Good service is something we often take for granted. If we get bad service we often don’t return. If we get good service, if convenient, we return again and again.
Many almost make a career of bashing government. Government is “bloated” and “inefficient”. Little do they consider all the ways that government makes their lives easier.
Two favorite targets of government bashers are the Postal Service and the Internal Revenue Service. So effective are these government bashers that others parrot their complaints without considering how necessary and effective these services are.
Five days a week, our mail carrier Sarah comes to our door and deposits mail in our box. She almost always has a smile, whether she trudges through knee-deep snow bundled up for minus twenty or she easily strolls across mowed grass in shorts. This attitude is found throughout the Postal Service, at least in Minnesota. If you stop at a Post Office with a long line at Christmas, the clerks treat each customer as if they were their only customers. When they have finished with your request, they ask, “Anything else?”
Filing taxes is a chore most of us dread. Why so many details to note? Did I remember every donation? Did I remember every dividend check? And on and on. As we plow our way through all these details and curse that we still owe money, we curse the IRS. But the IRS didn’t create all these rules except at the bidding of Congress. And Congress created a complex tax code to satisfy thousands of lobbyists. To top it off, Congress doesn’t fund the IRS sufficiently to do all that it is required to do effectively.
A few weeks ago I received an IRS letter. Oh, boy! Did I screw up some calculation or miss an item? Do I owe even more money? I opened the letter to get the pain over quickly and found that I will be receiving a refund check! I used a wrong percentage for a calculation and have less taxable income than I reported.
I know most of this is automated but real people had to be involved to double check and order the refund. As all large organizations do, the letter said I would receive payment in four-to-six weeks. I think I received it in a week or ten days.
But that same Congress that bashes the IRS bashes the Postal Service. It saddled the Postal Service with the requirement to fully-fund future pensions, farther out than many corporations are required. For example, as of the last letter I received about my Unisys pension, it was only funded at 77 percent!
The result of this pension burden on the Postal Service is that it has to cut services. But if the Postal Service cuts services then what costs will be incurred by the public? When rural post offices are cut, how many people will have to spend time and money to drive thirty or more miles to the nearest post office? If the Postal Service consolidates sorting centers, how much longer will it take for businesses to provide service to their customers?
For example, Netflix has a Duluth distribution center. Instead of two-day turnaround for a DVD, turnaround from the Duluth center could be four days. That means, Netflix would probably close its Duluth distribution center, taking jobs direct and indirect with it.
UPS often uses the Postal Service for the “last mile” for small packages. I’m not sure exactly how this works, but if the Duluth postal sorting center closes, then USPS will have to change its procedures to have its center nearest the Postal Center handle these “last mile” packages. That will take a major reworking of UPS’s operational procedures.
I did not expect to write so much on government service. This leaves me less space to praise all the businesses local and national, big and small that provide good service.
I’ll start with a few that know me by name or at least recognize my face.
Every so often I buy something from Denny’s Lawn and Garden, but more often I come in with a question or a broken something. Tom is always ready to answer my questions or explain what has to be fixed.
Across the street at Denny’s Hardware, Yvonne always has a smile and is ready to point me in the right direction or to the right person. Even when the person is new to me, they seem to know where what I want is located.
Whenever I want to buy a book, The Bookstore at Fitgers can quickly tell me if its in stock or if it has to be ordered. Northern Lights Books provided the same service.
I buy boots and jeans every few years at Minnesota Surplus, but Rick and others recognize me and cheerfully serve me. Similarly, I buy a couple of shirts every few years at Mainstream for Men, and maybe a belt. Doug and Tom always treat me as if I were their favorite customer.
Oh dear, the word count is going up too fast. I have some favorite corporate places, but I’ll just end with a bit about Menards. Often a clerk will walk half-way across the store to show you where an item is. The king of service at Menards was Roy. People sought him ought for advice because he always seemed to have the right answer. He’s been retired for many years, but many still remember him.
Mel buys both local and corporate; he drinks Duluth beer and Italian wine. And he forgot to mention Brandon and crew at Mt. Royal Bottle Shoppe.
Originally published in the Reader Weekly, 2014-07-10 at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/07/17/3739_good_service.
Showing posts with label Menards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Menards. Show all posts
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Monday, September 23, 2013
Simple questions don't get simple answers from corporate bureaucracies
I bought a really nifty Westinghouse solar powered light for our outhouse at our cabin. It only cost about $30 and keeps us from stumbling in the dark, especially on a sunny day!!
It started acting up by not turning on again right after it was turned off. I won't give the details of my investigation, but I did send them as email to Westinghouse's distributor, thinking I would get an explanation or an apology for not having an answer. Instead I got a bunch of bureaucratese:
To process your order, I will need the following information:
* Full Name
* Mailing Address
* Contact Phone Number
* Purchase Location
* Purchase date
* Item/Model Number found on the BOX.
* Specific Part Number/Letter
* Copy of your purchase receipt with your order # on the top, sent via email attachment, by FAX or by mail.
They already have my name from my email. I don't know why they need my address and phone number to answer a question, or even where and when I bought it. I threw out the box, the item is essentially one part for purposes of my question, and I threw out or buried the receipt. I thought I had the proper model number from Menards online catalog.
I think I'll just try new batteries and see what happens. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll just ask one of the helpful clerks at Menards the next time I go there.
It started acting up by not turning on again right after it was turned off. I won't give the details of my investigation, but I did send them as email to Westinghouse's distributor, thinking I would get an explanation or an apology for not having an answer. Instead I got a bunch of bureaucratese:
To process your order, I will need the following information:
* Full Name
* Mailing Address
* Contact Phone Number
* Purchase Location
* Purchase date
* Item/Model Number found on the BOX.
* Specific Part Number/Letter
* Copy of your purchase receipt with your order # on the top, sent via email attachment, by FAX or by mail.
They already have my name from my email. I don't know why they need my address and phone number to answer a question, or even where and when I bought it. I threw out the box, the item is essentially one part for purposes of my question, and I threw out or buried the receipt. I thought I had the proper model number from Menards online catalog.
I think I'll just try new batteries and see what happens. If that doesn't work, maybe I'll just ask one of the helpful clerks at Menards the next time I go there.
Sunday, October 07, 2012
Three cheers for independent stores
A twist switch on a kitchen wall light wouldn't stay in the on position. I kept putting off looking at it, but finally did last week. We turned off the circuit breaker for the kitchen and I disassembled the light. Hurray, there was enough wall wire to reconnect it.
I took the switch to Denny's Hardware for a replacement. Denny Moran, the former owner, who now spends his time on the floor, was in. He said he didn't have exactly the same thing but something close. The difference was the new one had screws to attach wires rather then wires soldered to it. Close enough and in fact even better.
This afternoon I reassembled the light and it works fine.
Now if I'd gone to a big box hardware/lumber store, I would have wandered the aisles to find the right shelf. If I didn't find what I needed, I might wait five minutes for a clerk. The clerk may or may not know if the store had the part. I might have paid a few cents less for the part, but I would have used up the savings in the gas to get to the box box store.
As it was, I parked right at the door of the local hardware store, I was waited on right away, I got exactly what I needed, and was in and out in less time that it would have taken me to walk from my car to the correct aisle, walk to the cashier, and walk back to my car.
Three cheers for the dying breed, the local hardware store. Two bigger ones have closed in the last five or six years in Duluth. Killed not by policies in Washington, but by big box stores.
And maybe by local politicians who are always trying to attract businesses to town. Often those new businesses put local businesses out of business. The key to business success in a city is not to attract businesses but to attract people. People start businesses. Businesses don't start people.
I took the switch to Denny's Hardware for a replacement. Denny Moran, the former owner, who now spends his time on the floor, was in. He said he didn't have exactly the same thing but something close. The difference was the new one had screws to attach wires rather then wires soldered to it. Close enough and in fact even better.
This afternoon I reassembled the light and it works fine.
Now if I'd gone to a big box hardware/lumber store, I would have wandered the aisles to find the right shelf. If I didn't find what I needed, I might wait five minutes for a clerk. The clerk may or may not know if the store had the part. I might have paid a few cents less for the part, but I would have used up the savings in the gas to get to the box box store.
As it was, I parked right at the door of the local hardware store, I was waited on right away, I got exactly what I needed, and was in and out in less time that it would have taken me to walk from my car to the correct aisle, walk to the cashier, and walk back to my car.
Three cheers for the dying breed, the local hardware store. Two bigger ones have closed in the last five or six years in Duluth. Killed not by policies in Washington, but by big box stores.
And maybe by local politicians who are always trying to attract businesses to town. Often those new businesses put local businesses out of business. The key to business success in a city is not to attract businesses but to attract people. People start businesses. Businesses don't start people.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Short cuts can short change you
For readers not familiar with American idioms, let me explain the title.
A short cut is doing something with less time or money than normal. It comes from taking a shorter route than the usual route, say cutting through the woods rather than following the road. A short cut now may mean doing something quicker than normal. Like not putting on a hard hat to save time.
Giving short change is not giving all the change due a payee. For example, if you present $20 for something that costs $16.10, the seller may give you only $3.50 in change or $2.90, not $3.90. Short change has now come to mean not getting full value from something.
So, my short cut in building a cabin has cost me more money and time over the years than if I had done it right the first time.
When we built our cabin in Brimson, Minnesota in 1994 or so, we were living in the Twin Cities, a 200-mile, 3-1/2 to 4 hour drive each way. Each time we did a bit of work, we tried to make as much progress as possible.
We built the cabin on six posts stuck in the ground with the floor about 2-1/2 feet above the ground. I should have put insulation between the joists before I put the floor on, but I didn't want the insulation to get wet if I didn't have time to put the floor on. The way to put insulation between the joists is to nail runners along the sides of the joists, drop plywood on the runners, caulk the result, and drop insulation between the joists.
No, Mr. Know-It-All would crawl under the building and put the insulation in from underneath. No big deal for a fifty-something "kid".
Our cabin floor was warm through most winters, but then the squirrels discovered this wonderful nesting material. We would see wads all over our yard. I tried putting plastic screen under the insulation, but the squirrels would rip that off. I talked about putting 1/4-inch screen underneath, but never put more than a few square feet in.
Finally, there was practically no insulation left, and our floor was always cold in winter. This spring and summer, I pulled out what was left. I intended to install new insulation the proper way this fall. I finally started two weeks ago.
I intended to stuff insulation between the joists and then screw 1/4-inch plywood to support it and protect it from squirrels.
I borrowed a trailer from a friend, went to Menard's to buy all the plywood and a couple of packages of insulation. As a clerk helped me put the plywood in the trailer, he asked if I wanted to put the spare tire on top to hold the plywood down. I said no, I have tie-downs. Mistake one!
When I tried putting my tie-downs on, I could not find a good purchase on the side of the trailer, at least within reach of a single tie-down. I didn't think to hook two together. Mistake two!
As I drove the fifty-plus miles to our cabin, I kept looking in the rear-view mirror to be sure the insulation was still there. At not quite 25 miles, the insulation wasn't there. The North Star fire station was just ahead and I used that to turn around. Within a mile of backtracking, I saw the two insulation bundles stacked beside the road. Some kind person had stopped, picked them up off the road, and put them at the side. This time I put the bundles in the back of my SUV. But I didn't count the sheets of plywood; I saw that the top sheet was wedged under one of the back slats of the trailer and that should hold them in place. Mistake three!
When I unloaded everything at the cabin, I discovered I had only five of the six sheets of plywood. Hoo, boy! I drove the twenty-five miles back to where I had lost the insulation, looking carefully on both sides of the road (lots of tall grass, embankments, and such), as the daylight dwindled. As I drove, I pondered that I'm probably spending as much in gas as the missing sheet of plywood cost. I didn't find the sheet.
Tomorrow or soon: Part II - the actual progress of the insulation.
A short cut is doing something with less time or money than normal. It comes from taking a shorter route than the usual route, say cutting through the woods rather than following the road. A short cut now may mean doing something quicker than normal. Like not putting on a hard hat to save time.
Giving short change is not giving all the change due a payee. For example, if you present $20 for something that costs $16.10, the seller may give you only $3.50 in change or $2.90, not $3.90. Short change has now come to mean not getting full value from something.
So, my short cut in building a cabin has cost me more money and time over the years than if I had done it right the first time.
When we built our cabin in Brimson, Minnesota in 1994 or so, we were living in the Twin Cities, a 200-mile, 3-1/2 to 4 hour drive each way. Each time we did a bit of work, we tried to make as much progress as possible.
We built the cabin on six posts stuck in the ground with the floor about 2-1/2 feet above the ground. I should have put insulation between the joists before I put the floor on, but I didn't want the insulation to get wet if I didn't have time to put the floor on. The way to put insulation between the joists is to nail runners along the sides of the joists, drop plywood on the runners, caulk the result, and drop insulation between the joists.
No, Mr. Know-It-All would crawl under the building and put the insulation in from underneath. No big deal for a fifty-something "kid".
Our cabin floor was warm through most winters, but then the squirrels discovered this wonderful nesting material. We would see wads all over our yard. I tried putting plastic screen under the insulation, but the squirrels would rip that off. I talked about putting 1/4-inch screen underneath, but never put more than a few square feet in.
Finally, there was practically no insulation left, and our floor was always cold in winter. This spring and summer, I pulled out what was left. I intended to install new insulation the proper way this fall. I finally started two weeks ago.
I intended to stuff insulation between the joists and then screw 1/4-inch plywood to support it and protect it from squirrels.
I borrowed a trailer from a friend, went to Menard's to buy all the plywood and a couple of packages of insulation. As a clerk helped me put the plywood in the trailer, he asked if I wanted to put the spare tire on top to hold the plywood down. I said no, I have tie-downs. Mistake one!
When I tried putting my tie-downs on, I could not find a good purchase on the side of the trailer, at least within reach of a single tie-down. I didn't think to hook two together. Mistake two!
As I drove the fifty-plus miles to our cabin, I kept looking in the rear-view mirror to be sure the insulation was still there. At not quite 25 miles, the insulation wasn't there. The North Star fire station was just ahead and I used that to turn around. Within a mile of backtracking, I saw the two insulation bundles stacked beside the road. Some kind person had stopped, picked them up off the road, and put them at the side. This time I put the bundles in the back of my SUV. But I didn't count the sheets of plywood; I saw that the top sheet was wedged under one of the back slats of the trailer and that should hold them in place. Mistake three!
When I unloaded everything at the cabin, I discovered I had only five of the six sheets of plywood. Hoo, boy! I drove the twenty-five miles back to where I had lost the insulation, looking carefully on both sides of the road (lots of tall grass, embankments, and such), as the daylight dwindled. As I drove, I pondered that I'm probably spending as much in gas as the missing sheet of plywood cost. I didn't find the sheet.
Tomorrow or soon: Part II - the actual progress of the insulation.
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