My kingdom for a donut

Donuts are close to my heart. I love their roundness, the hole in the middle, all the different kinds. Most of all, I love that they cost less than $1 and they are unpretentious--not biscotti or scones or croissants...so unassuming.

Open Sesame!
So I was thrilled to find Sesame Donuts on SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy -- open 24 hours...true to their name, they've got sesame donuts, -- a crunchy saltiness that contrasts with the sweetness. Also heart-shaped for Valentine's Day, and red-green-white sprinkles for Christmas.

Don't Miss Jake
Best of all, they've got Jake. He works the night shift, making the donuts, serving people from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., when he either goes to his PSU classes or home to sleep until noon. He likes his job, he really likes eating donuts--either a maple bar, his favorite, or a handful of donut holes (15 for $1). He's friendly no matter how early in the a.m., and he'll take the time to get you fresh-baked old-fashioned out of the back, or just wait while you choose from the usual donut line-up...no eye-rolling, sighing or tapping of feet while you choose between chocolate frosted sprinkles, marble bars, twist sticks, toasted coconut, pumpkin spice....or just a bag of donut holes...

That VooDoo That You Do
A sidebar on Voodoo Donuts -- okay, I was curious to go there when I first read about it -- despite the fact that they've been featured on The Tonight Show, Good Morning American, Wall St. Journal, New York Times, Food Network, etc. etc.---a sure sign that a place has gone from too cool to yawn...I figured it was still a Must on the Must-See in Portland list (like Montage, but more about that another time...) Their Voodoo Wedding services ($25 for an intentional commitment, $175 for the real thing) are pretty clever....but...here's the kicker...
Their donuts aren't anything special--and definitely not as good as Sesame Donuts AND
The folks behind the counter were snotty...yes, I know that if you work in such a hyper-hip place, your attitude should say "I'm really much more than a person serving donuts," but it kinda soured me on the donuts -- good thing, too, because they were super-sweet, and I didn't even try the ones with Lucky Charms on top...

So, I'm sticking to Sesame Donuts -- and Jake...

when it's good, it's really good. And when it's bad, it sucks!

Really good customer service is hard to define. Is it just doing a job well? Is it the friendliness with which it's delivered? When is friendly too friendly? (The "beverage consultant" who comes to your table to serve you water, and keeps refilling your glasses every 30 seconds, interrupting your conversation...)

But bad customer service -- well, you know it when you get it!

Last Sunday I stopped in Central Baking Company (Multnomah Village). I waited (and waited) behind the counter--I was the only customer--for someone to help me. No problem, I wasn't in a rush. A woman came over. No smile. Yes, what did I want? A few pastries and a loaf of sourdough, please. It was only my second time in the store, so I asked which bread has the most sourdough; I like my bread sour. She shrugged, turned away and looked out the window. Bored voice, well, we've got the rye, it's got some sourdough and....meanwhile, what gives? I mean, I'm probably going to spend $10 or so, don't I get a smile, too? Or at least someone who acts as if she works for a store/company/manager who is grateful for the customers! There are LOTS of places to buy bread in Portland, after all.

Maybe she's having a bad day, I think. But, no, she doesn't seem harried, upset, frazzled or distressed, just....indifferent. I collect my things, leave and decide not to go back ever again.

I probably sound picky-picky, but it irks me to give my money to a business that thinks they're doing ME a favor...and that happens a lot more than you would think.

When I moved to Portland, I looked for a storage unit that didn't cost a lot...I called a bunch of places and quickly found out that storage units--like most everything else--are being bought up and managed by big companies...they not only wanted twice what I paid in Ashland (not the cheapest spot on earth), but I had to pay something up front. It was either a $25 move-in fee, a clean-up fee, a deposit. And I'd have to fill out forms and promise not to hold wild naked lady parties or move a meth lab into the unit...it was all impersonal with a heavy feeling that I was up to no good...

I kept calling, moving farther and farther out from Portland, until I ended up down south in Wilsonville at Sherlock Self-Storage. The minute I talked to Riley on the phone, I knew I had found my kind of place. Yes, he had a unit available. Yes, my son could stop there on the way to Ashland and reserve it for me. And yes, he'd take a check. When I went there myself a week later, I found that Riley had charged me from the first of the next month, even though I had taken the unit 10 days early. It wasn't that he was desperate for customers--he was almost full, in fact. He's just a really sweet guy who genuinely likes people and likes to do good things. We talked a bit; he's in his late 70s, just remarried after caring for his first wife, who died of cancer.

But, it's more than just being a nice guy. Riley understands good customer service. He doesn't have an MBA (at least I don't think he does). He hasn't read manuals on being #1. He's got a computer in his office, but he meets your eyes when you come in and talks to you, tells you stories if you want to listen.

When I think of the kinds of places I want to do business, it's places where people genuinely like people. They want to give you good service. That's more than just doing the job right and giving the customer what s/he wants. It's about connecting, being interested in your job, being interested in the other person...even being thankful that this person is spending money in your store!