what's the deal-io . . .

whatever happened to customer service?

the 9TS's closet is finally finished.  the new carpeting went in yesterday.  while the painter finished up in may, cutting out the damaged wall board and scouring down all the shelving and painting the entire closet, all that remained was the carpeting.  in june, i ran over to my friendly neighborhood flooring expert . . . the guy who installed all our hardwood floors . . . and explained i needed a remnant for the closet.  we've been using him for years.  he said, 'don't worry, jeanne, we'll take care of you.  $20 for the remnant, we'll throw in the padding, give the installer $50.  done deal."  he'd call me to set up a date.  no call.  finally about 10 days later i call him and he says he hasn't forgotten about me but will get it done.  two months later:  nada.  hummmm.  yes, it was a killer offer.  yes, i appreciated it, but why offer if you aren't going to follow up on it.  sigh.

friday, kidlet and i went to another local establishment and ordered a remnant from them.  yesterday morning it was installed.  job well done.  while it was twice the cost, it was well worth it.  nice peeps.

maybe there is hope in the world of customer service.

remember my lowe's saga?  friday i ordered the grill on line and immediately got an email with the confirmation.  the store would contact me with a delivery time.  yay.  based on previous experience with lowe's, i kind of expected a call the next day.  no call.  saturday, ace hardware was offering free quarts of paint.  since kidlet and i are painting one of the bathrooms, we decided to take advantage of the offer.  not only did they give me a free can but they urged kidlet to fill out a form so we got two free cans.  while waiting for it to be mixed . . . we were the 55th and 56th free cans of the day and it was only 10:00.  wow . . .  we wandered around the store picking up various painting necessities.  and then we came to the grill aisle.  and there was the baby weber.  last years model in all of it's glory.  sturdier and more solid then this year's offering . . . yes, i read the reviews.  i was drooling but i had made already placed my order.

today, i had to stop back in for a can of spray paint and some florescent bulbs and my feet just naturally did a little tap dance to the shiny baby weber.  i was smitten.  it was smaller and more compact.  it was petite and non-scary.  it had a 50 year warranty.  but would they deliver?  troy, the manager, was called over.  after ascertaining that i lived a mere 2.5 miles away, it was a deal at no extra charge.  i called lowe's and cancelled since they had yet to call and arrange delivery.  an hour later, that baby was tanked up, i was given a rudimentary lesson on its ins and outs by two delightful guys and it was temporarily tucked into the garage. 

so what's the deal-io?  why are some companies so ready to bend over backwards to help out their customers while some just couldn't care?  the new carpet company called after installation to make sure i was satisfied.  the installer was top notch and the job done in the time frame promised.  ace is also locally owned.  their manager steps all over himself to be helpful.  is lowe's just too big?  i don't get the difference but i do know who will get my business. three cheers for the hometown boys.  you rock!