July 14, 2012
► Customer Feedback: A customer by the last name of Robidaux, from Merrimack, NH stated that their general shopping experience with us was Good. “Nice showroom, good quality, helpful staff.” Did any of our team members do an unusually good job? “Stephanie – Pleasant to deal with. She remembered us when we came back. Sent us a nice card.” Sales help, communication and products were rated Excellent. Operations was rated Good. “Quality and customer service are top notch.” What do we do really well? “High quality products that you stand behind. We have bought many things – hot tub, patio set, pool table, pool products, etc. over the years. You are always the first place we shop.”
► New advertising and weekly specials start next week: “Midsummer Clearance Sale”. All the monthly sales remain the same.
► Happy Birthday to Mia, Saturday July 14. FREE birthday cake in the Coffee Shop.
► Pool School Lite is Wednesday, July 18, 7PM to 8:30PM. This is the last Introductory class of the year, and we have extra slides for small splasher pools.
► Baquacil has received reports that some people have complained of skin irritation with CDX. They just did a study, and a small number of people do seem to experience this with a 1,000% to 2,000% overdose; which at the cost of CDX, one would think no one would ever do. So if someone complains, tell them it should be fine if they follow the directions. Or, drop the CDX, or switch to chlorine: which obviously has even more problems with allergies and sensitive skin. More information as it arrives.
► Rental charges: the skimmer dam now includes a cover pump, and the first day price went to $49.99. The NS48 went up to $169.99 first day and $49.99 other days. Free delivery went from ten miles to 25 miles, free backwashing (which was always included) now is in writing. Mileage became more clear: the $3.00/mile over 25 miles is per trip.
► The special form for renting the NS48 (which we seem to have lost) was rewritten as an Additional Requirement to the normal Rental Agreement. It has one new requirement to the guarantee: no overdose of floc or clarifier. The guarantee also makes the rental free if it passes the other tests, but not the mileage.
► You know, being a buyer is a difficult job with a lot of pressure. We don’t want to run out of things and miss sales or disappoint customers. We also can’t afford to tie up money with unsold merchandise, or have to sell it off at super low prices. There are also the pressures from salespeople. When I went to Atlanta to shop for grills, some of the salespeople haunted me. Of course, there were really good samples of barbeque.
My last night there, I heard a knock on my hotel room. It was a really beautiful, young woman. She told me that Weber wanted us back as a dealer, and they had paid her to come up and offer me “Super Sex” if I would buy Weber. Obviously, I don’t like Weber, and I do love Jeanne, but she was so beautiful. And super sex? So, I told her I’d take the soup. It’s a better story if you say it, not read it.
► Wish I Said That!
– Groucho Marx vs. a contestant on “You Bet Your Life” after the contestant revealed that he was a father of 10.
Groucho: “Why so many children? Contestant: “Well, Groucho, I love my wife.” Groucho: “I love my cigar, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.”
– Henry Clay: “I would rather be right than be president.”
Thomas Reed: “The gentleman need not trouble himself. He’ll never be either.”
– Lady Astor: “Winston, if you were my husband, I’d put poison in your coffee.” Winston Churchill: “Nancy, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.”
– NY Mayor Ed Koch vs. Andrew Kirtzman after the reporter insisted on pressing a point about an inconsistent statement Koch had made: “I can explain this to you; I can’t comprehend it for you.”