Shopping for Service

I went to McDonald's today and ordered a large unsweet tea.  It's only $1 and pretty good.  I know, I know I should just make my own - as it is much cheaper.  But sometimes I just can't help it.  I love those Styrofoam cups.  Anyway I went through the drive through and got my tea.  As I was going down the road, I took a drink and it was terrible.  It wasn't even drinkable.  So as I got close to the camper I stopped by the McDonald's that I usually get my tea from and went in to see if they could just put some of their tea in my cup since this one was so bad.  It was about 2:30 in the afternoon so not very busy.  There were at least 10 people "working" up front.  One older couple was in front of me and the older lady ordered a Big Mac.  The worker said do you want a meal and the older lady said no she just wanted the sandwich and the senior drink.   Then I heard the worker say do you want a small, med or large and the lady said small.  Then while 9 people stood around and "worked", the older lady walked off with her big mac and drink cup and then this one lady yelled after her to come get her fries.  The old lady said I didn't order fries and the worker lady said yes you did it's on the screen.  The worker lady who hadn't even taken the order sat there and argued with the older lady.  Meanwhile, I was standing by the register waiting to be helped and there were the other 9 workers standing around talking .  The worker finally just threw out the fries, but didn't offer to give the lady her money back.  A few minutes later someone came over and said can I help you.  I told them the story of the bad tea and she said just a minute and the manager yelled from across from the room and said that they were a different franchise and had nothing to do with them.  Then she yelled at the worker to just give it to me, but then she ended up getting it herself.  I was very polite when she rudely handed me the tea and said most of the unsweet tea tastes bad.  I replied that I order almost every day from their drive through and the tea was always good here.  I did at that point get a little smile.  But did look down in my tea and notice she didn't put ice in it.

All this to say that service varies so much at different places.  If you go to a Chic-fil-A - you will always get quality service and anything you ask for they always say "My Pleasure" (Even the teenagers).  You go to McDonalds and you get people simply doing their job with no training and how to treat the customer.

On to the grocery store - My favorite is  Publix - extremely service oriented.  Very friendly and take the groceries out to the car and they seem to enjoy doing it.  Cookies  and balloons for the kids and coloring books if you ask.  I used to never shop here due to their prices being a bit higher, but now that I have started couponing (and yes, I use couponing as a verb)  I have learned that they can actually be cheaper than Wal-Mart.

So my summary is that McDonald's service is similar to Wal-Mart.  And the top customer service places are Chic-fil-A and Publix.

So I ask, Is it worth it to pay a little extra or go a little farther to go to a place that has great customer service?  Sometimes, yes, but I will still hit Wal-mart for a few things and will still get the $1 tea at McDonalds.  But most of the time I will choose Chic-fil-A (plus their food is much better) and I do most of my grocery shopping at Publix - with coupons of course.