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May 11, 2006
No, thank you, I won’t be bringing my patience cap
I am on the road with my family in a big, vinyl-wrapped motor home, promoting my company’s latest release. (That’s why the blogging has been light.)
The other day I had a minor maintenance crisis first thing in the morning, on a day when I had to drive five hours to a presentation. Fortunately there was a Camping World nearby, so I went over there to see if they could help me.
The Camping World parking lot was full of RV’s waiting their turn in the busy service bays. I explained my problem, and my tight schedule, to someone at the service desk. After consulting with his manager, he came back to tell me that there was just no way they could help me quickly. He handed me the card of a smaller competitor down the road, though, and said that he had already called to confirm that they could help me immediately.
I called the shop to tell them I was coming. There an exasperated voice wanted to know who was paying for this work. I explained that I was traveling on business and would pay whatever it cost to fix, even if it wasn’t covered by warranty. I also explained that I had a tight schedule and hoped they could look at it right away. “Well, bring your patience cap,” I was admonished.
Well, I didn’t want to bring my patience cap. I didn’t want to bring them any cap at all. So I got some parts and ideas at Camping World and, right there in the parking lot, fixed things well enough to get back on the road.
Camping World will always be my first stop. Even though they couldn’t help me, they took my problem and my schedule seriously. The smaller shop probably could have helped me, but they treated me like an annoyance, not a customer.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at May 11, 2006 10:30 AM
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