The irony of great customer service at Juici Patties!

In this “Time of the Corona”, and it’s a serious matter, I have decided to share something non-Corona related as the subject Coronavirus dominates everywhere and is being broadcast across all news outlets and social platforms! So today I am talking about great customer service that I received with a twist! Recently, I went into Juici Patties at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus with my 4-year old son and was taken aback by the wonderful and friendly service I received. This is not a standard consistent with Juici outlets I have been to across Jamaica (especially in Kingston) based on my own experiences!

When we receive bad customer service we often complain bitterly in Jamaica, but don’t put the same energy into talking about it when it is good! What made it so great? When they saw me come in with my little son, the reps became immediately aware of a father with a small child. It was like a “chip” just activated and all of a sudden this customer care sensitivity just started running on auto-pilot! Why is this a big deal? I find the great majority of businesses in Jamaica across all industries highly insensitive and “dumb” to persons with small children, and how critical it is to serve them quickly and have them comfortably moving along.

I was ushered to the front of the line by the cashier, with the server already locked into me asking me what I wanted before I even approached the counter. Some students must have grumbled and expressed dissatisfaction, as I heard my server say something to the effect “You don’t see daddy needs to get served” and motioned towards my little son who could just about see over the counter. They were very oblivious as most Jamaicans are when it comes to a situation like this. Kudos to Juici UWI Mona staff!

I said I wanted some email addresses to write about my experience. They showed me a general “WeCare” address on the wall and I also asked for the email of the UWI outlet. I was directed to the supervisor/manager who without any resistance, also to be commended, gave me the email address. Why should the supervisor/manager be commended? Not because she was quite friendly, but because companies in Jamaica think that this type of “general information” is TOP SECRET. It happens all the time! It even happened several days later when I was ready to send my commendation email!

So here is where the twist begins! I am now ready to send my email (several days later as I mentioned before) and I call Juici Headquarters because the UWI Mona outlet is closed due to Corona of course! This is what someone told me in any event, as the Juici UWI Mona number rang with no answer! Why did I want to call? There was one lady whom I didn’t remember her name for the commendation email to be sent, and I wanted to ensure to include her. She was the only visibly pregnant person there so it would be easy to identify her. She was also amazing! I call Juici Headquarters and a lady whom I will call by code-name “R” answers the phone.

I asked if there is anyone currently at HQ that would be familiar with the staff at UWI Mona as I am trying to write a report and include the name of a specific person (I feel the resistance starting). I said it’s a customer service matter. She quickly says she is responsible for customer service so talk to her (a touch more resistance brews). So I express that I would like the name of the only pregnant member of staff (that is easily noticeable) at the UWI Mona outlet to put in a report I would like to make (somewhat repeating what I said to her earlier) so can she help me (feeling some nice resistance now).

She asks me to hold on, puts me on hold for 12 minutes and 6 seconds, I can’t even hang up out of frustration because I was cut off, or, “the call just so happened to cut off on their end!” By this time I am smiling and laughing to myself! I was timing the call to see how long she was going to keep me waiting as my guess would have been forever! I am saying to myself only in Jamaica you can call a place about good customer service and the same company you are praising gives the opposite! Check out the picture accompanying the article and call the number to see it's correct! The irony here is super clear!!!