June 2018 by Rachel Little
My family & I do not often visit the Meijer of Lapeer because we live closer to Flint. During this week's power outages, my 68 year old mother decided to visit her friend in Lapeer to check in on her. She then went to the Meijer store, followed by the Meijer gas station. Since her visit, she has not stopped talking about how delighted she was. She tells us that even though it was windy & there were several cars in the parking lot, a young man working out in the gas station stopped what he was doing to help her with her gas. She apologized to him as she felt like a bother at first.. The young man smiled at her and told her it was no trouble at all and he was happy to help. He asked what grade of gas preferred, if she wanted to fill the tank, and really seemed happy to do it. She was amazed at how good of a mood he seemed to be in, considering how busy the store was. After he pumped the gas for her, he came back over to tell her the total. She reached for her money and realized she forgot her bottle of water at her friend's house. She asked if the young man could bring her money inside, pick her up a bottle of water, then use her money to pay for the gas and water. He did so with a smile, and made her feel like she was Meijer's only customer. He even asked if she had a preference of brand or size of the bottle. He then returned with her change, receipt, and a bottle of water for her. She then offered him a tip to show her appreciation, he politely declined and told her that he was just happy to help. The moment my mother got home she could not wait to tell us about how kind this young man was to her. She said it was a level of service only seen in in television commercials. The only thing that upsets her is the fact that she cannot remember his name. She described him as a "big guy" and remembered him having many tattoos. An exact quote from her was "At first glance I could not beleive someone with all that art could work at a store, but his customer service showed me why they hired him". That is actually the part of the story that stuck with me the most. Meijer did not discriminate and allowed someone with body modifications to work for their company, and got a quality employee in return. A lot of companies would judge a book by it's cover refuse to hire guys that look like him. My mother described the young man as a gentlemen, and someone that cared about his customers. She has needed help with her gas at other stations before, and employees at those other companies did not make her feel nearly as welcome or as important. I just wanted to applaud Meijer and this young man for going the extra mile to provide quality service to the community. My mother has never spoken so highly of an employee anywhere ever before, and hopes his commitment to his customers is recognized.
