The week before our Christmas guests arrived, The Man spilled coffee on our duvet. It must have been a Saturday or Sunday morning. When else would we be drinking coffee in bed?
The Man cursed. Careless mishaps get his goat in a big way. The resulting ire was less about the coffee on the duvet and more about the carelessness that resulted in spilt coffee. The Man has high standards for himself; he does not tolerate self-carelessness lightly. Things like forgetting his keys or dribbling pasta sauce down his freshly pressed shirt induce seemingly exaggerated responses.
When the cursing had subsided, I mentioned that the duvet probably needed a cleaning anyway; I'd take it to the dry cleaner.
The dry cleaner said the duvet would be ready for pick up in 4 days time. In the meantime, The Man and I could use either the new guest duvet or our previous duvet, which had been downgraded to sofa use. We wouldn't have dreamt of using the old guest duvet, which had been relegated to the bottom of our blanket box – there had even been talk of converting it to canine use.
Four days later our duvet was not at the dry cleaner. The dry cleaner till attendant scratched his head at the mystery of it. He made a phone call and spoke in heavily accented (origin indiscernible by me) English. The duvet would be ready the next day.
What if it's not?
I only then started to think about timelines and customer (guest) requirements and risks and contingency plans. We were expecting 3 guests: my yet-to-be-worldly-something-cousin, CBF, and the Hijastro*. Four beds, four duvets if all went well.
But what if the dry cleaners fucks up?
We've got plenty of time.
Something-cousin arrived first. He got the proper guest bed and back-up duvet. CBF arrived next. We gave her our old duvet to use on the sofa. With each day that passed, I visited the dry cleaner to inquire about our missing duvet. Each day, my anxiety grew. On the day the Hijastro arrived, our should-be-clean duvet still had not arrived. This time it was a woman at the till; also with accented English; from Latin America, I was sure. I must have been biting my lip with concern because she asked if it was urgent. I tried to play it cool. "It's just that my god son arrives today, and we have no spare sleeping materials. " I paused as I wracked my brain. "I suppose he can sleep under towels."
She looked dismayed. "I see what we can do. Give me your number. I call you."
15 minutes later the phone rang. A proper British accent introduced the caller as the manager of the dry cleaning shop. She apologised profusely for the missing duvet. It would not be possible to return our duvet in time for the arrival of our godson, but the dry cleaner manager proposed a work around. "I live around the corner from you and happen to have a duvet that was recently cleaned. It's still in the plastic wrapping and everything. If you wouldn't mind using it, I can lend it to you for the next couple of weeks."
And I thought North Americans were the experts in customer service**.
*God son.
**And political correctness. This ad would never pass the pc police in North America.
13 comments:
My partner spills coffee in the bed EVERY time we have breakfast in bed. I had to buy an American-sized (maybe) washing machine.
Spaghetti can flick unmercifully onto a clean white shirt. It's not as bad as those panini they used to serve on planes though, with the built in squelchy tomato sabotage.
That story is enough to give you hope. It's the accumulation of these small kindnesses that will save the world.
I never, ever eat breakfast in bed because things like that would happen all the time!
photos! the photos are back! take that windows seven
Thats nice of her. I like it when people go that one step further than they really have to. It restores my faith in the independent shop on the high street.
One of the things that sucks about having young kids is that I haven't had coffee in bed since they were born.
Based on my experience of British customer service I find this tale unbelievable!
Dry cleaners suck ass. These things are life and death but nice touch to provide you with one, even if it is a 'used' one.
Have I ever mentioned my deep, deep hatred od duvets? :)
Ummmm..."of"
Lovely post! Hope they get the stain out in the end.
PG ~ If there is one thing I miss about the States, it's the washing machines (and dryers!).
Rashbre ~ Do you think the Italians have the same problem or have they mastered a technique?
UB ~ It is heart-warming. And shocking across the pond customer service.
Mondraussie ~ We rarely eat in bed. But coffee or tea is pretty common. There is a night stand on my side, so I'm lucky. The Man has to do more balancing.
Sup ~ I like your enthusiasm. Unfortunately, it's just a work around. I used the 'post by email' option just to get the pic up! :)
Jo ~ Exactly.
Freeman ~ They'll be teenagers before you know it and won't be waking up til after noon (unless you wake them up!). And this really, really happened as unbelievable as it sounds!
Daniel ~ Did you miss out a 'not' (as in 'not' life and death)? We are indeed a spoilt lot. It must be recognised.
Franklin ~ You have! We are not compatible that way. I love duvets. I hate making a bed properly so a duvet is super.
Perakath ~ They did! They did!
Oh god, I am just waiting for my new feather duvet to get wrecked by something. It´s going to happen, just a question of time.
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