Saturday, October 1, 2011

Day #354 Window Guy

The Hollander family in Youngstown, Ohio runs the nicest window company, and I’d like to brag about them.  A few days ago I received an astonishing phone call from them. I’ll need to give you a little background, though.

While I was working at the beekeepers booth at the Gwinnett County Fair, I took a little break to walk around and see the other exhibits. One of them was for Weather Tite Windows. I stopped for a moment and spoke with a young man named Sam. I told him I was in a hurry to get back to the honey bee booth, but that I’d try to stop by later. He was nice enough to bring me a brochure.

I told him about a harrowing experience I’d had when someone from another company came to give me an estimate. That guy was HORRIBLE! Pushy, pushy, pushy! I finally had to ask him to leave my house. And I complained to the company, but never received any sort of apology from them. “If you send somebody like that,” I told Sam, “I’ll be very upset with you.”

“No, ma’am,” he said. “All our people are really nice, and we depend on the quality of our product to sell itself.” He told me a few more things about the company—there weren’t any visitors at the bee booth right then—and I signed up to receive a call so we could schedule an estimate.

The lady who called the next day was as pleasant as could be. And the fellow who came to show me their windows and give me an estimate was downright likeable. I ended up telling him that I would do business with them, although I had to get a few more royalty checks before I could schedule the work. I don’t believe in paying by credit. I save up for what I plan to buy.

A couple of days later, when I was back working at the fair, I stopped by the Weather Tite booth again and told the young woman what a pleasant time I’d had dealing with their company. I mentioned Sam specifically, and Jim Wall, the estimator.

The next day, Aaron O’Brien, the president of Weather Tite Windows, called me to thank me for such positive feedback.  It brought to mind something that happened when I was in line at Publix on 9/28. The woman in front of me asked if she could write her check for $200 (about $18 over what she had bought).  When the clerk handed her the change, she accidentally handed back the check as well, underneath the bills. The woman returned the check, and the clerk seemed surprised at that. Why would anyone be surprised by honesty? Shouldn’t fairness be automatic? Shouldn’t acting honorably be the norm?

In an economy such as we’re experiencing now, it must be tempting to go for the hard sell, to rake in the customers, to push a more expensive window when someone doesn’t need it. Weather Tite doesn’t do any of that.

I’d be willing to bet they hire only nice people. If you’re looking for an estimate, give them a call.  They’re in Ohio, western Pennsylvania, Florida, and Georgia.

And I’ll let you know as soon as I get my new windows. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a good experience.


BEEattitude for Day # 354:
       Blessed are those who act with courtesy and consideration, for they shall sleep soundly at night.
 
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You Can’t Get Your Dog in My Next Book
The Contest is Over!
I’ll announce the winner in tomorrow’s post

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