All I Needed Was a Set Screw

I have been divorced for about 18 months and have been faced with home improvement projects I wouldn’t normally tackle.  This past weekend one such project came up which led me to a Make or Break Moment.

The door handle of the front storm door came off in my hand sending its corresponding partner skittering across the front porch.  I retrieved the pieces and tried to reassemble but quickly realized I was missing a part – it looked like a little pin should have gone in a tiny hole and I couldn’t find it anywhere.

So off to Lowes Home Improvement I go with both handle pieces and a feeling of dread as I enter the monstrous big box store.  I ask the first person I see where handles are kept and I’m sent to Aisle four – home of the front door knobs.  Seeing nothing that looks like the one I have in my hands I seek out another employee.  I found Chris.

I show him the pieces and he says “You are in the wrong aisle, come with me.” 

He never hesitated, but took me to the right place.  He clearly could see I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of retail offerings and immediately alleviated my fears.

However, once in the correct aisle the price tags were surprising:  $39, $49, $69 for a door handle.  I have a handle, I’m thinking to myself – I just need whatever thing is missing that goes in that tiny hole.

Chris takes my handles and says – “Hey – I think the set screw is still in there.  Let’s go see.” 

Off I follow him to the tool department (after he asks if I mind going to the other part of the store – of course not).  He patiently tries one allen wrench after another until he finds one that fits and sure enough, there is a broken screw in that tiny hole. 

“See?”  He shows me.  “Let’s go get a new one.”  Off I follow like a faithful puppy to the parts section of the store where he sorts through a variety of sizes – all in neat little packages. 

Now he could have handed me a pack and said – this should work, but he didn’t.  He took a pocket knife out and slit open a package and proceeded to replace the broken screw for one that worked.

Viola!  Fixed and all for just 68 cents! 

Now while this exchange was going on – Chris was paged from another department.  He took the page and said “not a problem, I’ll be there shortly.”  As we walked from tools to parts another employee sought him out for assistance and he cheerfully called out “be there in a minute, I’m helping this customer.”

He never lost his cool.  He didn’t just point me in a direction to fend for myself.  He didn’t try to sell me more than I needed. 

He read the situation clearly, empathized with my plight and empowered me to fix the problem with the right tools necessary, at an affordable price.  And how long did all this take – this extra mile that Chris traveled?  Less than five minutes.  Less than five minutes to make a difference that I’ll be talking about for a long time!

Chris handled that Make or Break Moment brilliantly.  I’ll be back the next time I have a home improvement project.

What would you have done differently?  Have you been in similar circumstances where the associate just assumed you could figure it out alone?  How did that make you feel?