One of the things that annoys me most is reaching out to a company's customer support and getting an underpaid, unmotivated rep who does not care at all and does absolutely nothing to help.
I could tell you a few of my own horror stories, but I am sure you have yours.
A couple of years ago, I went to a fruit store for the first time and spent about $10 on fruit and vegetables, including some oranges.
This story is a bit long, but please bear with me. It will all make sense at the end.
When I got home, I cut open one orange and, to my disappointment, it was dry. I opened two more just to be sure. They were the same!
Now, less than $2 of dry oranges is not the end of the world. But it made me do a little math, and I would like you to do it with me, because it is really about you.
Let's say you spend around $10 a week at your favorite fruit store. Over 20 years, that adds up to $10,000 ($10 x 50 weeks x 20 years).
Ten thousand dollars. That is how much trust you hand over to a store you like, ten dollars at a time, without ever thinking about it.
And it is not only money. It is every Sunday lunch, every lunchbox, every fruit bowl on the kitchen table. You are trusting that store with a small piece of your week, for years.
So the real question is not "Is their fruit good?" It is "When something goes wrong, will they be there for me?"
Imagine going back to complain and hearing: "I am sorry, ma'am, there is nothing I can do."
Now you have dry oranges, a wasted trip, and the feeling that your $10,000 means nothing to them. You would never go back, and you would be right.
Now imagine hearing this instead: "I am truly sorry your oranges were dry. Let me get you a new bag, and please also accept this pineapple to make up for the trouble."
That would change everything, wouldn't it?
You would walk out with good oranges, a free pineapple, and something far more valuable: the peace of mind of knowing that the next time something goes wrong, you will not have to fight to make it right.
And you would tell your friends. Not because the store asked you to, but because it feels good to send the people you care about somewhere you know they will be looked after.
Do you remember how it all started with a few dry oranges? Impressive, isn't it?
The same is true with fabric. Every quilter I know puts far more into a quilt than the price of the fabric: the hours of cutting, piecing and pressing, the quilt for a new grandchild, the one for a friend going through a hard time.
At The Fabric Hut, we know we are not perfect and things don't always turn out as we expect. When they don't, we want you to feel exactly what that pineapple would have made me feel: that you matter to us, and that we will make it right.
I hope you have a very, very happy day.
