Stormy weather on the customer service front.

Remember those threatening storm clouds that rolled over town last Saturday morning. They popped off some lightning bolts, rumbled with thunder and then, just as Canadian Tire was full of folks doing last-minute Father’s Day shopping, inside the store there was a momentary blackout.

Simultaneously there was an audible sigh as everybody in the store realized what it meant. The store’s entire electrical system – from lighting, to security alarms to cash registers – would have to reboot before things got back to normal. What was worse, with everything at a standstill, the line-up at the checkouts was growing fast.

Almost as quickly, with the temperature among impatient customers (and the store itself because the air conditioning also had to reboot), a guy in a blue Canadian Tire shirt slipped past the queue, grabbed an armful of bottled water and began handing out the bottles for free.

“Sorry for the inconvenience,” Kevin the store manager said. “We should have things back to normal in a couple of minutes.” (more…)

Even just knocking down an old garage took somebody who knew what he was doing - not me. — Even just knocking down an old garage took somebody who knew what he was doing – not me.

A good friend of mine – a designer by profession – has decided to take on something new in his life. It’s really only a slight turn in his career. He’s created masterful book designs for Canadian publishers for years. But when he and I recently put our heads together in front of a computer to work on my latest book design, he told me he’d bought a property in a neighbouring community, an older house, one we used to refer to as “a fixer-upper.”

“And I’m doing most of the interior renovations myself,” he said. “I just thought I’d like to try my hand at it.”

“You’re a better man than I,” I told him. And I meant it. (more…)

Ted Barris

author | journalist

Posts with the DIY tag

Customer Service 101

The urge to DIY