Whole Story

Rachael is part of our team dedicated to answering emails, letters and phone calls from our customers. My job is all about talking to our customers and helping them get answers to their questions or concerns. I love my job, but I don’t think it’s a secret to anyone that customer service is a stressful line of work! When customers call me, they may have already talked to their local store and/or their nearest regional office and they haven’t yet been able to get a resolution to their concern. So, as a rule, the people I talk to can be pretty mad at times. So, I relish the customers who take the time to call us with their compliments. Of course, it’s always nice to talk to someone who is kind, but these calls are especially nice because most of the customers who call to compliment us tell me about how awesome our Team Members are. Of course, I know how great they are but there’s something special about hearing our customers share their perspective about how our Team Members have gone far beyond the call of duty to help them in some way. One caller I talked to the other day really pulled at my heartstrings more than most and made me feel warm and fuzzy about what great people we have working for us. She said I could share the story in this blog post, so here goes. I am a huge animal lover and would, without hesitation, describe myself as a “crazy cat lady.” I got a call from a customer of our Veterans store in Metairie, Louisiana named Gin. Gin has been rescuing kitties in her neighborhood, as many are still displaced because of Hurricane Katrina. A few weeks ago, she found a ten-day-old orphaned kitten that she named Tini because of her tiny size. Because Tini was so young and had not been weaned, it was a struggle to keep her hydrated and alive. When Tini hit a very low point one day, Gin’s vet advised she feed her pumpkin and electrolyte water immediately. Gin called a few other grocery stores looking for someone who would gather the items for her, charge her credit card, and meet her outside because she had Tini in the car and did not want to leave her. After three stores refused, Gin called our Veterans Whole Foods Market store. Gin said our Shift Manager on duty got her the items, charged her card over the phone, and was outside waiting when she pulled up with Tini in the car. Gin was able to feed her right there in the car in our parking lot. A few days after finding Tini, Gin also found one of Tini’s brothers. Both kittens are about five weeks old now and are still getting their strength up, but will hopefully be thriving soon. Gin told me that everything else she had tried up to that point to keep Tini hydrated had not worked, and if our store had not come through for her, she doesn’t think Tini would have lived. After we talked Gin emailed me some photos of Tini and her brother, For me, the picture of brother and sister snuggling speaks for itself. I feel so good knowing our Veterans team helped give these sweet siblings a second chance. Truly, our Team Members are really, really awesome.