Good Service

Last week I found and fixed two problems in my house. I can even brag about two different companies and their super satisfactory customer service. One was a tea problem and the other a knitting problem.

I had ordered tea from my only tea supplier, Harney and Sons. They are the people I have to thank for turning my husband into a tea drinker. I had talked him into a road trip to visit their store and tasting room. After tasting a couple of teas I was in the shop choosing and calculating what I could buy without irritating the husband too much. After careful consideration I went looking for him expecting him to be impatiently waiting for me. What I found instead was him waiting for a cup of tea to brew. What a pleasant shock. When he said how much he liked the tea (Lapsang Souchong) I made sure that I bought a tin. We have rarely been with out 'Lappy' since then.

Harney and Sons had a promotion around St Patrick's day and since our Lappy was running low I made sure to order. We had been finishing a tin when I discovered the wrong bag of tea was shipped. Now I am all for trying new tea but we can not deal with a house without Lappy. Since the mistake bag of tea was Malachi McCormick's Blend, I see how the tea would be stored alphabetically and the wrong bag was pulled.

I emailed the company and am happy to say that the problem was fixed. I now have a bag of Lappy. They also allowed me to keep the Malachi tea, I may report to you that it is indeed "a decent cup of tea." It is a nice no frills just good black tea. Thanks for letting me try it Harney and Sons.

My second crisis concerned my Knitpick's harmony needle tips in size US#5. I decided to knit another Baktus from my ample stash. Whoa, I meant adequate stash. I had been knitting for a bit and noticed that my yarn was snagging on one of the needles. It had a small crack, not enough to be a break but enough to get the yarn. I tried holding the needle so the snagging area and the yarn did not connect quite as much but you know that can only be a temporary fix, which is not really a fix at all. Next I pulled out my trusty nail file and used both grits on it. Now I have a extra pointy needle that still snags the yarn.

I had heard both good and bad things about Knitpicks service. I know from working the other side of the counter there is a right way and a wrong way to request help. The wrong way would be to demand, make threats or generally be a jerk. The right way is to be polite and tell them what is wrong and if you've tried to fix anything.

Since I've only used this size needle to knit my other Baktus I suspected the issue was a defect not normal wear and tear. I hate to say that a piece of wood was defective but that little crack/notch was driving me crazy.

After I emailed the company I received a same day response and now have a functional size 5 needle. I will be keeping the non-defective tip as a back up. I am still trying to figure out how I can make the other tip useful without yarn. I am mulling the idea of using it as a very pretty letter opener.

So I had two great customer service experiences this week. Two for two maybe I should go to bed while I am ahead of the game.

Harney Tea

That is what a trip to Harney and Sons Tea looks like for us. 18 tins of tea come home with us. I had already taken two to work with me so they did not make it into the picture.

We picked out three new ones to try and filled up the rest. The sad thing is that we did not get all the tea we wanted. They were out of D's favorite tea. I am not telling you which one that is because it must be all you people buying it! Yes I know that I have told you which one it is but I am going to stop making it easy for you to get it.

So I've been stalking their website since our trip to pounce on it when it comes back into stock. I ordered some on Tuesday. Yay!!! They called and left a message for me on Thursday that it really is out of stock that was just a glitch. Dang it

Is it weird that I now need to come up with a backup tea plan considering how much tea I just bought? We tried a new on on Saturday, the Pu-erh. While I have described tea as having a hay taste I can honestly say I have not yet used manure as my adjective before that day. I think I will call it an Earthy smell (manure). Luckily the tea did not taste that way. Hey I grew up on a farm manure is in the air out there.

I don't know if it will grow on me but it was all right. D said it is an acceptable substitute. Me I prefer that my tea smells like tea, or smokey bacon.

Tea Trip

Hubby and I decided to be spontaneous this weekend and take a road trip to our favorite tea shop, Harney and Sons Tea. It is not a long trip but it is more than a stone's throw away.

I discovered their tea over the internet and asked for some Queen Catherine for Christmas one year. Description from their website follows: We created this blend of three Chinese black teas in honor of Queen Catherine, who introduced her love of tea to the British. We are privledged to have this tea featured in the Museum of Tea in Hangzhou, China. Harney & Sons is the only Western tea company to receive this honor.

I had just seen a movie about Charles II of England, who's wife is the Queen Catherine the tea is named after. I liked the movie and wanted to try the tea. She seemed such a strong woman in the movie. Yes I know that Hollywood does not tell tales correctly but I really liked her character. The odd thing is that Charles II must have liked her character too since he did not divorce her when she could not produce an heir for him. He even defended her when he felt she had not been properly respected by his mistresses. Now if that is not a manly man I don't know what is. (sarcasm intended) I guess even he respected her loyalty. (no sarcasm intended)

So anyways we were off to the tea shop. I love road trips with D. I think that was when I really knew that our marriage would work, on the trip from SD to Florida. At one point when I was singing along with the radio I knew he loved me enough to tolerate my quirks.

So we pull into the tea shop and I pull out my bag of tea tins all 20 of them. We had been commissioned to pick up a pound bag of Lapsang Souchong for a friend too. So we ask if they have the pound bags there, Yes. Two pounds please and could you fill all these tins too? Turns out they were out of Lappy (that is what we call it at my house). Can you believe it? We did manage to get the last 4 ounces. I bet it will taste great too.

We had to stop for gas on our way back and that romantic of mine bought me a vanilla shake too. What a Man!