My lawnmower died two weeks ago in the middle of the fortnightly trim. No amount of cranking on the starter cord, swearing, or futile gesturing would get her started again. With the grass looking very snake friendly, and the fleas moving into the area, Mrs. Agricoli put her foot down and demanded action today.
The counter man at the hardware store that does my mower maintenance laughed out loud when I rolled up. Six to seven weeks to get to your machine he said, with barely concealed glee. Sympathetic customers gave me the usual tips, i.e., change the filter and change the spark plug. Things I don’t do, given my complete lack of knowledge regarding things mechanical.
Driving away from the store, I told my wife about a post I had read just this morning.
From Seth’s Blog:
What to do with special requests
The bike shop is busy in June. If you bring your bike in for a tune up, it will cost $39 and take a week.
A week!
What if someone says, "I have a bike trip coming up in three days, can you do it by then?"
At most bike shops, the answer is a shrug, followed by, "I’m sorry, we’re swamped."
The problem with telling people to go away is that they go away. And the problem with treating all customers the same is that customers aren’t the same. They’re different and they demand to be treated (and are often willing to pay) differently.
So, why not smile and say, "Oh, wow, that’s a rush. We can do it, but it’s expensive. It’ll cost you $90. I know that’s a lot, but there you go."
Outcome: Maybe they’ll still leave. But maybe they’ll happily pay you for the privilege of doing business with you. Why should this be your choice, not theirs?
I would have, despite my scarce stash of discretionary dollars, gladly paid twice the going rate to make the queen of my castle happy.
Instead, we looked at each other and headed to Lowes, where I bought a spark plug wrench, a spark plug, an air filter, and 4 stroke motor oil. Twenty minutes later I was carving my way through the yard that had nearly become a savanna.
The lesson is that there are several lessons. Necessity is the mother of invention; it’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to the task; and the repair business just lost a few years of revenue from a customer that was willing to pay a premium to get out of a tough spot.
Think they’ll miss me?
They’ll never know……
2 Comments
My spot was the True-Value on Folly, near Camp. Before them, the guys right around the corner on Camp. A pox on both their houses! (Just kidding….they are a great spot for propane, small tools, and other home essentials)
I read this and laughed – at first. I was hoping you were going to say you had found a lawn mower place that could look at your mower right away! I borrowed a friend’s pushmower for the weekend (a lovely 4th of July activity…) – mine won’t start either. I did change the spark plug, the oil, and cleaned then replaced the air filter. So where do you usually take it? It’s hard to even find a place – most folks just buy a new one I think.
And yeah – the whole snake thing is what drives me to mow…
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