by eamarquardt » Wed Feb 02, 2011 12:16 am
I went to the DoIt Center (a h/w chain here in So. Cal.) the other day for something to cap off a pipe. Had several options on how to do it with pvc, abs, or iron depending if I used some of what I had or just installed 1.5" abs plug. The fellow told me that abs/pvc/iron all had different pipe threads. I showed him that a pvc cap fit on a piece of iron pipe just fine. He continued to argue the point. I'm afraid I had to inform him: "you don't know what in the he$$ you're talking about". I was in considerable pain at the time (not unusual for me) and in no humor to argue with an idiot.
I shared with the manager on my way out that I was an engineer (technically my title at AT&T) and a machinist (more or less) and that there is only one pipe std for std pipe fittings and it is National Pipe Taper (but there is a high quality variant called dry fit but you won't find those fittings at a typical h/w store). I also "suggested" it would be nice to be helped by someone that knows what they're doing, ha.
I often get some "superior customer service" at the local True Value H/W store (but kids there love to taunt me after I annouce my presence by saying: "how bout some superior customer service"!), at AMEROCK Hinge company (via telephone), and Harris (Lincoln) welding products (via the internet), although it took two attempts at both AMEROCK and Harris to find someone that knew what they were talking about and provide me the right information verus the wrong information I got from the first folks I spoke to at both companies. After I ordered/bought the wrong hinges from an online vendor (as directed by the first AMEROCK rep) the second rep sent me a bundle of the right hinges for FREE!!!!!! Yea, AMEROCK!!!!
In general, "superior customer service", is a thing of the past virtually everwhere you go.
Cheers,
Gus
The opinions in this post are my own. My comments are directed to those that might like an alternative approach to those already espoused.There is the right way,the wrong way,the USMC way, your way, my way, and the highway.
"I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it." Klaatu-"The Day the Earth Stood Still"
"You can't handle the truth!"-Jack Nicholson "A Few Good Men"
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. The Marines don't have that problem"-Ronald Reagan