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Unexpected Service at the Crofton Dollar Tree

By
Real Estate Agent with Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc.

dollar store in Crofton MDThe Dollar Tree is not a place where anyone shops with the expectation of good service.   Their offering is really quite simple - everything in the store is $1... no more, no less - and no mention of customer service.  Employees are usually competent but impersonal and completely forgettable.  Yet the service I had today was so helpful that it's worth mentioning.

Let me give you a little background:  Agents and staff in the Long & Foster Crofton office have been buying out the Crofton Dollar Tree for the past several days, purchasing goodies to fill holiday gift bags for the troops.

We ended up with about 50 2-packs of playing cards and some other items left over after filling 80 gift bags and setting aside many other items to fill 28 more.  However, we needed more bags and puzzle books, so I packed up the extra items and headed off to the Crofton Dollar Tree with a shopping list.

Debbie, the store manager, could not have been more helpful.  Even though store policy does not permit exchanges or returns without a receipt (donors kept them, of course), she allowed me to swap an equal number of items.  It was a time consuming process, as she counted all the items being returned and rang up the new ones.  No one has ever been more gracious to me about this type of transaction, even in Nordstrom or any other retailer where good service IS the norm.

This unexpected good service at the Crofton Dollar Tree certainly is appreciated!  Thank you, Debbie, for helping us support our troops overseas.

Posted by

This infoMargaret Wodarmation was provided to you by Margaret Woda, an Associate Broker with Long & Foster Real Estate in Crofton Maryland. Contact Margaret today for general real estate information or to learn how she can help you buy or sell a home in Annapolis, Bowie, Crofton, Davidsonville, Gambrills, and Odenton. 

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Comments(17)

Ellie McIntire
Ellicott City Clarksville Howard County Maryland Real Estate - Ellicott City, MD
Luxury service in Central Maryland

Great community shout out Margaret to the Dollar store. It sounds like the goodie bags are going to be a huge hit overseas.

Oct 14, 2010 04:21 PM
Steve Shatsky
Dallas, TX

Hi Margaret... It is so refreshing to read a story like this one.  It restores my faith in human kindness and people knowing when to do the "right thing" even when it is not in the rule book!

Oct 14, 2010 04:24 PM
Pat Haddad, ABR, CRS, ePRO, GRI
Keller Williams Indianapolis Metro NE - Carmel, IN
Carmel, Fishers, Westfield IN Real Estate Expert

Margaret--While you were doing a good deed, someone did a good deed by helping you!  Keep the wheel turning!!!  This would be a good one for Pay it Forward!

Oct 14, 2010 04:34 PM
Kathy Clulow
Uxbridge, ON
Trusted For Experience - Respected For Results

Margaret - What a great way to support the troops and a great place to get some of the little much appreciated often forgotten items ..... as a frequent customer of dollar stores there are some who do offer good service along with some very good pricing on identical items in more pricey stores.

Oct 14, 2010 04:39 PM
Lynda Eisenmann
Preferred Home Brokers - Brea, CA
Broker Associate ,CRS,GRI,SRES, Brea,CA, Orange Co

Hi Margaret,

Good to hear you received so much help. We've got dollar tree stores here too and (although ours are always so junkie) they're a great value.

Keep up with the great work in supporting our troops. I volunteer at times with Operation Gratitude here in SoCal.

Oct 14, 2010 04:42 PM
Rebecca Gaujot, Realtor®
Lewisburg, WV
Lewisburg WV, the go to agent for all real estate

Margaret, when it comes to supporting our troops I find Americans willing and able to help.  Great post and thanks to the Crofton Dollar Store.

Oct 14, 2010 04:54 PM
Susan Haughton
Long and Foster REALTORS (703) 470-4545 - Alexandria, VA
Susan & Mindy Team...Honesty. Integrity. Results.

It's the unexpected pleasant surprises that stay with us ... so nice to hear about the Crofton Dollar Store.

Oct 14, 2010 05:22 PM
Joan Whitebook
BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH
Consumer Focused Real Estate Services

Wow  what a great experience.  I am glad to hear that this dollar store was so generous.. especially when what you were doing was for the troops!  Two thumb way up for the Grofton Dollar Store.

Oct 14, 2010 05:22 PM
Martha Brown
Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., Annapolis MD 21403 - Annapolis, MD
Your Homes Around Annapolis Agent

How wonderful that debbie at dollar Tree was so helpful. goes to show that  there always seems to be someone out there that will brighten your day in the most unexpected way. your heart and mind just needs to be open to receiving :0)

Oct 14, 2010 05:52 PM
Simon Mills
Mills Realty - Toluca Lake, CA

There are good people everywhere.  Here's to Debbie and hoping her boss sees your blog!

Oct 14, 2010 06:02 PM
Alex Morris - Austin Real Estate Agent
Austin, TX

Between the awesome customer service, and their support over troops overseas, I would go buy $10 worth of air from them.  Love hearing stuff like this, where people actually take pride in their work!

Oct 14, 2010 06:24 PM
Cindy Jones
Integrity Real Estate Group - Woodbridge, VA
Pentagon, Fort Belvoir & Quantico Real Estate News

Wonderful hear not only about Debbie's helpful attitude but once again your office has done a wonderful job of supporting the troops.

Oct 15, 2010 12:37 AM
Margaret Woda
Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. - Crofton, MD
Maryland Real Estate & Military Relocation

Thanks for your comments, folks.  I'm off to the office to finish up those last 28 holiday gift bags and get them all shipped to Operation Give in Utah, where they'll be packed for shipping to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Oct 15, 2010 12:42 AM
Charles Edwards Bentonville
Coldwell Banker Harris McHaney & Faucette 479-253-3796 - Bentonville, AR
AR REALTOR, Bentonville Real Estate Agent and Broker

Margaret, Great post. We all need a big dose of good news. Heart warming stuff.

Are you participating on Yelp? This would make a great Yelp review.Yelp is a free site where businesses are rated. Citizens write reveiws of businesses as a means of guiding people in their choices, I find Yelp to be helpful and it will not hurt the SEO efforts either.

Oct 15, 2010 01:14 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

Margaret, so good to hear a story about someone not only doing their job but even taking it to another level of service. Dollar stores are unique and it's often hard for the employees to get enthused when people know what they're getting for a dollar, but still aren't satisfied.

Oct 15, 2010 05:52 AM
Margaret Woda
Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. - Crofton, MD
Maryland Real Estate & Military Relocation

To everyone who commented above -

Thank you so much for reading my post and commenting!  I'm obviously behind in acknowledging your comments individually but I will head over to your blog this weekend and comment on one of your recent posts.

Oct 16, 2010 12:45 AM
Alicia Stukes
Exit 1 Stop Realty - Bowie, MD
GRI, CDPE, Notary

Good post margaret!

I love hearing about good deeds happening right here in Maryland and KUDOS to Debbie the the Dollar Tree staff.  Good customer service should be extended no matter where you shop.

Oct 19, 2010 02:58 AM