After about 30 years in the hardware business, I thought I had heard it all, but today a customer really caught me off guard. Michael Dittman stopped in and told me the Rubbermaid jug he had purchased just 10 days ago, was not holding up as well as he had anticipated. Usually this would not be a problem. Our entire staff aims to please and no matter what the reason, we would typically just replace the product in question with a new one. Well, almost "no matter the reason". This time, I had to hear the entire explanation.
It seems Mike had purchased the cooler specifically to carry ice water while he went turkey hunting near Ladysmith, Wisconsin. Apparently he set up his tent and left the cooler, filled with ice water, sitting inside. When he finally returned, he was shocked to find the tent laying in a big messy ball. Upon further examination he found his Rubbermaid water jug, lying inside. Unfortunately, it was not in the same condition he had left it. Despite still being filled with ice and water (and not leaking a bit), the jug was covered with hundreds of little holes. At first, when he showed me, I thought maybe he had mistaken it for a turkey and blasted it with a shotgun, but after looking more closely, I could tell it had been mauled by something a bit more ferocious!
Mike did see the culprit, a 200 pound black bear, walking about 30 feet away from his camp. Rather than confront the trouble maker and demand proper restitution, he wisely decided to try out the Dave's Ace promise of "Your Satisfaction Guaranteed.... Period". Just thinking about what Mike could have looked like had it been him in the tent instead of the jug, was giving me the creeps! Honestly, I knew Mike's request was entirely "tongue in cheek", but after I regained my composure, I just couldn't help but offer him a new one anyway for all trouble he had gone through. His only concern was that he didn't really want to part with the original jug. I guess I can't blame him since it probably would make a nice conversation piece for his home. Not only that, since it still holds water, he might actually need two jugs sometime in the future!
Dave,
I finally got to come and enjoy the blog in a more timely manner today. And while I could have easily commented on any and all of your posts, this one (for me) best sums up the helpfulness of Dave's Ace. Plus, I'll be able to share this with my son. I don't know that he'd be as impressed with "Gee, Dave sure reads a lot of magazines these days!" =)
Keep up the great work and I'll keep reading.
Posted by: Anthony K | July 30, 2007 at 10:55 AM