The Kimpton chain of hotels has excellent, friendly service across the board.

Trader Joe's, definitely.

Well I'm a fan of Kroger's stores. In your neck of the woods they are Ralph's. I have as yet to walk onto one of their stores and have anyone from a checkout person or a stock person not help me out on anything I've asked.

If they don't know off hand they are not shy about passing me up the chain.

They have actual butchers on staff. I have as yet too see a bruised veggie.

I also use the self-checkout lanes a lot of times. They had one clerk that was always slow about approving the alcohol purchases. She's nice enough but not a techy at her age. I mentioned the issue to a manager, and she has been moved of the self-checkout line.

"Take a moment to dash off a note about how you appreciate this to the corporate office. And then try to reward companies like this with your business."

I used to work for a Four Letter Computer Corporation in Texas, doing enterprise technical support.

One of my managers would take time out during our staff meetings and actually read, out loud, the commendation letters our group got from customers. It was a small thing, but it meant a lot to me, and I'm pretty sure it meant a lot to the other guys there.

So, yes, preach it, Ms. Alkon.

Our butcher shop will always find (cut) whatever we want. They'll hold back a half salmon, or cut a new tenderloin so I can have a filet that hasn't been touched by bacon.

We use letters and e-mails our customers send to recognize and reward customer service in our company (small bank). Our annual service breakfast is a honking big deal, so our employees appreciate them being sent in.

An Ottawa, Ontario bus driver actually contacted the bus ahead of us, so that I could transfer to it.
I was shocked. In Montreal, most of the bus drivers are surly and some refuse to speak english.

Chik-Fil-A employees and managers are always extra nice, polite, and helpful. I've experienced them coming from behind the counter to help me with my disabled mom without being asked, they just see us struggling and jump up to help.

Swanson Vitamin (online). I've only needed one exchange in over ten years, easy. Recently they retroactively gave me a discount for a sale that started after I made the purchase but before they shipped it.

Insite Firearms (eastern PA). Family owned. Practical, low key, impeccable.

WhF. Great at leading me to whatever gluten free item is eluding me.

I really wish there were more comments on this one, and that I had one to add.

Staples, sadly, used to be like this. Maybe their employees are nice, but they have "easy" rebates that, in my experience, are filled with gotchas designed to screw the customer out of the promised rebate.

I tried them again recently because their paper was so cheap with the rebate. Big mistake.

I bought the paper online. Filled out the rebate form online very carefully. It was denied for a lack of information. They needed the UPC code to give me the rebate. From the bottom of the box, which I had yet to be shipped. And do you think there was a space where they ASK you for that UPC code? Nope. No place to put that in; they never asked for it.

Stupid me for trying Staples again.

That's too bad about Staples.
Their local store had a password hint on all their desktops and laptops that consisted of the phrase, "paper".
Yep, "Hammermill".
I'm not vindictive. I just installed a couple of updates to see how they worked.

That's too bad about Staples.
Their local store had a password hint on all their desktops and laptops that consisted of the phrase, "paper".
Yep, "Hammermill".
I'm not vindictive. I just installed a couple of updates to see how they worked.

Last Staples visit (circa 2011), the "rebate" was in the form of a one-shot Visa card, meaning they could track my usage of the money I was supposedly saving. Never been back.

United Marketstreet supermarkets are not yet national, but have fantastic service and good food.

When my boys were toddlers, shopping was a nightmare, but they were always so helpful and willing to overlook my boys mishaps even when I tried to correct them. For example, they refused to let me purchase a milk carton that my son had dented and insisted on getting a ladder to retrieve my other son's balloon. I must admit that I had some mixed feelings because I had warned them both about damaging things and they didn't have to suffer the consequences of their actions, but they were truly nice about it. I didn't feel as though they were just following policy through gritted smiles.

Bed Bath and Beyond.

I find the place overwhelming, but the staff people are always helpful - from knowing exactly what aisle to look in for whatever, to knowing how to apply every coupon for maximum savings. And the coupons never expire.

Store signage highlights which products are made nearby, or elsewhere in the U.S.

Last time I shopped there, the cashier gave me his personal feedback on the baking sheets I was buying. I do feel better knowing the employees use the products and can freely comment on them.

Last two - fast food places -

Roti. They make a point of hiring friendly, helpful people with solid interpersonal skills. I was still happily surprised to see a Roti employee walk someone outside of the store to point out for her the McDonald's at which this woman was supposed to meet someone. They offer gluten free options and handle he food prep in a way that inspires confidence - the designated gf panini grill is in plain view, the change their gloves in plain view - they make it their job to get it right. Seems like a small thing, but there's a *salad* chain that gets it wrong every time at any location - too many people in their assembly line and poor communication.

Five Guys. Friendly, low turnover, trustworthy (had to go back once to pick up something I had forgotten and left behind), great food prep practices, cheap prices/ good value. Ordering food there is easy, partly because the menu is so simple but also because the employees know what they're doing, understand the concept of what I'm asking for (food that hasn't been cross contaminated), and have simple methods for delivering it (burger with all the fixings, in a foil bowl). The free peanuts are a similarly brilliant solution to preventing hangry impatient customers. A well thought out business.

One more - because this woman was awesome.

New city, new job, end of a long first day, I walk across the street to the only place open - Dress Barn.

The sales woman sees the pained look on my face and says, "You need new shoes."

I slipped a thank you note between the doors the next morning.

Amy, I'm with you on that rebate scam thing. I've been burnt too many times.

But, I still shop at Staples when I need office supplies because, surprise, they are sometimes cheaper than the Wal-Mart near me.

I just don't consider the rebate when considering which place is cheaper.

One thing that I do NOT do at Staples anymore is photocopying. I used to go there all the time for that. Then a few years back they changed it so that you had to put money on a "copy card." Of course, you end up with extra money left on the card which doesn't quite match the amount needed and so you have to put more on the card next time (if you remember that you still have it).

My photocopying is now done at my local library.

Now, there's a place where the staff is very helpful and friendly - my local library! I cannot praise them enough.

I've only ever had really great customer service believe it or not, with our provincial government. After a paper snafu, my benefits got cut off and I was audited. Not only did our MPP's office help immensely with the audit, his assistant was able to get me over $10,000 in owed tax refunds.

I never thought I'd say something nice about the government.

Amy, glad you got the boots you like so much, but you had said you bought them lightly used. While a cash saver, used footwear can cause back and foot pain because the soles have already formed to someone else's arches.

:D

I agree about Bed Bath & Beyond. This past Christmas I was looking for something very popular that they had in their ad. My local store was out but the manager called around to other stores and found one a couple of towns away. Then he had it shipped to my house free of charge.

Also, Kohl's Department Store. They had sheets on sale, but I didn't like any of the colors in the size I needed. Without being asked, a person who was stocking the shelves nearby heard me comment on this and went to their stockroom to bring an entire cart full of all their queen size sets on sale so I could choose from there. When I said something to their manager, she said she wasn't surprised that her employee went above and beyond. "It's what we do."

The local Giant (grocery store chain) has a kids' "cookie club" where they show their membership card and get a cookie. This isn't good for blood sugar, but it IS free and it DOES make shopping with small children much easier on THOSE days.

I was at a FedEx-Office (formerly FedEx-Kinkos) and had a large order. Somehow, over the several weeks of getting the project set up, the price jumped several hundred dollars. They checked and couldn't find any error so we all assumed it was a new-month price change. When I got my receipt, I saw an extra set of prints included (the right number, like we had added a bunch of pages to the booklet we were making). The guy couldn't figure out where they had come from, they weren't in the order, so he refunded that amount - without making me wait to find the error in the computer system. It was about $300 (small price times MANY copies).

The children's hospital radiology center here has done great with my kids. We've had some unpleasant tests and my kids have walked away fairly happy (proud owners of many new toy cars or large stuffed animals.

Yes, I quickly dash off a note, or often speak to a manager to tell them of great service. Although a note goes into the system more easily, remembering to write one after being out with 3 kids, I have found to be challenging.