Thursday, May 21, 2009

Something special came in the mail

I received a sweet tote in the mail this week from Marlene, after I donated to a worthy cause. Marlene is the daughter of an extremely gifted artist/seamstress who she calls “The Hand with the Golden Touch” and I think Marlene has inherited much of this talent! I am loving this fabric! So I thought I’d do a mosaic of my new tote to show you.

Thanks, Country Girl on the Chesapeake Bay ~ Marlene!

Tote mosaic

In other news, kudos and extra points to Donalyn, Deb, Becky Up the Hill, Staci, Laura~Peach, and Marlene for knowing it was black locust wood on those fence rails. You are all very good students. Marlene went the extra mile by adding to what we’d already learned.

And thanks to all for your wonderful comments on my beautiful dog, George. George even inspired Shellmo to rent the movie “Babe” last weekend just so she could watch the border collies. I love that movie.

Ok, tell me if anything like this has ever happened to you. Today, I went for my regular 8-week checkup at my favorite salon. I’ve mentioned before how much I love this place and how wonderful my stylist is. It’s in a rather swanky town that’s about a half hour drive from my home. I got there early and had a half hour to kill, so I went to Talbot’s to see what was on sale and ended up buying a top and a pair of slacks. When the salesperson rang me up, she told me that unfortunately, the slacks weren’t on sale and that was fine with me. They fit and I was happy with them. She wanted to know if I wanted to join a frequent shopper thing and I told her I’m only in the area every two months or so because I go to the salon nearby. We said our goodbyes and I thought that was that.

Later on, as I was sitting in the color chair perusing a magazine and sipping a chardonnay, one of the salon employees enters and asks if there is a “Kate” here. When I raised my hand, she hands me a phone, telling me it’s Talbot’s and they need to speak with me. This is odd, I think. Did I leave my credit card there?

The Talbot’s salesperson was calling to tell me that the slacks I purchased actually WERE on sale and could I stop back so they could credit my card?

I was shocked. I mean, who does that? But you know what? I’d shop there again just because they’re honest. It made me glad to know this.

Well, we’re watching the Singing Survivor Show and all sorts of crazy things are happening. Is that Cyndi Lauper? Golly day, she is just so fun.

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .

PS ~ I never say golly day. Ever. But one of our teacher’s at school says it all the time and it cracks me the hell up. Her name is Christine. Golly day, girl!

28 comments:

Flea said...

I love your new tote! And Talbot's gets an A+ for that one!

Anonymous said...

I love Talbots and miss having one nearby since we moved...Such classic styles they carry.

Di
The Blue Ridge Gal

noble pig said...

Wow, that is pretty fabulous, I mean seriously good customer service.

Lois Christensen said...

I love your tote! And I love that they called to tell you that the pants were on sale! What a great salesperson!

Char said...

great tote. and yes, Talbots is always that way. I love them and their clothes last forever.

GailO said...

Love that tote...and what a wonderful person working at your Talbot's store...I love those stores but would never have expected that!...My favorite did not win the Singing Survivor show...but I had a lot of fun watching.

Unknown said...

I love your tote! (I love the photo of your tote even more...you make my work look so wonderful!!!)

The reason you mentioned is one of the main reasons I love to shop at Talbot's. I have been a fan for many years.

Thistle Cove Farm said...

Honest people abound. Last week I spoke at an Agri-tourism seminar and leaving the seminar, stopped at Long John Silver's to purchase ice tea. After putting straw in ice tea, walked out leaving my wallet on the condiment counter. As I'm getting out of my car, an hour later, Dave is calling to me and has phone in hand. Wants to know if I have my wallet.
OH NO!
A customer at LJS's found my wallet, turned it into the staff who put it in the safe until their manager returned from lunch. Then, 3 employees went thru my wallet to find identification, found my AAA card with 1.800 number. They called the number, the young man at AAA knows me and said he'd call for them, which he did.
Dave and I returned to Coeburn, a drive of one hour one way and I picked up my wallet.
*Everything* was there - money, credit cards, atm card, library card... nothing was gone, nothing!
Long John Silver corporate gets a thank you note singing praises of employees Freda and Brenda.

ELK said...

i think your post is so wonderful ...i was in retail YEARS ago and stores should do that...but yes amazing in this day and age...golly day!

the tote is so wonderful ...great colors !

abb said...

What a nice thing to happen to you!

Love the flowery fabric. Those are some of my favorite colors.

Fenway said...

I haven't stopped by for a while and I am so glad I did. Talbot's lady is the sort of human that keeps you hangin' on, isn't she? Yes, there are angel-humans out there who magically transform this cold, cruel world into a sancutary of love and kindness.

I think you should write to the company and let them know how she inspired your loyalty. I send emails for extroadinary service...and it makes a difference.

The pictures of George are lovely. And the one of the bird on the fence post is contest worthy. Your husband sure didn't lose an iota of artistic vision when they operated!

Daryl said...

Cool new tote ... Marlene is so talented SHE has golden hands!

Talbots staff are smart/savvy

tj said...

...Oh girl, I love Talbot's but if I ever stepped foot in their store their first response would be, "she must be lost"...lol ;o) But yeah, I agree, that kind of honesty would make one stop there and shop for sure!

...Love the tote - such great use of color and patterns! Beauuutiful! :o)

...That sounded so shi-shi-poo-poo: "as I was sitting in the color chair perusing a magazine and sipping a chardonnay" - you go girl! *hee,hee* ;o)

...Blessings to ya Kate...

Laura ~Peach~ said...

awesome tote and how cool if we had a talbots here i woudl shop there just because of the hinesty how cool and unusual!
i had never heard of locust wood so it facinates me and it is beautiful! i love to learn new stuff!

Maria said...

what a wonderful story about Talbots, I love to hear news like that, makes you feel good about people.
I love Cindi Lauper, but don't watch AI, wish I had known she was own, she does make a girl just wanna have fun.

JC said...

It was her ... great to hear her perform again.

Your tote is great ... and the Talbot's calling you ... Wow.

Country Girl said...

Yes, I am so shi shi poo poo, tj!!

In fact, I wanted to get a french poodle rather than a border collie and name her Fifi. Not really.

Kris won! Wow. I was so glad for him. He was speechless.

And Talbots is awesome.

~ C.G.

Jo said...

Talbots is my favorite store. I love their stuff.

Am I losing my mind, or did you delete a post? :-)

Reddirt Woman said...

That is a beautiful tote. I would even carry one that looked that good.

Helen

Kathie Truitt said...

I used to work at Talbot's and customer service is their TOP priority. SERIOUSLY! They taught us to LIVE for the customer. Plus, it was a great place to work. And I loved the clothes.

Deb said...

Great story. I'm sure that has happened to me. But you know what you should do? Write a note to the manager telling them of the stellar customer service you received and mention the salesperson. she went the extra mile, so should you!

FireLight said...

Really great tote bag! I love the browns with blue. Anyone who works in a school cannot have enough totes! And when they are this pretty, makes the day even nicer!

Donalyn said...

Love the tote. I often find myself loading a bunch of stuff I need into a plastic grocery bag. Then I go "duh" - I have totes I can use for this! Just another fascinating little glimpse into my action packed life!

And not long ago an employee at A.C.Moore [chain craft store in our area] chased me out into the parking lot because some little do-dad I had bought missed the shopping the bag. I thought that was pretty nice.

MaggieGem said...

Beautiful bag, shows great art work!

The Talbots story is awesome, and I'm sure that is why they have such loyal customers.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Love that degree of honesty. Reminds me once - long ago - we bought some fencing and when the bill came they had charged us for two pieces less than we had had. When I called in to pay it,I told them to add two more pieces on. When I was getting into my car to leave, the owner of the shop came up with a beautiful bunch of flowers (it was a garden centre and florists as well), saying "These are for being so honest" - that made my day too.

Ellen said...

When Marlene posted the pictures of the totes she made, I knew that this one was for you and the bright one was for MPM.

Glad to hear that your adventure at Talbots was successful.

Woman in a Window said...

I like it. I appreciate it. That's a good salesperson, no, great!

The Pink Geranium or Jan's Place said...

#1. Yes the tote is beautiful!!
#2. You know they say, when you have a bad... or a really good Customer Service you will tell others..good for Talbots for getting the thumbs up!!



(I actually have scored some wonderful Talbots clothes, brand new, at my fav thrift store. We lovingly call it the Village.. two tops and my absolutely favorite fit pants..brand new and wonderful! I love their clothes.. just don't have the real thing close by!