In The Midst Of A Lousy Year...

     ...there remain reasons to believe in the good things: the good people, the good organizations and institutions, and the good will that infuses by far the greater part of America. Herewith, a vignette.

     I have storm doors on both my front and rear exits. The one on my front door is somewhat fancy, a “full view” model that can be fitted with either a full-length glass panel or a full-length screen. It’s a Pella storm door, made and installed more than 15 years ago, and it’s served us very well...up to yesterday evening, that is.

     Well, nothing lasts forever, as they say, and quite a number of people and things have trooped in and out through that storm door, so a little deterioration was “in the cards.” Yesterday evening, the latch set failed in a curious way: it trapped us in the house. I did manage to remove the whole thing, such that we were no longer relegated to going in and out through the windows, but it left the storm door looking a trifle incomplete. So I went to the Pella website to see if I could order a replacement latch set.

     It wasn’t something I could do in full confidence without some expert advice, as that model storm door is no longer made. However, Pella has online chat support, so I “rang them up.” I was connected to a very nice lady named Sarah, who asked for pictures of the old latch set, which I thereupon transmitted to her.

     Surprise #1: Once given the images, Sarah was able to find the equivalent latch set in Pella’s internal database in under three minutes.

     Surprise #2: The latch set was covered under Pella’s limited lifetime warranty. The replacement would cost me nothing. Sarah gave me an order-confirmation number and assured me that the replacement would be in my hands in 5 to 7 business days.

     No interminable delays, no hassle, and no expense.

     Thank you, Sarah and Pella! And thank You, God for businesses and businesspeople who stand by their wares and sincerely believe in customer service!