Below is a paragraph from an email from a bird-watcher whom I don't even know. She belongs to the birding list serve in Kansas (she lives in the Manhattan KS area - in which Elder Brother was born in 1936) and her email was among this morning's summary of reports.
Most of us are pretty quick with our complaints when we feel ill-treated by a person, organization, or company. Try as we might, we are usually not as quick about our praise. Here is one bird-watcher's story, below.
On the Wakefield CBC [Christmas Bird Count], the lock on my tripod broke and my 20 year old [sic] Nikon scope crashed on the pavement breaking the focus mechanism. I called Nikon and they had me send it in for repairs. I received a bill for $22 and thought that is not bad considering the age and condition of the scope. Today I finally received the scope back only to open a box that contained a BRAND NEW SCOPE! I really can't believe this-a new scope for $22 and the old one was not even under warranty.
Way to go, Nikon!
I should take this opportunity to laud Parker Pen Co (or whatever its current name might be) for a similar instance. About 10 years ago, I returned a Parker fountain pen (with my name engraved on the barrel) that my parents had given me while I was in high school, some 50+ years previously, for repair. It hadn't worked in at least 30 years. They could not fix the pen because the parts were no longer made, so they sent me a nice gel-pen - without charge! The pens (old and new) were returned to me in a nice box, and I was not even charged for the postage.
Way to go, Parker!
A famous Brit actor, I think it was Stephen Fry, was driving down from GB for a gig in Gibralter in his ancient Rolls-Royce. The Rolls broke down seriously somewhere in Spain. He called RR, telling them where it was and that the local garage/smithy couldn't fix it and continued to reach his gig on time in a rental car. RR sent a mechanic with parts to Spain and fixed it so that he could pick it up for the return trip to GB.
Months later, still having received no bill, he called RR to jog their memories. He got a letter back, saying there must have been a mistake, because after all, RRs don't break down :-)
Posted by: Ole Phat Stu | March 16, 2013 at 03:55 PM
those are great stories, Cop Car...and expanded to the max in Stu's story.
i wonder if anyone has told APPLE about this miraculous attitude??
Posted by: m.e. | March 16, 2013 at 05:57 PM
Stu--Good tale. At Snopes they write that in 1932 a similar thing happened to Rudyard Kipling. However, when I tried to go to the Rolls Royce web site to which a link was provided, all I found was an advertising site - without the tale.
ME--I know nothing about Apple and the attitude to which you refer. Daughter Bogie keeps one blog in which she details her bad experiences; but, I don't recall whether Apple was a problem child to her.
Posted by: Cop Car | March 16, 2013 at 09:56 PM
I don't own anything Apple, although WS does have an Ipod (not me, I use a Walkman MP3).
Posted by: bogie | March 17, 2013 at 06:47 AM
I know that good news doesn't "sell" as well as bad news, but I love hearing stories of things gone right!
I've recently seen Steven Fry in "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," and could picture the man dropping off the Rolls Royce. When I went to Google, to be sure it was the same man, I discovered that he has done a comedy series with Hugh Laurie, and was in Black Adder. I'm going to have to look into his work. Thank you, Stu, for being the springboard to possible giggles!
Posted by: buffy | March 17, 2013 at 07:53 AM
@Buffy,
start here :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuCZE7zSsoY ;-)
Posted by: Ole Phat Stu | March 17, 2013 at 02:11 PM
Buffy & Stu--Never having heard of Mr Fry, I followed the link. I can tell that everyone was enjoying themselves; but, not to my taste. We all have a different streak, don't we?
Posted by: Cop Car | March 18, 2013 at 02:43 PM