Still Good in the World!

Around the middle of October, we had one of those experiences that start out horrible and end up wonderful!  We had had a lot of kids at our house one day and when they were all home, Taysum came to me with a toy stuck on his finger.  He was embarrassed that he couldn't get it off on his own.  I think he thought I would be mad.  This is the toy that was stuck on his finger (it's an air launcher for foam rockets):

We tried everything we could think of to get it off and 1/2 hour later, and after a call to my firefighter brother, we were at the ER.  The nurses and doctor were patient with us and very kind.  They tried all they could think of, too, to no avail.  Finally, they had to use a cutter they use to cut off casts.  Taysum was extremely upset by then and even though I tried to reassure him, he thought they were going to cut his finger off.  Finally, it came off!  His finger was pretty sore and had a little cut around it, but he was ok other than that.  It was quite an ordeal and we were both pretty traumatized by the whole thing.  This is what the toy looked like by the end of it:

I regret my first few thoughts towards the company.  I was really upset... I even tried to get some advice from a friend of mine who is a lawyer.  I didn't necessarily want to make a big stink about it or anything, but I wanted someone to understand how awful this was for Taysum and not just be a comment lost somewhere in Customer Service limbo.  

Finally, I called the company.  I expected an automated operator with a long list of numbers to push for different departments.  However, a REAL person answered!  That was the first shock!  I calmly explained the situation and her first response was, "Let me see if I can get our Executive VP on the line."  Whoa!  Shock number 2!  Ready for number 3?  He answered and listened to me!  He empathized with me and seemed truly sincere!  He said they hadn't had that happen before and they would certainly look into it.  Then he said he wanted to send Taysum a toy to replace the one that was now broken and to say they were sorry this happened.  (Of all things to be worried about, Taysum was most concerned that his toy was now broken!)  He gave me his email address and told me to send him my information and they'd get something off to him.  He asked what he likes, which kind of caught me off guard!  This was no small company... the company is POOF-Slinky; the makers of Slinky!  I mentioned he likes sports and building things, etc.    A few days later, I got an email from his assistant saying a package had been sent.  A few days after that, the package came!  It was not just a one toy replacement!  It was a whole box!  And each item was specific to some of the things I had listed as his interests!  I was amazed and so touched!

It just did my heart good to know that there are still people and large companies out there who are sincere and concerned in and interested in their customers!  It was a great learning experience for me!