A few
weekends ago was the New York City Wine and Food Festival. Two summers ago I
interned for the non-profit company to help plan and execute their 4-day event.
I left the internship two summers ago with great relationships, and this year
my previous boss reached out to me to see if I would like to help out at the
festival this year. I was eager and excited to accept my position as a
volunteer. The festival lasted Thursday-Sunday, but due to classes I was
only able to attend Friday and Saturday. Morning meetings were held every
morning before each day's events where everyone was assigned their designated
work positions. My job was to assist with guest check-in where I would
also provide guests with the proper instructions on what their festival badge
entails along with the option to upgrade their package.
The
festival is a non-profit organization that supports the NYC food
bank. Packages ranged anywhere from 500 dollars to as much as 2000
dollars. The festival stresses quality customer service for many reasons.
Customers are paying a lot of money to attend and enjoy the festival while also
supporting a good cause, and therefore expect to be satisfied with their
experience. The festival is an annual event, which is why it is also so
important that customers are satisfied so that they wish to return the next
year. At the check in desk, I made sure that I always had a smile on my face
and that I was friendly and personable to each and every guest. My interaction
with a guest at check-in was the first of many impressions that the guest would
have throughout the festival. That being said, it was so important that I
provided the best possible service to ensure that a lasting first impression
would be made.
There
was one situation that arose that day where I had to rise above and act quickly
to solve the problem. A guest was checking in with me, but their name was not
on the list. The guest got very upset and stressed about the situation, so in
response I assured her not to worry and that we would get to the bottom of this
and find her tickets. The guest had purchased the second highest package, and
even had an email confirmation to prove it. I panicked, and checked the list a
second and third time. I did not know how to handle the situation. Should I
have just given them extra tickets that we hadhttp://nycwff.org since they had an email
confirmation, even though their name was not on the guest list? I decided that
it would be best to contact my supervisor. I called her up on the phone,
explained the situation, and she then proceeded to look up the guest's
confirmation number that the email provided. There must have been a glitch in
the system, because the confirmation number was valid and proved that the
tickets were in fact purchased. My supervisor advised me to upgrade the guest's
tickets to the highest package to help make up for the wait and confusion. I
did as I was told, and also was extremely apologetic towards the guest. She was
very appreciative of the courtesy that I provided her with, and immediately
changed moods from sad and stressed to happy and excited.
At the
end of the event, that exact guest came back up to the check-in desk and pulled
me aside. She was beaming and expressed how appreciative she was for my kind
and accommodating service. She said that the ticket upgrade was unnecessary
since it was no body's fault, but extremely appreciated. We then went on to
chatting about the event, and how great of a time she had with her husband. I
was proud that I was able to turn what began as an unpleasant experience into a
positive and wonderful experience for the guest.
- Jordyn Epstein
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