Crossing Cultures

I was in a wedding on Dec. 20, so I went to get a manicure a few days before. I was in a huge hurry and visited the nail salon inside Wal-Mart. It is operated by Vietnamese people. After explaining what I wanted, the pampering began!

While I was there, a Hispanic woman came in and asked a question (in broken English) about one of the services offered. The Vietnamese woman answered her, in broken English. It was interesting to me, a white girl from small town America, to see these two cultures communicating. I know it happens every day, but it made me smile to see it. I am proud to live in the United States, the melting pot of the world!

Stand by your brand (not man, Tammy Wynette!)

I recently helped my mom order some holiday cards from Wal-Mart's photo center. We did everything online, and chose to have them shipped to our house. Well, they were supposed to arrive last Thursday, but never did. My anxious mother wanted to get the cards sent to family/friends, so on Tuesday I e-mailed Wal-Mart's customer service to check on the items.

(Normally I wouldn't have done this because it's the holidays and mail can simply take longer than normal. However, the tracking number given in the e-mail confirmation of the order did not work. When I contacted UPS about it, they had no record of that tracking number. I thought perhaps the order didn't go through.)

The cards arrived in the mail Tuesday. They were perfect, just late. However, Wal-Mart is providing a refund to us for the greeting cards because they took so long to arrive. Talk about satisfaction guaranteed!

Way to go, Wal-Mart, for standing by your brand. Your slogan Save Money, Live Better seems to be true. I've never been so impressed and satisified with an online purchase as I am today. Thank you.

Stand by your brand. Make sure everything you're doing (and all the people who work for you are doing) the right things. Customer service is so important, and can make or break future purchases from your customers.