Cheryl Changed Everything.
Addendum to the refrigerator story:
We tried for several hours to find someone from Front Air Delivery who would actually help us with our problem: the refrigerator had been left in the garage, rather than installed, thanks to a hasty delivery person who didn’t think he was being paid enough to move the whole refrigerator into the actual kitchen.
I learned this: Front Air Delivery has absolutely NO online presence. While we have a phone number – ironically in Tennessee, where Dylan will be attending college – we have no way to verify that this company actually exists.
Also this: calling any of the numbers for Home Depot delivery or Front Air Delivery resulted in a recorded message that seemed to be helpful, but did nothing but route and re-route the caller to different recorded messages.
Interestingly, the delivery person claimed that we were at fault because we “refused to sign required paperwork” acknowledging the fine job of the delivery person. That delivery person never presented me with paperwork.
Unfortunately, when Bill finally gave up on Front Air Delivery and walked into our local Home Depot store, he was greeted with disdain by workers who read these comments, and thought we were at fault. But the Home Depot people told Bill that they would have someone come to our house and move the refrigerator into our kitchen, free of charge, on Friday.
Friday came. Friday went.
At about 3:00, having called Home Depot a few times with varying results, Bill found a woman named Cheryl.
Cheryl changed everything. She read the notes written by the delivery person, and started to attack Bill – but by the end of his telling of the saga, Cheryl was stunned.
“No he did not,” she repeated.
At the end of the story, she snapped to life. First she put Bill on hold for a long time. Then she returned.
“I will have someone out there tomorrow morning between 8:00 and 10:00,” she said. “They will move your old refrigerator and install the new one for you.”
Bill was thrilled. But Cheryl wasn’t done. “And for your troubles,” she said, “I am giving you $100 off the price of the refrigerator. I will call you when I come in at 11:00 to make sure that everything was done to your satisfaction, and get that refund started.”
And on Saturday morning, midway between 8:00 and 10:00, two men from Home Depot showed up in our driveway. They were polite, professional, and hardworking. They did everything Cheryl said they would do, refusing even a monetary tip, and they went on their way.
Cheryl called just after 11:00, like she said she would. When Bill asked what he could ever do for her, Cheryl told Bill, “It’s hot out there. Someday you can bring me a Slurpee.”
She made everything okay again.