Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Nearly every day...

Nearly every day ... something happens that reinforces our happiness with our decision, five years ago, to move to northern Utah.  Yesterday there were several things:
  • I took one of my lawnmower's tires in to Hyrum Tire for repair.  One of the owners (two brothers) dismounted the tire, noted that it had been previously repaired (by them), and took it upon himself to apply a double layer of patching – both to the new hole and to the older one.  Then he searched for tougher tires that would fit the rims; unfortunately, none are available (naturally, I have a strange tire size).  Then he charged me $12.79 and insisted on carrying the tire and wheel out to my car.  Such a pleasant exchange, front-to-back!
  • I took my old lawnmower back to Ipaco for repair.  They had previously repaired it (in May), but when I got it home I discovered that it still had the same problem (blades stopped turning after about five minutes of mowing).  After a short, pleasant conversation in which they got full details of the problem, they told me that their repairs were fully warranted and they took the mower back for repair.  It should be done today or tomorrow.  No hassle, just smiles!
  • The Wild Birds Unlimited store in Salt Lake City called to confirm my address before they shipped an order I made online.  Ten minutes later, the store manager called me back to suggest that I save myself some money by joining a “club” they have.  That club costs $25 a year, but on just the order I placed it would save me over $30 – and it would save more on any future orders I placed.  She went out of her way to note the possible savings, call me, and get permission to do so.  Friendly and cheerful every step of the way, too.
  • The Tesla service center in Salt Lake City called me to let me know that some parts on backorder for my Model X had come in.  They wanted to arrange for their mobile tech to come out later this week, and needed to know what days and times would work for me.  This sort of call would usually be just a direct question or two and you're done, but the fellow who called was friendly and engaged in some happy banter.  
If we had never lived in southern California, we might think all this was normal.  But ... we did live in southern California, for many years, and we're still not used to having such nice, honest, responsible people all around us.  We are profoundly grateful for this, and so, so happy that we somehow ended up retiring to this community...

2 comments:

  1. This was a day-brightener to read, Tom!

    I do encounter this here in Albemarle County, Virginia, but definitely not at the level you describe.

    You do recognize, of course, that YOUR attitude is responsible for some of this, too. :)

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    Replies
    1. I'd love to take some credit, but ... my attitude hasn't changed between living in California and living here. I'm still the same guy, but up here I'm (quite consistently) treated differently...

      Had another example on Friday. My new mower has gotten three flats already, with just 8 hours of use. The tires supplied by the manufacturer (Kubota) are light duty 4 ply polyester tires. I searched all over for heavier duty tires to replace them with, but couldn't find them. So I called the dealer, hoping they might have a source. When I described the problem, before I could even ask about heavy duty tires he said "Well, that's not right. Kubota should have equipped a mower like that with rugged tires. I'm going to file a warranty problem with Kubota, and we'll get you some heavy duty tires at their expense." Chances of that happening in California? 0.0%, accurate to several decimal places. Here? Pretty high, though I certainly wasn't expecting this...

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