Local service done right

The following story is a couple of weeks old but I haven't had a chance to share it until now. I can't remember exactly when it occurred, just that it occurred on a Thursday.

I was working in my office on my new computer that I had bought that previous Sunday at the Office Max on Broadway. I walked into the store and told the lady behind the counter that I was opening up my own office and that I needed an entire office worth of office equipment.

She agreed to follow me around the store and helped me pick out exactly what I needed based on what I told her I needed the equipment to be able to do. When I picked out an item, she would carry it to the counter. When she got tired of making that trip, she grabbed a cart and pushed it around the store with my items inside it. It was pretty much the greatest shopping event of my life.

I was in my office working on my new computer and was about to embark on what could have been a very frustrating afternoon, only I didn't know it yet. And thankfully, due to Herb Hawley, it wasn't.

My computer froze up as I was trying to complete something time sensitive. I had the same issue with it the night before and had to talk to three different people in three countries to get it to work again.

This time I was able to call the correct support center with just one phone call and was told it would be a few business days before my computer could get fixed. I decided that a much better solution would be to take it back to Office Max and have it exchanged for one that wasn't broken and in need of repair.

I packed up the computer back into the box it came in that I hadn't had a chance to remove from my office yet and placed it in the trunk of my car. As I was about to get into my car, one of the men I work with was standing on the passenger side of my car and informed me that I had a flat tire.

This was about as frustrated as I have been in a while and knowing there was little getting upset about it could do to help the situation, I tried to stay calm as I discovered that I couldn't immediately return my four-day old computer because one of the tires I had bought two days before was completely flat.

I bought my tires from Hawley's Automotive Center because not only did he quote me the lowest price out of everyone in the Boise or Mountain Home area, but it was important to me that my money remain locally in town and not taken out of town or given to a national franchise when a local business could offer the same, or better, service at the same, or better, price.

Earlier this summer, Hawley's replaced my breaks and later my AC. The work was done quickly and at a great price. Best of all, I received a thank you card in the mail after each service job thanking me for my business. I've spent lots of money in lots of stores in lots of towns and cannot remember ever having received a thank you note from a business before.

I got a ride down to the store, where we explained the situation and left with an air tank and a plan to fill up my tire and drive my car to the store. When I got back to the store with my car, Herb was nowhere to be found.

That's because after I left, he realized I lived on the outskirts of town and was concerned about me driving the on the tire such a great distance. So he drove out to my place to switch out my tire for me. However, I wasn't home I was at my office just a handful of blocks away from him on the same street, American Legion.

As I waited for him to return, I remember thinking, "What other business does the owner COME TO YOUR HOUSE to offer any sort of service on their products?"

When Herb arrived back at the shop, he told me that when he sells someone something and there's a problem with it, he wants to take care of it right away, regardless if it's his fault or their fault.

He instructed me to back my car up to the edge of his shop and right away jacked up the flat tire and went to work fixing it.

He discovered that within 48 hours of buying all new tires, I had managed to run over a screw for the first time in my life and that screw was the reason for my flat tire.

He then patched up the hole and sent me on my way with no additional cost for his work.

I drove home, walked into my house and had a thank-you note for my tire purchase on the counter waiting for me.

That's the type of home town service you just can't get anywhere else. And I would rather have quality, personal service than free beef any day.