Describe a time when you received good service in a shop or store.

I'd like to talk about a small repair shop for phones and laptops, tucked down a side street near my office, where I went a few months ago.

My laptop had started switching itself off at random, usually in the middle of something important, and I had a presentation due that week. I'd already been to a big chain store, where a member of staff glanced at it for about ten seconds and told me to buy a new one.

The man in the little shop couldn't have been more different. He asked exactly when the problem happened, opened the machine up in front of me and showed me the fan, which was completely clogged with dust. He cleaned it, replaced a tiny part that had worn out and tested it for a quarter of an hour while I waited. Then he charged me less than the price of a lunch, and when I offered to pay more, he wouldn't hear of it. He even wrote his number on a card in case the fault came back.

I came away feeling relieved, obviously, but also rather impressed. He could easily have sold me an expensive repair, because I'd never have known the difference. Instead he explained what he was doing in plain language and treated me as though my time mattered. Since then I've sent at least four colleagues there, and I think that says a lot about the value of good service to a shop.