Exemplary Customer Service to the Rescue

In a typical "Case of the Mondays" I found myself in a bit of a surprise predicament this morning. Like many people, I don't function very well first thing Monday morning, and I operate on what I call "robotic mode" where my body just does what my brain is trained to do out of habit:

1. alarm goes off
2. smack snooze button
3. roll out of bed a while later
4. look at clock
5. shout out an "oh, expletive!" because I over slept
6. toss each kid an Eggo or something portable to eat
7. shove kids in car
8. drive off to take them to school

After dropping 1 kid off, I noticed that I have a flat tire. Again, I uttered an "oh, expletive!" Ugh, now wtf am I going to do? I still have 1 more kid to drop off at another school a few miles away and even the nearest tire shop is a few miles away. Mind you, my tire pressure light had been on since yesterday but we mostly ignored it because it's sensitive. It'll turn on at the slightest temperature drop and it could often times mean it's not an emergency. We figured that it's just a temperature change and we'll fill it up the next time we get gas (since most gas stations will give free air to paying customers, might as well kill 2 birds with one stone, and save a few coins, right?) I remember a nearby gas station having a mechanic's station so I head off there. I pulled up to one of their repair bays and waited for a few seconds. No one's around. I get out of the car to look at the tire again and I notice a big huge screw stuck in the tire. Well hell. There seems to still have enough air in the tire for me to drive the 1.5 miles to the nearest tire shop (I wasn't terribly comfortable working with that gas station since it looked a bit sketchy, not to mention no one ever game out to greet me or show any sign that there was a mechanic on staff even though the garage doors were open.) So I hopped back in the car and headed to the nearest tire shop which was Big O Tires.

I pull up to Big O Tires, grabbed my kiddo and headed inside. An employee greeted me and asked me what he could do for me.

"I have a flat on my rear driver's side tire," I said quite frantically because I'd been pretty freaked out about driving on a flat that'd been there since yesterday. Not only was I worried about damaging my rims, but I was worried about losing control of the vehicle having to drive so long and far on it, with my kids in the car.

"Ok, we can get you taken care of," the employee calmly said, "It'll take about 45 minutes."

"45 minutes?" I said more shockingly than I should as panic and my hectic Monday morning schedule raced through my head. My kid was already 15 minutes late to school by the time I pulled up to Big O Tires. I was going to run back to Kid #1's school to photograph an event going on, and dash off to a dr's appointment that took me well over a month and a lot of hassle to get.  "Um, ok, I have to get my kid to school," I uttered.

"There are a few other cars ahead of you but we'll get you taken care of as fast as possible," the employee said.

I didn't really have a choice. "Ok, thank you," I said, and had my kid follow me to the waiting area.  A few minutes later, a light bulb went off in my head and I pulled out my phone to make a call to one of my kid's classmate's mom. I begged her to meet me at Big O Tires and take my kid to school. Thankfully, she was happy to help.  As I was walking out of the door to meet with her, I asked the employee if I could have my car keys back for a moment to get my kid's stuff out of the car.

"We're going to go ahead and get you in right now," he said. "We'll go ahead and have you jump ahead of another car and get you taken care of."

To my shock, I nearly fell to my knees to thank him for his awesome customer service.  He took mercy on my frantic state and saw that I needed to get out of there in a hurry, pulled some strings and got things done for me.  My kid's classmate's mom whisked him off to school for me (since she'd already arrived to meet me) and I am forever thankful.  Within 10 minutes, the employee came back out with my keys and said, "you're all taken care of and there's no charge.  You're parked right out front."

WHAT? No charge? Are you sure? I mean, dude you just came through for me by having me jump ahead of someone else since I was in a rush, now you fixed my flat for...FREE?

"Really? Are you sure?" I asked him.

"Yup, just come back and see us again," he said.

"Oh I definitely will!  THANK YOU!"  I said with a huge sigh of relief.

It was no doubt a crazy morning for me, but it's nice to know and experience some amazing humanity and great customer service.  I never even got the employee's name. In hindsight, I wish I did.  Regardless, he was awesome and I am very grateful for his compassion and service.  Much like my friend who came to take my kid to school, the Big O Tires employee was a hero to me today.  Both people came to my rescue. I'll be happy to give Big O Tires my business in the future.