not your typical dutch customer service

a few years ago mike flew into Schiphol airport for a meeting in Rotterdam. upon arrival his bag never appeared. to complicate the issue, he was departing via a different airline the following day. he instructed bmi airlines to hold the bag and he would pick it up himself. well, who knows what happened because i got a phone call from the concierge at The Intercontinental Hotel in Amsterdam saying they pulled my luggage (mike was flying with my case at the time) out of a taxi's trunk. the man getting out of the taxi was not mike (the concierge described the man to me) and did not claim the bag as his own.

that left me with the task of trying to arrange getting this bag to mike, who was without a working cell phone in europe. there was no way for mike to get from Rotterdam to the airport via Amsterdam in time to get his plane even if i could have reached him. i knew that mike would be heading to the airport, go over to bmi baggage claim to get his case, and then go to Aer Lingus for this flight to Ireland. the poor thing had already spent at least 2 days in the same clothes he traveled in and would be very anxious to get his stuff.

after a few phone calls with the concierge, he offered to take the train to Schiphol (which was on his way home) after work and attempt to rendezvous with mike in the airport. upon telling this story to some people they have told me that this is NOT an example of dutch customer service, which although i have yet to experience, am told is non-existant in this country, at least on american terms. i told the man what mike's travel plans were and thanked him profusely for doing this.

you can imagine, if you have ever tried to meet up with someone in a crowded place like an airport, that it can be challenging - even with the aid of mobile phones, of which half of this party did not have.

a little while later i get a phone call from mike in the airport. the conversation went something like this:

me: do you have your bag??
mike: yeah.
me: what? really?? what happened?
mike: i was walking through the concourse and heard my name over the intercom and some guy handed me my bag.
me: you have no idea what i did to arrange this! what did you say to him?
mike: i gave him the loose change in my pocket. gotta go, my flight is boarding.

clearly my efforts were not being fully appreciated! seriously, after orchestrating this via several phone calls and the efforts of this total stranger i expected a little more freaking gratitude! but, he didn't really know any of the story so i cut him some slack.

so, why do i bring this up today? well i managed to actually get out and go for a run today and found The Intercontinental Hotel (which is actually only a few blocks away). i walked in and asked one of the 3 men in front of me if they had a concierge named Chris Lith and there he was, standing right in front of me. i told him who i was and his eyes got wide. i thanked him again and i actually got a little misty-eyed from thinking about the kindness of a total stranger. i also verified that he got the Amex gift card i sent him - which i have wondered after these few years.

so there you go, an atypical dutch customer service story to warm your heart.