The Top 5 Viral Moments In Customer Service In 2020

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2020—the year that launched a million memes. 

For all the turmoil and uncertainty of this year, there has also been good. Every day, companies and employees go out of their way to make life a little better for their customers. And some of those shining examples of customer service go viral to spread positivity. 

Here are five viral positive moments in customer service from 2020: 

1 . FedEx Driver Saves Couple’s Wedding

When COVID-19 cancelled Savannah and Dylan’s dream wedding in Hawaii, the couple changed to a small ceremony on the North Carolina coast. The only problem was that their vendors weren’t operating at full capacity, which meant Dylan’s ring had to be overnighted to make it to the ceremony on time. The couple left a note at the address for the FedEx driver, Joe, telling him he had the ring, and then headed down to the beach for the ceremony. When Joe saw the note and realized what was in the package, he didn’t just leave it on the doorstep—he quickly ran to the beach and handed over the package just in time. Joe’s surprise ring bearer entrance saved the wedding and was picked up by major news outlets, including Good Morning America. 

2 . Fred Meyer Employees Deliver Flowers For Valentine’s Day

After two U.S. Army deployments and a new baby, all Randy wanted to do for Valentine’s Day was be with his wife, son and baby. But his work at the military base in Fairbanks, Alaska kept him more than five hours away from his family in Palmer. Instead, Randy called the Palmer Fred Meyer to see if the store could deliver flowers to his wife at home just around the corner. The store doesn’t deliver flowers, but after hearing Randy’s story, three Fred Meyer employees not only paid for the flowers, but made a custom arrangement and delivered them to Randy’s wife Dana. The story gained news attention all over Alaska. 

3 . Arcade Owner Moves Pinball Game Outside For Customer

Kenny has been playing pinball for decades, including weekly tournaments at Tokens Taproom in New Hampshire. Tokens was closed for months due to COVID-19, and even after it opened, Kenny was reluctant to return and put himself at risk due to an existing heart condition. Instead, Tokens owner Josh moved the pinball game outside so Kenny could play in the fresh air while still seeing friends and getting his pinball fix. A photo of Kenny playing pinball outside the arcade went viral on Facebook and Reddit and showed the lengths Tokens will go to support its customers. 

4 . Chick-fil-A Employees Helps Family Shelter From Storm

Just after going through the Chick-fil-A drive-thru in Guntersville, Alabama, Lauren and her sons got stuck in a massive storm. The winds, rain and lightning came out of nowhere and rocked the car as the family sat inside, terrified. Two Chick-fil-A employees ran outside to the car and helped the family to shelter inside the restaurant. The employees gave the family towels to dry off from their quick run inside and even covered the cost of their meals and ice cream. Lauren wrote about her experience on Facebook, and the post has been shared more than 13,000 times. 

5 . Grocery Store Employee Pays For Child’s Order

A grocery store clerk at Asda in Lincoln, England went viral after making up the difference in a little girl’s order. Seven-year-old Angel earned $2 from doing chores and went to the store to buy treats. But as the employee, Alex, was checking out the order, it was clear Angel didn’t have enough money for everything she wanted. Alex didn’t have the heart to tell Angel she was short, so he made up the difference of about $1.30 out of his own pocket. Angel’s parents realized what happened when they saw the note on the receipt saying Alex had paid the difference. Angel’s mom posted the receipt on social media, and it quickly went viral. Angel soon went back to repay Alex for the treats. 

Great customer service doesn’t stop because of a pandemic. With all the chaos in the world today, we need strong customer service more than ever before.

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Article first published on forbes.com.

Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future. 

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