The Best Customer Service That I’ve Ever Received In My Entire Life

 

 

 

From: A. Hightower

Date: Wed, Oct 28, 2020 at 12:15 PM
Subject: THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT I’VE EVER RECEIVED I MY ENTIRE LIFE
To: @waterfrontpartnership.org

Hi, my name is Adam Hightower and on October 20, around 3:30 pm my wife and I were sitting on a bench at the Baltimore Inner Harbor, we had been in the city for a week already and it was a very trying experience until we saw a young lady in a lime green shirt coming down the pier in front of the candy store.  This young lady caught our eye because she seemed larger than life in her mannerisms.  We watched as she spoke to every single person she saw. This was a sight that i hadn’t seen since my childhood in Alabama She not only spoke to every single person, she waved to them, runners, walkers, bikers, she stopped people with dogs and gave treats to the dogs and engaged the pups; we watched as the owners smiled and talked to her, they seemed genuinely happy to see her. She spoke to the homeless people on the other benches, to moms with strollers and little ones in tow,  she took family photos of couples, groups, friends, singles, grandparents with their grandchildren, and she set up the background landscape for a more memorable experience. My wife; who absolutely hates to take pictures, said that if she came over to us to take a picture she would be out of luck. At that point I wondered if she would stop to talk to us. We sat calmly waiting our turn, hoping that she wouldn’t pass us by and as sure as it rains, she caught our eyes with a smile that was so affixed on her face that you just knew that she was born with it. She introduced herself, “Good afternoon my name is Victory”! My wife responded with an instant,” Of course it  is”! They both laughed and Victory talked about the company and what your objective is for the Waterfront and the services you provide to both visitors and residents on the waterfront. She gave us detailed information about dining, shopping, and places to go and do along the waterfront. She gave us a map for planning our next few days and for future returns to the Inner Harbor and a card, I thought, “this is extraordinary customer service”.

Then just as predicted the subject came up about taking a picture and my wife who didn’t even want to take wedding pictures adamantly refused to take a picture at all. But something happened that we never saw coming, Victory asked us if we had children and my wife said,  “yes a girl 11  Lilly and a boy 9 AJ, but what does that have to do with me taking a picture?” Victory then asked if we wanted Lilly and AJ to make us grandparents,  to be great- grandparents and so on. We both said. ” yes of course we do’. Victory went on to say that pictures are not only for those who are here with us, they are also for those who we will never meet or touch. For the generations who will never know us, but will have our pictures to remember us by that match the stories and the love that is passed down through the generations should also be the reason we take pictures. My beautiful wife of 19 years sat staring into Victory’s ocean sized smile with watered eyes and softly said, ” I never thought of it that way” . She then slid her phone out of her pocketbook and handed it to Victory as I sat dumbfounded in disbelief, my wife laid her head on my shoulder, took my hand in hers and smiled while Victory took the picture. of us sitting on the bench. She took a picture of my wife in front of the National Aquarium as the background,  in front of the amazing waterfront, in front of the World Trade Center, at the edge of the dock, in different poses, and then the two of us in front of the Constellation hugging, in a loving embrace,  my wife couldn’t stop smiling. I, on the other hand, was in complete shock.

There were countless times in our lives when my wife would refuse a picture and others couldn’t convince her to take even one picture,  Yet in under what was no more than ten minutes Victory took more pictures of my wife then she (my wife) had taken in her whole life. More than that, my wife loved the pictures and I was lost for words. This stranger reached deep into my wife’s soul and pulled out a part of her that  even I had never seen before. How? Why did she even care? Who is she? WTF!!!? in ten minutes Victory changed our lives forever, our generations forever, our family albums forever, WTF!!! I wonder how many other people’s lives she changes so effortlessly on a daily basis? How many stories of Baltimore that now include Victory and Waterfront Partnership?

The next morning I took a picture of my beautiful wife standing in front of the hotel window overlooking the Harbor (at her request) and all I could say was, “Thank you Victory!”  What’s really mind blowing is we never told Vicory why we were really in the city, we only said that we were there for the sights. Linda’s mother was in hospice care suffering from cancer and had only a matter of days to live. Sadly my mother-in-law quietly passed away in her sleep on the 24h.

As we were preparing for Linda’s mother’s service my wife took out the family album to get a picture of her mother for the program when she suddenly burst into tears uncontrollably. She kept saying repeatedly, “she is right, she is right, all we have left are the stories, our love, and our pictures. Why did we not take a picture with Victory? why? ”  I calmly replied, ” we will take a special trip back to Baltimore, not for the sights,not for the room service, not for the crab cakes, but just to take a picture with Victory!”  I want to tell the story of Victory, her smile, her wisdom, her kindness, and her profound effect on our family’s lives and I need her incredible smile that goes with her story.”  Your company has in its possession a priceless diamond and you don’t  even know it.  WOW! So sad. She is a life changer indeed, a giver of priceless gifts, and a hell of a saleswoman. If people really do have a superpower than Victory’s is truly her kind smile, her magnanimous heart, her intelligence,insight  and genuwine love for others indeed makes her a super hero!  Thank you Waterfront Partnership Of Baltimore  for having the good sense to employ such incredible people like Victory!

 

—

Matt Kujava

General Manager of Operations

Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore

701 E Pratt St, Baltimore, MD