A few weeks ago, I was at the New Delhi airport to take a flight back home to Chennai. I had two bags, of which I checked in one. The other contained a stash of exotic spices I had bought in some ethnic stores in the Capital. I’d quite forgotten that they were likely to be disallowed as hand baggage so when I was asked to check it in, I fretted that the flimsy carry bag may split its sides and spill the contents of the pouches inside.

What followed was a customer’s dream: A smiley staff member of the airline’s (Kingfisher) ground staff got it scanned, tied it up securely with several lengths of scanner-machine tape, stuck ’Fragile’ and ‘Priority’ (or something to that effect) stickers on it and sent it off. “I’ve stuck all the labels I could lay my hands on,” he said with a grin. “Nothing will happen to it,” he said, waving off my profuse thanks.

Once inside the flight, we were given menu cards that our meals ultimately didn’t match. But I was inclined to be forgiving, because the warm glow that enveloped me after the help extended by the airline’s ground staff was still intact, though I did mention it in the feedback form distributed later, as I did my delight with the earlier experience.

Good customer service, rare as it is, is even more rarely highlighted. Have you been at the receiving end of such bounty? What was your experience?