23 May 2004 9:57 PM
Lasting Impressions
This weekend, two companies made, what I’m sure will be, lasting impressions. One good; the other not so good. First, the good. One of my best friends gave Carolyn and I a really nice Waring Blending for our wedding. In Texas, we used it a handful of times to make margaritas. Since then, however, whenever we’ve tried to use it to make corn chowder, smoothies, or some other concoction, it has been less than ideal. (By the way, I’m trying to use the phrase “less than ideal” rather than “sucks” to set a good example for Dylan.) While we considered the possibility that the blender simply refused to blend any non-alcoholic mixture, we decided there was a more fundamental problem. Remembering that my friend purchased the blender at Williams-Sonoma, on a whim, we stopped in at our local store. We remarked that the blender worked well a couple of times, but not any more. The helpful associate asked if we had received it as a gift or purchased it from Williams-Sonoma. We replied that it was a wedding gift purchased at the Austin Williams-Sonoma. Before we could ask what kind of a warranty it had, she said that we should bring it in and exchange it for a new blender. I was pleasantly surprised. This weekend, I returned to Williams-Sonoma with the blender in tow. I mentioned, to a different associate, that I had been in the previous weekend and had a blender that hasn’t worked for a while. Without asking any more questions, including where I bought it or how long I had it, the associated went in the back and brought out a replacement. Excellent customer service.
I also bought a new razor this weekend, a Norelco Quadra 7866XL. While unpacking the razor I encountered the sticker in the above picture and couldn’t stop laughing. This label was stuck to the cord for the razor. This is ridiculous for two reasons. First, who would consider cutting the power cord with a pair of scissors? Is this such a common action that consumers need to be warned not to do it? Second, sticking a label to the power cord encourages people to use their scissors to cut off the label. That is, as far as I can see, this warning label is going to increase the probability that someone is going to cut the power cord with a pair of scissors. The fact that this insane label passed through some engineering quality process without detection certainly made me hesitate before sticking this razor to my face. Fortunately for me, it worked just fine.
