The people in B&Q are just brilliant

I don't know what it is about that big orange-and-white sign, but somehow I always have a good time in B&Q stores. They're just friendlier - and I don't know why. Take last Sunday.

I've had a new kitchen put in - a hand-made kitchen. (You need custom-height units when you're a punctuation mark.) To save a bit of cash I bought all the hardware - the sinks, handles, pipes and so on - at B&Q, mainly because there's plenty of space to park and everything's in stock.

Only problem was, when I got the sink home there was a plug missing. It must have fallen out of the box while I was struggling with the hatchback or something. And what use is a sink without a plug? Well, I like to watch water gurgling away as much as the next person, which is to say - not very much. Save the planet!

There was nothing for it but to trek back to B&Q. Bouncing down the aisles in despair, a man in an orange apron asked if he could help. (I was bouncing, of course, not him.)

In the sink section, he took a close look at the demonstration sink (how do you "demonstrate" a sink that isn't connected to water, I wonder?) In a flash, he'd fished out the plughole from the show sink, and - wonder of wonders - gave it to me free of charge!

The plug wasn't doing anything; it couldn't be sold separately of course, but it wasn't needed on the demonstrator kit (no water) and I was a customer with a problem. What most impressed me was the way he made the decision - he didn't need to consult a manager, just did everything on his own initiative. Woo!

And that's why I love B&Q! They actually do care.

Just think: how many shop assistants, whatever the sector,  are empowered to take business decisions like customer giveaways? Without even asking their manager? I've asked around, and it seems B&Q does this a lot. Maybe it's just a question of age and experience... B&Q does seem to employ a lot of... er, "life experienced" people.

Say what you like, there's no substitute for people who've been there and done it before. And if you look around B&Q, you'll see a lot of store clerks who've been doing it for many decades. B&Q is the last company you'd label ageist.

In fact, if the people at Rapide get bored of me I might apply for a job there myself one day!

A blog about little moments of sunshine!

Hello! I'm Rave and this is my shiny new blog!

I know it's a funny sort of name for a blue apostrophe, but I am a punctuation mark after all - short and sweet, that's how they describe me! I've just started writing this blog and I'm really excited, because....

... well, with all the blogs around that get all whiney and shouty, I thought it was about time for a blog about wonderful things companies do - you know, those little things (or big things) that make you feel they're really listening. Isn't it marvellous when that happens? Well, the people here have a lot of stories about that - and I'm getting all Davina-ish, interviewing them and writing about those experiences in this blog.

So who are these people? They're called Rapide - it's a company next to the famous University of Warwick, where we have a lot of friends. Only trouble is, it's about as far as you can get from the sea... sigh, I love the seaside. But we've got lots of green grass and trees and things around us, and it's a really nice place to work! Even if the ducks make a bit too much noise sometimes.

What Rapide does is called "customer and employee engagement." It's quite simple, really - just think of all those times you've been bursting to say something to a company you bought something from, whether it's good or bad, and they just... weren't listening! Or even worse, they made you jump through hoops to get in touch with them - limited opening hours, hard-to-understand forms to fill in, that sort of thing.) Well, I like jumping through hoops, but not that kind. I've got my own hoop at home - it's blue with little ribbons tied around it - bounce, bounce, bounce...

Ooopsy, I think my blog is going to need a bit of editing! But it's all fun, isn't it?

You see, I don't like moaning about things. (My brother Rant does a lot of that - don't worry about him, he's a sweetie really.) If a company does something really nice, I like to shout it from the rooftops! (In fact, I sometimes do shout it from the rooftops. The Rapide people always call the fire brigade after a while, though. And seeing me up there at least gives taxi drivers a point of reference. They used to have such trouble finding this place.)

So, that's my new job: collecting these sunny little stories from people around the office, and telling you all about them! I'm hoping some of them will give you an idea you can use at work, or just bring a smile to your face. Let's give it a try!