It Feels Like Christmas!

We are getting our carpets cleaned! Hooray! Long overdue. With three kids, two dogs and homeschooling, well you get the picture. Up until this point we have done it ourselves - but it takes forever and we are never happy with the quality of it. This time we decided to have them cleaned by someone else. It feel so wonderful to watch all that dirt go away!

I know much of it will return sooner than later but oh the feeling of clean carpets, it makes me feel spoiled and so thankful. I know it seems silly with winter and mud and more paint and clay and dough and ink and all that coming but I can always find a reason to wait. It is so nice to have it done.

It is even nicer when you find a well recommended person who just has his own business and it as nice as can be. So much nicer than the impersonal services you usually get. Besides he actually cares what my carpets look like in the end because he wants me to stay a customer and to refer others.

Have you noticed the trend of good customer service appreciation we have? In an age of dying customer service - Serona and I have responded with customer loyalty to the places that give us excellent customer service, even when it means paying more (which it often does but it is worth the difference). Some common places we have found with excellent customer service are LL Bean, Hammacher Schlemmer, Simon Delivers, Circuit City, Byerly's, and believe it or not Target.

These are places that have our loyalty as customers and receive our business over and over again, even though there are cheaper options. LL Bean and Hammacher are two of my favorites as they have a no exceptions return policy that we have used legitimately a few times (especially where Roomba is concerned). Yet we have found their quality is generally so good that the return policy rarely needs to be utilized. We bought winter coats for the kids three years ago (this will be their third winter in them) and they are still like new. They will easily pass from child to child.

We believe in supporting local businesses and typically do. However, truth be told when it comes to making a big purchase we typically look to the company we know has excellent products and will stand by them. If they are local all the better, but sometimes they are not and a Hammacher or LL Bean is the right choice for us.

So start thinking about customer service and customer loyalty when you make your purchases.

Peace,
Tenn