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Our sister ministry, Under the Radar, recently ordered some Chick-fil-A catering for a concert here in our office.  Oddly, we found ourselves in the middle of a rare Chick-fil-A flub.  Something didn’t feel right when the chicken-serving, service-oriented restaurant was more than a half hour late delivering the food.  We found ourselves in a bizarre, unfamiliar place of shaking our fists and cursing Chick-fil-A for denying us fried chicken goodness.

When the food mercifully arrived, we asked the delivery person how much we owed.  She said, “Nothing.  We made a mistake and it’s on us.” Without having to ask or even complaining, we were just given the food.  And believe it or not, Chick-fil-A actually tastes better when it’s free. 

Once again, I find Chick-fil-A as an excellent example of how to do customer service right.  While most of us aren’t in the fast food business, here are a few things I think are worth noting about that delivery person’s simple statement.

• They admitted they were wrong.  There was no blame game.  No excuses.  They did the right—and biblical thing—of taking ownership of their actions.
• We didn’t have to ask for anything.  The compensation was just offered.  We didn’t have to complain or get nasty.  The awkwardness of a potentially uncomfortable conversation was erased. 
• The response exceeded our expectations.  Before the delivery person arrived, our staff joked that adequate compensation for the mistake was 10 coupons for free sandwiches.  Instead, everything—an order including dozens of sandwiches—was free.
• Chick-fil-A’s actions showed this sort of thing doesn’t always happen.  If you’re a restaurant, you can’t often give away a couple hundred dollars worth of food.  Doing so in this situation made a statement: This happens so rarely we’re willing to take a loss.
• We left a bad situation feeling good.  Yes, it started as a bad dealing with a business but their handling of the situation left me still feeling good about Chick-fil-A.  There are plenty of businesses I’ve stopped frequenting due to bad customer service. 

When your church is faced with controversy or makes a mistake, do you admit it…or hide it?  Do you get out in front of it or ignore it?  Does your congregation feel served beyond their expectations?  Even in bad times, do they still feel good about the church they’re going to because of the way the situation is handled? 

Transparency may be a buzz word, but being truthful and sincere in a serving way never goes out of style.