I’m the recent owner of an 8-month-old puppy named Zoey. If anyone has exchanged even a few sentences with me in the past few months, you already know this because I talk about her all the time. She’s the best little furry child and it’s fair to say I’m mildly obsessed with her.

In my new adventures in dog ownership I’m now interacting with companies that I haven’t in the past such as a Woof’s Play and Stay. Woof’s is where we take Zoey to be boarded when we’re out of town but also for puppy play dates twice each week to get her energy out. It’s a fairly highly regarded establishment in Kansas City complete with a webcam so that crazy people like my can “check in” on our furry children from time to time. They seemed like relatively nice people when we first met them but I’m now a customer for life.

Several weeks ago I pulled up the webcam at work to check in on Zoey and she was nowhere to be found in the play area. I checked back several more times and still there was nothing. I was fuming on my way to pick her up with thoughts like, “I pay $17 per day to take her here to play – not be kenneled up!”

So, I arrive and like most days they go to the play area and get Zoey without me needing to even say her name. Then the conversation went something like this:

  • Me: I checked in on Zoey this afternoon and she wasn’t in the play area. Can you please tell me where she was?
  • Front desk woman: Was it around 4 p.m.?
  • Me: Yes, something like that.
  • Front desk woman: Oh, I put her in the back to give her a chance to eat. She didn’t finish her lunch today and I know you typically don’t get here until about 7 p.m. to pick her up so I wanted to give her a chance to get some food before then.
  • Me: Oh my gosh I’m so sorry! No, no, no that’s perfect! Thank you! Thank you!

This woman didn’t owe me a thing. She could’ve copped the same attitude I gave to her just moments earlier, but she didn’t. She delivered a level of customer service unlike any I’ve seen. Not only did she not give me grief, but she cared enough about my dog and knew us well enough to do the right thing.

We will be Woof’s customers for life and I now strive to deliver that same level of customer service to my clients each and every day.