Here is an amazing feel-good story that Kim sent me last week.

The story was so interesting since it deals with travel, kids and great customer service. Those three things don’t always get grouped together but in this case, all I could say was wow…

I’ve never heard this before, but did you know that the Ritz-Carlton allows , better yet encourages employees to spend up to $2,000 to solve guest issues?

According to the Forbes article that Kim sent me, “many people misunderstand this as being exclusively intended as empowering employees to compensate a customer when the hotel has messed up“.  The article goes on to say how the Ritz Carlton doesn’t usually make mistakes and that is not the point of the $2,000.

Here is the real point of encouraging employees to spend $2,000 on guests at their discretion. The article mentions that it’s “a tool to empower and encourage employees to use their time, effort and ­–when needed–the company’s money to enhance the experience of any guest– even a guest who is already having a blast! It’s an approach that’s not just about solving problems but about finding opportunities”.

I’ve never heard of a service like this before and am extremely impressed by the idea of alone.

In the Forbes article, there’s a great example of how Ritz Carlton staff used their discretion to save the day. Oh, and it cost the hotel a whole lot less than the $2,000 they were allowed to spend.

This past summer a mom realized that her two-year old son had lost his favorite Thomas toy while they were packing up to head to the airport. She mentioned to a couple of Ritz Carlton employees that the loss of the toy would be “heartbreaking for him”.

After searching for the toy, the employees, knowing how important the train was, drove to a toy store and bought another Thomas train for him. They then wrote a note how Thomas took an extended vacation and included photos of him around the hotel property.

This new Thomas arrived in the mail four days after he had gone missing and the family was “blown away and shared the story at every chance…proclaiming that Ritz Carlton has earned our business for years to come“.

Incredible! I wouldn’t expect to hear of any hotel going out of their way in such a personal way to help make a little boy happy.

I’d love to hear other stories of Ritz Carlton employees using their employee empowerment to solve a problem or make a stay better.

Find out more in the Forbes article here.