyond the normal call of duty to ensure the guest experience was positive and that we left Tim Horton’s satisfied. Instead of simply completing the requested task of pouring the smoothie down the drain, she truly took care of us. My daughter asked for a chocolate milk which made her very happy, thus making me a happy Tim Horton’s customer.
Research shows that approximately 75% of customers who have a good experience will make repeat visits to a business. Surprisingly, when something goes wrong, but is rectified to the customer’s satisfaction, there is a 92% chance that the customer will return to the business. As such, this is a great example of service recovery because the Tim Horton’s cashier identified a problem and completely turned the experience from a negative one into an extremely positive one. Without a doubt, I will return to this Tim Horton’s location.
815 Caledonia Rd, Toronto, ON M6B 3X8
www.timhortons.com
