Yolanda at Smart & Final was wonderful to me tonight. I had a cart full of stuff, and I got up to the checkstand and started putting things down and then realized I had left my bags in my car. Because I'm 73 and my hands hurt, I have special bags that are easier to carry from my car into the house when I get home, so it was important for me to go get them. My car was in the first handicapped space right in front of the door and I knew it would only take me a second to dash out and get them; there was only one woman behind me so I told her and the checker what happened, had her go ahead and go in front of me, and I ran out for just a few seconds, and hit my bags. But when I came back, there were five people behind her. I was stressed and didn't know what to do because I didn't want to jump the line, but 1/2 of my groceries had gone though the conveyer belt. The checker "Yolanda" saw my distress and leaned over and said to me "it's OK, I've got you, I put your things aside right here next to me and I'll just bring them to you when you get up here". I was so relieved by her kindness I was nearly in tears. When I finally got to her she was even more sweet and patient. She rang me up, bagged my groceries for me, and actually walked around her counter and put my bags into my cart for me. She had noticed that I gave her many more bags than I would need, and when I saw her begin to bag them I'd asked her to please use more of the bags to keep them light because I had a hard time lifting them. So of course (considering the caring heart that I'd already seen she had) she even put them in the cart for me.
Yolanda is the epitome of what customer service personnel should be like, but sadly that kind of friendly and helpful service is found less and less often. Smart & Final, my advice is that you should Immediately promote Jessica to training your staff. I've been a manager and have trained staff in varied areas of business, and I'd steal her from you in a second if I wasn't retired. That girl is management material and should at the very least be a training supervisor. She's one in a million. read more