Customer Service

Dear Tyler at O'Reilly Auto Parts Store in Glendora, CA,

You are a life saver.  Truly.  You have no idea.

When I got up this morning, 400 miles from home, and found that my car wouldn't start, it was not the greatest start to my day.

First off, I really needed a Coke Zero to get my day going.  And my car wouldn't start.  The hotel chain I was staying at only carried Pepsi products (that particular chain shall remain nameless, but let's just say that for that reason--and really for that reason only, as they did serve wine and chocolate chip cookies in the evening which was awesome-- in my opinion it is not the BEST hotel in the WESTERN area).  AND MY CAR WOULDN'T START!

I put that last sentence in all caps because there is no such thing as a font called Panic, otherwise that is what I would have used because that is how I felt.  I can't really tell you what was agitating me more, the lack of a Coke Zero (and the complete inability to get one now that MY CAR WOULDN'T START), or the fact that MY CAR WOULDN'T START!

Getting the picture?  Neither of these situations is truly alarm-inducing in and of themselves.  But together, they create a caffeine-deprived woman with no remedy for her distress.

I can hear you saying to yourself (not you, Tyler the life saver--other people who might be reading this blog), "You could just buy yourself a Diet Pepsi and half of your problem would be solved."

If you said that, if you even thought that, then I have no idea how you found your way to this blog.  Clearly you do not know anything about me.  You probably had to press Ctrl•Alt•Delete to even get to this blog.

Sorry, Tyler.  I got sidetracked there.  Back to my recap of how you are a wonderful person.

So I'm stranded hundreds of miles from home on day three of a four day college road trip with Steven, my sixteen year old.  I guess technically that means we are stranded, not just me.  In our defense, we are two cool cats.  We do not panic at all.  We go about our day calmly.

We leave our car at the hotel and carpool with our good friends the Andersons to the college that we are visiting that day.  We have a fantastic time looking around.  We enjoy ourselves immensely.  We are not in the least bit stressed out or worried about the fact that we currently have no working vehicle with which to get to the next college or get home.  We just figured we would solve that problem when we got back to the hotel.

One set of cheap jumper cables (they did not do the trick), a call to a tow truck, one set of really good jumper cables from the tow truck (they did do the trick), and a short drive down the street to O'Reilly's Auto Parts Store, we finally get to you, Tyler.

We told you our predicament,  politely asked if your store installs batteries, and even though your store does not install batteries as a matter of policy, you offered to take a look for us and give us some guidance.

And then you took the next hour and a half of your time and installed our battery.  It was way more involved than you originally thought it would be, but not once did you lose patience or tell us that it was simply too much for you to do.  You scraped off the corrosion.  You loosened the nuts with pliers when the space was too small to get the socket wrench into.  You consulted your manager when it turned out that one of the terminals had a slight crack in it.  You found a way to remedy the crack, at least for enough time for us to get the car home.

It was hot outside, Tyler, and not once did you even mention the heat, even though you were standing in the direct sunshine the entire time.

When you finished and I turned the key, not only did the car start right up, but my automatic locks, which had not worked for over a year, now worked!

So Tyler, what I want you to know is that you are a wonderful young man who went far above and beyond what was expected of you today, and probably far and beyond what your boss usually allows in the parking lot (there was a sign hanging there saying no car work to be done in the parking lot, but your boss seemed okay with you helping a pair of distressed travelers).

You could have simply told me at the outset that O'Reilly's policy is to not do the actual battery changes and just sold me the battery, but you didn't.  You talked to me, asked me questions, listened to my answers, assessed the situation, and decided to help.

Not everyone would have done that, Tyler.  I'm so grateful you did.  We are so grateful you did.

You created an O'Reilly customer for life (and I did send an email to corporate headquarters detailing your good deed, so I hope you get some kudos for it).

More importantly, you set a great example.  You paid attention to the situation and to the predicament of the people involved.  You did not shy away from a hard job.  You were persistent.  You got help from your manager when you needed advice.  You went out on a limb and against standard policy to get the problem solved.

World leaders could take a lesson from you, Tyler.

Thank you for making what could have been a disastrous situation instead a positive, uplifting escapade I will repeat with a smile.

You made our day, Tyler!