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Research Report
Building the Case for Modern Public Sector Messaging
The Gist
AI picked colonial-era information services as CX pioneers. ChatGPT named The Pennsylvania Packet and Claude named the U.S. Postal Service, both praised for reliability, consistency and putting the customer's time and trust first.
Humans picked today's consistency champions: Chick-fil-A, Panda Express, Amazon, Costco and Disney. Each pick centered on the same theme — dependable, repeatable service delivered at scale, not flashy one-off moments.
Trust and reliability keep winning over flash. Whether it's an 18th-century newspaper or a 21st-century retailer, the common thread across every pick was showing up the same way, every time.
It's the 250th anniversary of the United States this Saturday, July 4 — happy birthday to the red, white and blue. That got us thinking: who delivered the best customer experience in America, then and now?
"Then" meaning the 1770s, when the colonies broke from Great Britain and signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Since we couldn't find anyone on LinkedIn who was actually around in 1776, we asked ChatGPT and Claude instead. Then we asked real humans who's winning CX today.
Amazon was crushing it in the 1770s. Uber Horse wasn't so bad, either.
Here's a deeper look:
The Pennsylvania Packet: Solving Colonial America's Biggest Customer Problem — Uncertainty
ChatGPT's pick. Not because it sold papers, but because it solved colonial America's biggest customer problem: uncertainty. People needed to know what Congress was doing, whether roads were safe, what goods were available and what laws had changed — and the Packet became one of the era's most trusted sources for those answers.
I love this personally because I started in print newspapers in the late 1990s and had a 10-year run. Nothing better than "putting out the paper" in production, knowing you gave your community a good product when it hit the newsstands and home mailboxes. (Thanks for the nostalgia wax, here, folks).
The paper in the 1770s bundled political news, shipping information, ads and public notices into what modern CX teams would call a reduction in customer effort. It built customer loyalty through sheer consistency: it showed up on schedule, the quality was predictable, and the experience became habitual — not unlike how Amazon or Costco build loyalty today.
The U.S. Postal Service: Benjamin Franklin's Case Study in Treating Customers' Time as Sacred
Claude's pick. Founded by the Continental Congress in 1775 with Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General. Franklin had run the colonial postal system under the British and used that experience to redesign routes for speed and reliability — treating the customer's time as something worth protecting.
He standardized rates and service across colonies that otherwise had wildly inconsistent local practices, a very modern CX move: consistency builds customer trust. And it was accessible to ordinary citizens, not just merchants or the politically connected.
"What's remarkable from a CX lens is that Franklin understood the postal system as infrastructure for trust — connecting people, commerce and ideas across a fragmented geography," Claude told us. "That's a pretty sophisticated service philosophy for the 18th century."
Related Article: Why Your CX Is Only As Good as the Systems Your Leaders Build
Chick-fil-A: Consistency at Scale Is Harder to Pull Off Than Any Flashy Tech Rollout
Steven Menotti, CEO of Menotti Enterprise, points to Chick-fil-A: the "my pleasure" instead of "no problem" is a training decision made at the top and executed consistently across thousands of locations — the kind of consistency at scale that's harder to pull off than any flashy tech rollout.
"Two years ago, I visited a Chick-fil-A in New Jersey," Menotti said. "They had the line out the door and staff walking the drive-through taking orders on tablets to keep things moving. Nobody complained. Nobody looked miserable. That's not a coincidence."
Panda Express: Reliable, Quick, Cheap and Always in the Same Exact Spot
Your editor's pick: Panda Express of Rosemead, Calif. Reliable, quick, cheap, delicious and always waiting at the same exact spot on the food line when you need it. What else is there?
Amazon: No Arguing, No Back-and-Forth, Just Making It Right
Amy Sessions, a CMSWire CX Leader of the Year finalist for 2026, went with Amazon — citing a case where a delivery driver hit her mailbox, and Amazon simply asked what it would cost to replace it and credited $100 without ever asking for proof. No arguing, no back-and-forth, just made it right.
"We had photos and Ring camera footage saved, but they never even asked for it," Sessions said. "They simply asked how much it would cost to replace the mailbox, which was about $80, and then credited our account with a $100 Amazon gift card. No arguing. No unnecessary back and forth. No making me prove my case like I was in court. They heard the complaint, apologized and made it more than right."
Related Article: Why We Need to Evolve From Customer Experience to Customer Obsession
Costco: Deep Customer Understanding Backed by a Reputation for Treating Staff Well
Megan Mueller Jensen, senior solutions architect at Perficient, nominated Costco for its deep understanding of customer needs — from in-store efficiency to product vetting to membership perks.
"I think they understand their customers deeply — from the in-store experience engineered for efficiency to the product vetting and streamlined selection on top of all the ancillary services and partnerships available for members," Mueller Jensen told us. "No-frills, high-volume, high-efficiency, high-value. Reliable. Trustworthy. Focused.
Alison Sainsbury of Aline DX added that Costco's reputation for treating staff well only reinforces that trust.
And yet another CX leader, CMSWire Contributor of the Year Trish Wethman, gave Costco the nod. (Editor's note: they must be upping their free samples game; because that would do it for me).
"When you look at all the various aspects of what makes a stellar customer experience — trust, customer-centric innovation, consistency, value — for my money, Costco continues to hit it out of the park," Wethman said. "Costco has done a phenomenal job of meeting the moment, creating a beloved and cost-effective in-house brand, highlighting and showcasing value and a deep understanding of member needs."
She called the service "no frills but friendly," while the shopping experience "balances out discovery that feels curated with reliability." The member model? That provides access to everything from travel planning to prescription support to cheaper gas, which Wethman called "a real perk these days."
"Costco shines because they understand and lean into what members love," she added. "They find new things for them to talk about and they also provide an employee experience that makes people want to deliver for members everyday."
Disney: Keeping a Diehard Fan Base Engaged Across Generations and Formats
Joey Running, lead business consultant at Perficient, ran with Disney for keeping a diehard fan base engaged across theme parks, streaming and merchandise for generations — though he admits he's never actually been to a Disney park himself.
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"They have stood the test of time keeping a diehard fan base engaged with physical experiences (theme parks), media experiences (at the box office and streaming) and merchandise," Running said. "They span from young to old, and everyone (Super Bowl MVPs not excluded) in between. Everything they do is rooted in the experiences they create for their fans."
Ramsey Hardware: Small, Local Businesses Remain Supreme in the World of CX
Brian Riback went hyper-local with his pick: Ramsey Hardware in Ramsey, N.J. Riback admits he's not the handiest guy around, but whether you're eyeing a $3 drill bit or a $500 saw, the staff is there to train you and help you get better at whatever you're trying to do — with a level of patience he says is hard to find anywhere else.
He still hasn't cracked the code on wall anchors, but he's learned plenty along the way. For Riback, it's proof that small, local businesses that give back to their community will always have a place at the top of the CX conversation.