r+d

Home Depot did something for a customer that may help renew your faith in big box managers.There was an early run on snow blowers back in October in the Northeast because of the Halloween snowstorm, so when customer Matt went to get one from Home Depot, he was told that all its stores within 50 miles have been sold out for a month, reports Chris Morran at The Consumerist.
Nobody knew when more would arrive, so Matt sent a note to the Home Depot HQ, and his local store's manager called him.

The manager went out of his way to locate the model Matt wanted, and found one in a store about four hours away. He said it would take a week for delivery. But the snow blower was available for Matt to pick up the next day. How'd Home Depot get it shipped so incredibly fast? The manager sent out a pair of his workers to pick it up personally and bring it back -- an eight-hour trip. Wow.
Here's what Matt had to say about the experience: "I was already pretty devoted Home Depot customer but this guy just made me a loyal customer for life. It's nice to know this level of customer service does still exist."

Now, could Home Depot do something like this for every single customer that comes along with a need?When the manager took it upon himself to find his customer that snow blower, and ordered it, he had already made an impact. How much investment did that take? A few minutes of his time, plus the cost of shipping. Getting the snow blower driven in by his employees was going far above and beyond the call, and wouldn't be possible to do for every situation. But just taking that initial step to help the customer (in Matt's case, answering him in the first place and calling around to find the closest snow blower) is something that isn't seen enough from big retailers.