Coach, You Have a Customer for Life!

So this week has been and will continue to be busy. I leave for China very early on Saturday morning so I'm making my rounds and saying my "bye for nows," and doing lots of misc stuff shopping and starting to gather my piles so packing for my trip back will be as easy as possible...

One thing I've also been working on over the past month is getting some of the more obscure to-do's done, as well. One of those to-do's involved letting go of my favorite Coach purse so I could send it off to be fixed... the stitching had come loose, and since that is covered in their commitment to quality, they fix it for free and all you have to pay is round trip shipping, which I don't think is a bad deal at all.

So a few weeks ago I took it in, and knew it would probably arrive after I was already in China, but today I got a call from my local store informing me that it can't be fixed - huge bummer, right? BUT before I had the chance to even be *slightly* bummed, they told me that they had already cut me a check for the balance of what the purse was worth the day it was made which is even more than what I had bought it for since it was already at the end of that season! And they're shipping it back to me, so if I want to carry it around with an inch of loose stitching I still can (and will b/c I do love it) AND I get a new purse (or two if I really try hard)!

Superior customer service hardly exists like that these days, and I have to say I was so impressed, like *shocked,* in a very pleasantly surprised way! I can't wait to start looking to continue to build my collection of Coach purses... I currently own 4 in varying sizes and colors, so obviously already loved them as a company for their quality, but with this they sealed it that I will be a customer for life, and most likely an exclusive one at that...

Another fun customer service experience is that I bought a pair of jeans from the Buckle after I complimented Chelsea on her jeans. She told me that they were Buckle, but the best part about them was that they do alterations on your jeans for FREE! What?! Personally, I've never gotten my jeans altered although almost every pair of jeans I've ever bought needed it done (b/c I'm so short), but it's one of those things that seems silly to pay for, right? But knowing that it's done for free just clenched it, and these jeans are SO cute!

When I bought them they told me to take them home, wear them and wash them a couple of times and then bring them back... did that this morning (Tuesday) and at the LATEST they will be back to me be Friday (what? not like 8 weeks from now?) - slam dunk!!

I love that some companies refuse to skimp on quality customer service when almost everyone else is, using the "recession" as an excuse... makes me love them even more!

Speaking of people using the recession to the hilt - that brings me to Craigslist... love that website and at any given time I have something posted on there and have for almost 5 years now. So with this latest round of stuff I posted, I noticed that even though I checked "no spam email" I'm getting like 10 junk emails a day with people "counseling" me on how I should sell my stuff in these "hard, economic times." I'm like - people - regardless of the state of the economy I sell stuff that I don't need, so I don't need to click on your best friend's cousin's spam link to "learn" how I can sell off everything I own so my baby daddy can eat Taco Bell tonight... weird and annoying. Hopefully some real buyers will be in the mix somewhere, haha!

Anyone else having some horrid or amazing customer service experiences lately? Or anyone noticing people using the recession in never-before-seen ways?

The Lighting is Different...

So half of me loves that fall is here (it's my favorite season!), and the other half can't really believe it! I feel like it's too early that Fall decorations are all over the place, and that the Halloween Costume temporary stores are popping up everywhere...

Somehow since China I've fallen into this mindset that time should be standing still because we're gone, or something like that so when I wake up and realize it's an entire season later, it takes me by surprise, haha.

I remember having that same experience when I studied in Italy, or when I was working in London - that somehow it was wrong that time marched on without me, and I find that I guess that is happening again... time is moving so fast, and while I'm not stressed about it, sometimes when I'm trying to remember what month it is I find myself confused for a split second when I realize we're already well into September.

What HAS helped is that in the last week I've noticed that the lighting has changed (as in the way the sun shines and the colors of how it lights everything up) - it definitely looks more like fall in the afternoons and evenings, so nature is helping to catch me up, I guess! I pointed this out to my mom yesterday afternoon as we were watching a movie in the late afternoon, and she took a second to absorb by studying the light coming through the windows and agreed...

I leave to go back to China in less than two weeks, and while I'm excited for Curt and I's big diving trip that he's been planning, I'm kind of sad as well to be missing most of my favorite month - October! I can hardly stand it that I can't buy pumpkins for the front porch, won't spend weeks getting a great costume together, and won't see the changes in the weather for myself, and of course I'll be missing a couple of football games as well... sigh... BUT I purposely booked my flight back to make it for Halloween, so I will be attending the Aggie game in costume - WHOOP! I mean how many times does Halloween fall on a Saturday, let alone on a home game weekend? I couldn't miss it... :-)

Then it will be time for Courtney's wedding which will be so fantastic - I can't wait!

Other than that I'm just trying to make mental lists of what I need to do before I leave... have been doing Crossfit, running, and some Bikram yoga which has kept me busy, and spending a lot of time with family and friends, which has been awesome, too! My 10 year high school reunion is this weekend, which is also a time wake-up call (what?! I can remember that like yesterday), but should be a blast since Ash and Tiff are both coming in from out of state so I cannot WAIT to see everyone! Should be great...

Until later...hope everyone is well and take care!