Credit Where It's Due

I've not hesitated to be critical of indifferent attitudes displayed by those who provide service in Barbados, so let me at least acknowledge a few instances from the weekend of what should be the norm.

At the weekend, I needed to put gasoline in my car, and did that after I had run my morning errands on Saturday. I paid by debit card and took my card and receipt back after I had entered all the authorizing digits into the hand-held card reader. I do not use the card often, so did not really notice anything wrong. Then I got a call this morning from the bank to say that my debit card was at the gas station, and that the pump attendant had given me back another card by mistake. I was given the name of the attendant and her phone number. I called her and she apologized for her mistake but told me that my card was there to be retrieved. As it was partly my fault for not really checking carefully, I thanked her and apologized too. I went to collect my card, which was sitting in a jar awaiting my return. All's well that ends well, but a thanks to all the staff at Shell (Banyan), near the Yacht Club.

I noticed at the weekend that my LIME modem was not working and its power light was red. I tried another plug but no change. I called LIME's help desk and after a little run around as someone attempted to transfer me, I got an agent who told me to take the modem to Windsor Lodge to be checked. I did that this morning. The first thing that I noted was that when the security officer saw me with my modem, he asked what I needed done to it. I explained and he redirected me to the main building: things have changed so the security officer is now the first point of contact. As soon, as I entered, I was redirected by another security officer to the area/person who would deal with modems; I was told that I did not need to pull a ticket. As soon as I explained to the agent the problem I had with the modem, he replied "Power cord". He plugged in the modem, and all lights glowed green. "There, you go." He waited a few minutes to ensure that nothing else changed, and said "Come back with it, if you have another problem." I went home, and reconnected everything as before and Internet service was resumed.

Finally, I called B's Bottles for another pick up from my house. I was redirected once my call was answered. I gave my name, and got the response that showed that my address was known. "The truck will come tomorrow", I was told. I asked "Do you want to confirm the address?" I was told no, and that it was in the system. Now, I had had a long chat recently with B's owner, Paul Bynoe, about some slip ups on previous occasions and that he needed to get some better coordination in the various operations. I'll see if the improvements have filtered down to the truck operatives.

There's a lot that goes into feeling that service has been good and I met many of the right elements today. One swallow does not make for Spring, and I wont presume that all is right in the service delivery world, but someone is getting the message.