“Ace Typewriter, good morning.”
“Hello, this is Michael Rasmussen.”
“With the Hermes baby.It’s ready for you, but the indexing still doesn’t work.”
With my broken leg limited travel, I hadn’t been into Ace Typewriter in four months. Even then I’d only visited the small business a couple of times. Yet the owner remembered me. I didn’t need to refresh his memory or provide the number from my call ticket for the repair. That kind of people skills are rare and, dare I say?, never found in big box, big business retail stores.
Later in the day, I visited a big retailer. My left hearing aid had quit transmitting sound.
Note for those of you who have not needed hearing aids, they are expensive. Minimum cost for a quality pair is close to $2,000. One can easily spend $6,000 for a pair as my mom laments when describing the experiences of a friend of hers. Buying one from a traditional, small business, hearing aid center is an experience filled with up-sell pressure and very limited choice. The audiologist will recommend a pair. You have no effective way to compare options. And, as an indication of how this business works, they are required by law to give you a 30 day 100% money back satisfaction guarantee.
Having said that, I called Costco where I got my aid.
“Costco Hearing Center, how may I help.”
“My left side aid quit sending sound.” <br?>”Ouch. that’s bad. What’s your name? I’ll see if it is under warranty.”
I knew it wasn’t. We established that. For the record, my aides cost $3,660 for the pair.
“Come by anytime. We’ll see if we can fix it here. If not it will cost $135 to send it out.” The last part was said somewhat apologetically.
I did go by. They checked it while I picked up a few items we were needing. They were able to fix it. And they did so with no suggestion I upgrade to a newer model or buy an accessory. The only recommendation was to visit every six to eight weeks and have them clean them. My problem had been wax build up inside the aid. This is a known problem for the type, like mine, that fit fully inside the ear canal. There is no charge for this cleaning. There is not even sales pressure.
Two vastly different businesses. Their only commonality is providing excellent customer service.
Ace Typewriter is a sole proprietorship in Portland, Oregon. They sell and repair typewriters. Costco is a big box retailer with great employee policies.