Bad Customer Experience Turned Good

About a year ago now the dripping of the kitchen faucet had gotten bad enough that I finally took the cartridges out to examine them to see what needed to be done. As it turned out these cartridges had a lot of plastic parts that were worn and could not be replaced, so I'd have to replace the whole cartridge. In many cases there are simple washers on the cartridges which are really inexpensive to replace. So off I went to Home Depot where I'd bought the faucet, only to discover they did not have replacements for it. Wow, did that upset me!

My next stop was Preston Hardware in Little Italy. I knew they had a whole plumbing and bath store adjacent to the hardware store, and figured if anyone had a replacement, it would be them. Unfortunately, this proved not to be the case, so I had to buy a whole new faucet. I was going through all the options at Preston, and removing the cartridges from the faucets to ensure I was buying something with simple, replaceable parts. I honed in on one model for 60 bucks when (a guy who I am pretty sure is) one of the owners came over to see if I needed help

I explained to him about the one I'd bought at The Borg, and how disappointed I was that they did not even sell a replacement part for it. I told him that I was removing the cartridge so I could check to ensure they sold a replacement for it, and he proudly announced that they stock parts for everything they sell. His word was good enough for me, so I did not bother checking.

Fast forward about a year and our faucet has started leaking already. I was a bit dismayed by this turn of events so soon after replacing it, but I knew that it was probably just a washer that needed replacing, so I did not fret. Finally today I got around to taking the faucets apart and taking it in to Preston. Incidentally, when I redid the plumbing a few years ago I installed ball valves at a number of locations around the house, including under the sink so I could turn off the water under there to replace the faucets, without having to turn it off to the whole house.

Off I went with a cartridge in pocket, and sure enough once at Preston I was quickly able to identify which washers needed to be purchased. So I bought 3 packages of them just to be sure I would have some on hand next time around. I got home, removed the screw on the first cartridge, and quickly had the washer replaced and everything back in place. The 2nd cartridge proved considerably more problematic - damn phillips screws! I just wish manufacturers would stop using them. I could not for the life of me get that screw out! I tried everything under the sun including vice grips, as well as cutting a groove in it to use a slot screwdriver. So finally I decided to go back to Preston and just buy a new cartridge. Only to find that they did not, afterall, stock replacements! Aaaaa!

I stood there for a good 20 minutes pretending to look over all of the cartridges, going through my head how disappointed I was with everything. Mainly our "quick fix" society - a society that would even allow stuff like this to happen. How could someone sell something like this, but not stock parts for it? It is so basic. All the thoughts that went through my head a year ago - why are there even 15 different types of cartridge for goodness sakes? It is insane. There need only to 4 or 5 different types, I'm sure, and that would cover every possible faucet one could imagine. Probably only 2 or 3, in fact. But manufacturers have to "innovate". Yeah, right. What a deplorable situation. And this is true not just for faucets, it is everything. Aaaaaa!

Finally I saw the guy I'd spoken with a year ago, and quickly recounted the situation to him including the part about him ensuring me that he stocked spare parts for everything. In the blink of an eye he called over one of the kids working there, pulled a new faucet assembly off the shelf, and said to the kid "take one of the cartridges out and give it to the gentleman". Then he turned to me and asked "hot or cold"? I wasn't really sure because I'd had them both out - but we were able to figure out it very quickly. I thanked him very much before he left me with the kid, and when he was done I thanked him very much as well and said something about how that is the kind of customer service I expect. It did not even take a second for this man to decide to make it right for me - it was the very first thought in his head, and it was so quick that it had to have been his natural reaction in situations like this.

I am still disappointed that they don't carry the part they assured me they did, but I'm certain it must be nothing more than oversight. I have a high degree of confidence that a year from now, they will either have the spare part, or stop selling that faucet. Because it is the right thing to do.