With Hurricane Sandy about to hop on the Atlantic City Expressway toward Philadelphia, many area stores opted for the better safe than sorry route and closed for the day. But one Cosi eatery in Center City won over some hospital employees by not only opening just for them, but by also not charging.

Consumerist reader and hospital staffer D.H. says he called up the Cosi down the street to see if it was open. The manager said he had to close today because he wasn’t able to get enough personnel in to the store, what with regional rail shut down and dire predictions about the weather to come. But then the manager asked D.H. what he needed from the Cosi.

“I told him coffee,” writes D.H. “He said as long as we got there in the next few minutes he would open.”

Continues D.H.:

He opened up just for us. It looked like he was there by himself up front, and I think a baker in the back. He made sure that we got everything we needed and was polite and helpful. I offered him payment, and he refused. I offered him a tip, and he refused it. I know that the coffee and bagels would have been thrown out, but it was still kind act that needs to be recognized… especially in this time to poor economy, money grubbing companies, and corrupt people of power.

He really made a miserable day with no coffee into one that was so much better. That is old fashion customer service… respectful and kind.

While we certainly can’t expect every store to go above and beyond like this, it’s stories like this that stick in a consumer’s head (in a good way) and win them over as returning customers. That’s especially important in dense urban markets where customers have multiple options.

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