Let me share my experience with a flight booking portal to describe what "Customer Service" actually means. I hope each and every service provider weather they are mobile service provider or online portal that sells anything up-to a soap reads this to understand the true meaning of "customer service".

It was 2 am in the morning with my In-Law's flight the same morning around 11 am. I was struggling to upgrade the ticket online so that my Mother-in-Law can get a seat which has maximum legroom available as she was traveling after a knee replacement surgery. It was an urgent situation because in case I am unable to get the seat of our choice on that airline we needed to re-book ticket with another airline or another flight which would have costed us the cancellation charges of existing ticket and 3-4 times cost of the ticket for booking it last moment. I logged into the portal and searched for options to book a seat of our choice but not finding an option I started searching for airlines which have available seats of my choice. After finding one I started the booking process and was getting directed to payment gateway when something happened and it failed the booking process on the portal. Fortunately I had made no payments. I tried twice more on the same portal and was getting frustrated as it kept failing. Suddenly (2.15 am in morning) my mobile phone rang! I ran to grab it so that others in the house aren't woken up by the ringing. I was wondering who would call me such late at night. Anyway I picked up the phone and it took time for me to realize it was a representative from the SAME online portal calling me as they "noticed" I was having trouble booking a flight ticket. Never in my life did I expect such proactive service from anyone in the world let alone an online portal in India. The representative asked me details of what I was trying to do and what my goal was. I explained I already have a ticket booked but I need to ensure I get a seat for my Mother-in-Law which has maximum legroom. He seems to have understood the situation and asked me to wait while he "checked". I was skeptical and unsure he really got what I was looking for. He came back and told me I could get an upgrade on the existing ticket itself with same Airline with a seat of my choice plus on board meals. At that time it was not about the money at all for me but still I was surprised for how less they have offered me with the precious much needed upgrade. Not only that but the representative ensured that he discussed the Airplane layout with his seniors to ensure the seat he gave me had maximum leg room. After being confident on what he was offering I agreed to it. The ticket was upgraded. Not only that but I also wanted to ensure my Mother-in-Law got a wheelchair both at boarding and de-boarding. The rep again took some time but came back confident this request has also been taken care of. I was so relived at this experience that its difficult to describe. Getting a phone call at 2 am in morning completely unexpectedly that too PROACTIVELY and at the end of the call all your problems getting sorted out was like a dream. But it did happen and my Mother-in-Law traveled with such ease and comfort she was thanking me a lot, whereas I told her it should actually be the portal folks and the Rep who helped me at an odd hour out of the blue that should be thanked.

I had almost forgotten this experience but today a bad experience with a real-estate portal made me remember what "Customer Service" actually means in reality.

I hope every service provider takes a cue from this story and enhance their customer "experience" beyond the expectations of customer that they are left genuinely thanking the providers. How many times do providers get such praise from customers? This should be the measure of the quality of services provided. "Customer Service" are not just words company should use while selling their products, but it should become an "experience" for every customer, that is when one can say that they have provided "Customer Service" otherwise, it does not mean anything but mare words.