April 8, 2024

Here we go:

Against the backdrop of expectations and mutual frustrations that arise on a daily basis, we use experience and knowledge to build a narrative of problem-solving and mutual understanding with the ultimate goal being a thread of empathy and respect, leading to a final outcome that deeply satisfies everyone in the collaboration. It’s through the human capacity for open-mindedness that we find the nuggets of satisfaction that make the process worthwhile.

A few weeks back a customer named Al came into the shop carrying only a seat that had broken off of the post. He was a gentleman of about 70 years old and he was clearly in need of a solution. He explained that he needed a new seat because his was broken and it couldn’t be fixed. I looked at the base of the seat and it was clearly damaged beyond repair. The entire area underneath the seat where the seat post would clamp to was gone. It was impossible to know which mechanism the seat had formerly used to attach itself to the post. Rails? Glue? One piece design? I tried to coax the type of seat post the seat came off of and the customer couldn't articulate anything other than, "It’s a stationary bike and It broke off and I can’t fix it." At this point he was starting to repeat the problem over and over. I knew right away this wasn’t going to be resolved with anything we had hanging on the wall so I asked him to bring in the seat post and we’d go from there.

Fast-forward a few days and a nice lady came in with a square tubed seat post, and no seat. She mentioned that her husband had come in with the seat and was advised to bring back the post. She pulled out a printout from Amazon. I immediately thought "Here we go, I am going to give this lady free time and tell her which solution to buy from Amazon because she won't want to buy from us." I looked at the printout and it had 3 square tubed seat posts with clamps of various sizes that were not bicycle parts. She then pulled the seat post from her bag and I knew then that she was related to the gentleman with the broken seat. I asked her about him and she said "yes, that's my husband." So, knowing this info I advised her that we can’t get parts for this type of stationary bike since it isn’t a bicycle. She was disappointed and asked which item she should get from Amazon. At this point I knew we had no chance of a sale so I gave her advice on what I thought would be the best replacement parts and she left fairly dejected. I went back to work and mentioned to my colleague that we try to help but sometimes it just doesn’t work out.

A week later I hear the door chime and it’s the gentleman coming in, empty-handed. I wrapped up a transaction with another customer and greeted him. He said "Remember last week I had that broken seat? Well I just went and bought a whole new bike but I can’t put it together, can you do it?" Using my listening skills I paused, then asked, "Do you have it with you?" He said "Yeah, it’s a new exercise bike and I can’t put it together, can you do it?" Again, I paused, and as life would have it, things went into slow-motion, I had a quick vision of a titanic sized 400 pound solid steel exercise contraption that was about to be foisted upon us which would take up every square inch of free space and be a nightmare for all of us. Of course I said, "Sure, bring it on in." He quickly left and came back in with parts and more parts all wrapped in bubble wrap and cardboard. Now, I’ve been to IKEA many times and built furniture and cabinets. Seeing the pieces being brought in I knew that this was going to be similar in scope to the aftermath of an exciting IKEA trip whereby I have to assemble every single component of the ‘great deal’ by hand. I ask Al if he had all parts and instructions for the project. He said he did and mentioned the store where he purchased the ‘bike’ and then I knew I had to follow directions from a manual written by someone that wasn’t a native English speaker.

Al was so excited it was infectious. I was stoked he gave up on the broken seat, he was stoked he was getting a new stationary bike. I quoted him the build price and he gladly paid and left. It took me an hour to build it up following the manual that was surprisingly detailed and thorough. A nice touch was a large piece of cardboard with each nut, bolt, and washer shrink-wrapped with the actual sizing noted for each. Why can’t they all do this?! The build was done and I tested the unit successfully. I messaged Al that it was done and he came right over to pick it up. All he had was a car so we stuffed it into the trunk. There was no chance the trunk was going to shut. He said he had a short drive home and it would be fine.

That was it, problem solved. Another satisfied customer and no major drama. These are the interactions that make it all worth it. Have a great week!

Peace,
Paul

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