My mother-in-law Eleanor died last week. I’m still reflecting on what her life meant to me, and the lessons I learned about being the mother of sons from her strong example. I will write about all this in due course, but I’m not ready yet.

This week, I want to tell you about two customer service stories that were related to her death.

Story #1: The Ottawa Citizen

Last Thursday I was delegated the responsibility of writing my mother-in-law’s obituary to appear in the Globe and Mail and The Ottawa Citizen. I have some experience in this having penned the obituaries of both my mom and dad. Modesty aside, I’m pretty good at this sort of thing.  And by now I am used to writing to deadline.

Placing the obituary in the Globe and Mail was a relatively easy process. You deal with a real person who reads your copy, makes grammatical edits, and sends you the proof before going to print.

Dealing with the Ottawa Citizen (my mother-in-law lived in Ottawa) was trickier. I could not find a real person to deal with, so everything had to be done via on-line submission.

I have a lot of experience with on-line systems. I run my own WordPress site, and often enter stories for media through a “backstage”. I entered the obituary into the Ottawa Citizen’s system by cutting and pasting from my Word document. In the middle paragraph of the notice I used an “em dash”. The sentence read like this: “Eleanor was a lady—refined, vivacious and tolerant—except to those who said they were “bored”.

The next morning, I received a text from John’s cousin Carolyn (the daughter of my mother-in-law’s youngest sister): “Hi there – mom was just reading Aunt Eleanor’s obituary (very well written of course!). Just in case you haven’t seen it yet there are question marks in some really awkward places…”

I hurried on-line to find the death notice. Here is how it read: “Eleanor was a lady? refined, vivacious and tolerant? except to those who said they were “bored”.

I was mortified.

The system had a coding error that translated dashes into question marks post-submission. Honestly, I would never question whether my mother-in-law was a lady. She was a lady through and through—with an abundance of grace and nobility. (Yes, I’m using an em dash with confidence here.)

I phoned the customer service number at the Ottawa Citizen at 9 a.m. and also sent a pointed email. Then I waited and waited because the Ottawa Citizen is on Mountain Time (yup). Around noon I got a call from Chad (the Manager, National Classified Sales Centre) who was kind and sensitive, and readily offered solutions including a substantial discount. He followed up with a nice email that included the following lines:

“My condolences on your family’s loss and my apologies on the situation the online version of your notice caused. It’s a busy enough time without having to field questions on the appearance and tone of a notice that was incorrectly published online.[…] Talk soon, focus on family and again my condolences and apologies.”

Mistakes happen, especially with technology, but taking accountability with empathy can restore customer confidence.

Story #2: Fairmont Chateau Laurier

John was in Ottawa on business when he got the call late at night from his sister Lori that their mom had just passed away. He was supposed to be flying home to Toronto the next day but now was of course extending his time there (as I mentioned, John’s mom lived in Ottawa).

John usually stays at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier when he is in Ottawa, which is often. There is a Guest Service Agent, Victoria, who is always delighted to see him, and disappointed when she is not the one there to welcome him. This time she was working at reception when he went to extend his reservation.  Upon hearing the reason for staying a couple extra nights, she immediately looked heartbroken and found a way to extend John’s stay even though the hotel was already overbooked.

When John returned to his hotel room after a very sad day making arrangements for his mom, there was a large basket of cheese and fruit, and a condolence card that was signed by Victoria and about a dozen other agents. It was more than a stock condolence card. Victoria took the time to write a personalized message that included the following line: “Mothers are irreplaceable creatures full of nurturing, comfort and support. Take solace in knowing that to her, you were her greatest treasure.”

Beside the lovely basket, there was an envelope labelled “Just in Case.” Inside the envelope were two dog bones.  John had mentioned that we were considering bringing our dog Jessie to the Chateau on our next visit to Ottawa. It was a lovely whimsical touch that made John smile, and feel like he was being treated with authentic hospitality.

Victoria is not high up on the corporate Fairmont ladder, but she was a ray of sunshine on an otherwise dark day.

Photo credit: Flickr/Zhu

 

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