Pirates of All Kinds

It's been a really busy, but good, summer. Tons of visitors (family and friends) have spent time with us at the cottage. Thank goodness I now have a washer and dryer, and a dishwasher, as those appliances make life on the little island a whole lot easier. For our younger visitors, we've made a few trips down to Pirate's Cove on Decourcy Island to plunder the big treasure chest at the provincial marine park (actually, the deal is if you bring along and donate a toy you can select another item from the treasure chest). So we brought a bag of suitable dollar store goodies to donate, and that allowed our little toddler pirates to raid the other booty! Big hit. I continued to fit work around the comings and goings of the visitors, and things are ramping up for some September commitments. I had a really interesting customer service experience today and want to give a "shout out" to Dr. David Posen and to promote his work. Here's what happened - I will be facilitating a 2 day meeting for a large group of public sector managers and they want a tool or "take-away" from the meeting that will support building and maintaining health and wellness. Great idea! I had two potential "tools" in mind and set about exploring the cost and availability of both. Company #1 was unresponsive, inflexible and wanted almost four times the money for their product compared to what I used to be able to purchase it for on Amazon.com. I had to call them three times before I was finally able to get a call back from someone in sales who introduced herself and asked "So, how can I help you?" in a vague manner that led me to feel none of the information (that I had explained three times already) had been relayed to her. I incredulously asked "Do you not have any idea what I am looking for, when I have already explained it several times to other staff in your company?" "Oh, yes," she answers, "You are looking for 60 copies of Product A at a cost per copy of $X." Augh. If you KNOW what I want, why are you asking me to repeat it?? "So," I say, "Can you help me?" Nope, they cannot. But they DO want to talk to me about ALL their products and how to best position them in the marketplace with my clients! Nah, I don't think so! Company #1 I categorize as a "Bad Pirate" - i.e., people to avoid who will plunder you, if you let them. So, onto Dr. Posen and his health & wellness product, "The Little Book of Stress Relief. "

I have had the book for years and found it very useful for myself and for use with clients. So, I Googled him, found his website, called the 1-800 number...and Dr. Posen himself answered! What a nice man! He could not have been more helpful and accommodating re: quantity and price. My clients are thrilled and all the meeting participants will be receiving his book. What a contrast to my experience with Company #1. We were thrilled to give the business to Dr. Posen (a "Good Pirate" of the very best variety!). In case you haven't figured it out, depending on how you use it, the word "pirate" can either be used as a curse or a compliment! Todo bien. (It's all good.)