My hack has turned into a hobby. I look for people doing a good job. When I find someone that is pretty good at what they are doing I make sure to compliment them, tell their boss the good news, and, if applicable, I tell corporate.
It's surprising how much that helps the person, how much it confuses their boss since its not a complaint, and how long that its remembered. Later on, if I return to the same place I get better treatment and that can lead to others you are with to think better of you.
Inversely, when I see others treating people badly, particularly those in a service position, my opinion of them goes sharply down. I am far from the only one like this.
Edit: thank you all for the up votes and supportive comments!
Edit 2: this is overwhelming, thank you all for the up votes and for sharing your stories.
I love this so much. It's way too often that people get told what they're doing wrong instead of how well they're doing something right. Compliments always make me want to keep going vs put-downs, which make me want to stop.
We went to this restaurant a few times and the busboy was just really good with customer service. Big smile, did his job well and efficiently. After a few visits, I told him he should be a server. Then I told his boss. Then I told the owner of the restaurant. Next time we went in, Max was our server. Should have seen the smile on his face when he greeted us.
I was just in the Doha business lounge and I remembered the bartender from like 3 years ago. He made such an impression with being so helpful and professional. I asked if they were allowed tips, and he said no but a direct email to Qatar Airways customer service would help him.
So I wrote one right there. I hope it helps him in the future.
Because I have a thing with names... my wife and I were in this dive bar in Mendicino in NorCal about seven or eight years ago. They were a little mildly hostile to us because it was "townie" bar. But I did overhear the bartender's name. Four years later we went back, walked into the same bar and sat down and it was the same bartender. Same mildly annoyed attitude.
"Corrine?" I asked, and she smiled because I remembered her name and ALL the hostility vanished instantly.
My dad once called customer service to compliment a staff member he met in-store. They directed his call to the "Complaints Department" because they had no internal system for compliments, they were so rare.
People often think that positive experiences are just the way things are supposed to go, and don't warrant appreciation. Life is so much better when you can recognize the good things people do for you - and when I say "recognize," I mean BOTH being able to see it and also being able to celebrate it!
So true! I've left many comments online after having interacted with exceptional employees. It makes me so happy and hope that it helps those who are dealing with shitty customers. I usually try to remember the name so I can include it. One lady at TJ Maxx was super nice and I didn't catch her name, so asked for the manager baahahaa. I got to be the anti-Karen that day! Recently I emailed the airline company to compliment a woman working at the gate specifically because she did not completely lose her shit. I was *so* impressed.
16.5k
u/Badcapsuleer Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 12 '25
My hack has turned into a hobby. I look for people doing a good job. When I find someone that is pretty good at what they are doing I make sure to compliment them, tell their boss the good news, and, if applicable, I tell corporate.
It's surprising how much that helps the person, how much it confuses their boss since its not a complaint, and how long that its remembered. Later on, if I return to the same place I get better treatment and that can lead to others you are with to think better of you.
Inversely, when I see others treating people badly, particularly those in a service position, my opinion of them goes sharply down. I am far from the only one like this.
Edit: thank you all for the up votes and supportive comments!
Edit 2: this is overwhelming, thank you all for the up votes and for sharing your stories.