Like most people, I have low expectations when calling a company’s customer service department. And when you limit this to notoriously bad industries like travel, cell phones, and healthcare, the bar is set even lower. So, I was quite shocked when I called my doctor’s office to ask about an error on my bill, and received an incredibly helpful response.

In particular, the customer service rep listened to what I had to say, acknowledged they had made a mistake, and corrected it immediately in their billing system. I didn’t have to repeat the same information three times or plead for them to do something about the issue! When prompted, the rep even gave me her name and encouraged me to ask for her personally if I ever needed help in the future. It’s amazing how few organizations act like this, but the rare example of how to do things right helps strengthen my hope that others will eventually do the same.