In search of wi-fi in Lichfield and ... service

It's funny how things snowball sometimes ... a search for a good wi-fi connection in Lichfield led to a great service experience...

The car went into the garage for a few hours and I needed somewhere to work from that had a good connection to the Internet and .. ideally ... also a good phone signal ( something that can be a bit of a rarity in Lichfield ) .. oh and in a perfect world  a power socket aswell !!!

I walked to Tesco's and went up to the Costa Coffee - I am a big fan of Costa's - the coffee and blueberry muffin were great but the wi-fi was atrocious ( there was a power socket though ).

I wandered into town and tried the Costa there .. obviously the coffee was fine .. power ?? check ! phone signal ? ish ! Wi-Fi ? errr. no - not really ... ohh! but wait ... what was this O2 signal that blasted through the window of Costa ???? O2 from Debenhams ???

Debenhams Lichfield was opened in May 2013  I discovered later - one of those things where you cannot believe how time has flown - I still remember the building being T.J. Hughes and it being refurbished for Debenhams.

I didn't know if it had a cafe but thought it was worth a try so wondered over to see a sign saying Cafe and " Free Wi-Fi " - sounded promising!! Up to the 2nd floor then.

As an aside " service " is very much on my mind at the moment as my son-in-law has a new " troubleshooting " role with an up and coming supermarket chain and we talk about service and standards in retail a lot. ( Back in the day I was in the retail sector myself whilst still at school and then my first job when I left ).

The Debenhams' Cafe looked fabulous - clean white's, cream's and grey's and sparkling to boot. 

I was pretty sure that the wi-fi signal was going to be good .... if the strength of it across the mall was anything to go by !!! What about power though ?? I sat down and then asked someone next door to me if there were other power sockets ??

That's when service went up to new levels !!! " Not sure " was the reply  " but we can move and you can have this one if you like ?? " .  Well ... that was an offer that was well received and could not be refused :-) 

Cut a long story short and I have had an amazing wi-fi connection, power, phone signal and more great service since I sat down.

The place is " buzzing " and the staff are absolutely wonderful .. led by the completely obvious and in control manager ( who I recognised from another favourite restaurant in the Lichfield area ).

One of the gentlemen turned out to be a visiting " Operations " Manager and you just had that feeling that these two guys were working together closely to improve further the quite obviously high standards of this Cafe ( Restaurant ?? ).

Was it a coincidence that I said hello to one of the most networked ladies in Lichfield that I know whilst in Debenhams Cafe ??? I think not !!!

Ultimate service is about combining many things these days .. technical capabilities  and unseen smooth operations with personal service and a friendly manner.

This place had it all ... oh and they obviously love babies here ...