| Tuesday, January 03, 2006 |
| Complaints Department |
 "People that pay for things," said Will Rogers, "never complain. It's the guy you give something to that you can't please."
Before the Christmas shutdown, "the powers that be" at work decided to remodel the upstairs office space. Originally it was going to include just a little paint along the ceiling mouldings and some carpet tiles in the traffic areas. The walls were not going to be painted and the cubicle and office areas would not get new flooring.
A few days before the break, a carpet salesman brought in some carpet tile samples for review. They were atrocious and didn't really match the current carpet. I jokeingly said, why don't we lay Pergo laminate and really add some class to the space. The plant manager was within earshot and came out of his office and asked about it. I explained what I knew about laminate flooring and another guy that had installed it in a mud room added his knowledge. It ended there, or so I thought.
I was the first person to get to work this morning and was shocked -- I mean completely amazed! The first thing anyone sees when entering the building is the receptionist's area. She had a new dark-wood desk, two exquisite leather chairs, a large potted plant and two maps including a raised-relief map of Tennessee. The walls were trimmed in a plum color.
The plum trim continued up the steps to the upstairs office area where I was really floored (I know, bad pun). The plant manager had decided on Pergo, but that wasn't all. The first wall as you walk in was painted in the same plum color and in the center of the wall is a map of North America. The flourescent lights had silver fixtures added that give a recessed lighting effect and the floorboards were made wider and more elegant. The old trashcans have been removed and replaced with larger stainless steel trash cans that open with step levers.
Not only were the receptionist's and upstairs office areas redecorated, but a conference room received a face-lift, the two downstairs bathrooms were refitted and repainted, and the employees' breakroom was repainted. I found out today that the plant manager took the laminate suggestion and went wild. In fact, he was at the office late last night helping the contractor reposition all of the furniture and cleaning up the dust and scrap. I was impressed and so were others.
But some people weren't as interested. I listened to a few people grumble all day. I heard things like, "It's dark up here," and "You can't sneak up on someone on this new flooring, can you?" They complained about the plum color. They complained about the maps. They complained about the sinks in the bathrooms. They complained, complained and complained. Arrrgggghhh!
So I made a joke of it and shared with a few people. I emailed the Will Rogers quote to about four or five people and they replied with more quotes and added people to the distribution. It even reached a point that when the boss's assistant complained to a visitor we all laughed aloud.
Do you have a complaint? Go see Ms. Waite... |
posted by Joe Napalm @ 2:16 PM   |
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| 2 Comments: |
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Amazing isn't it? The dreamslayers ride again. Their mission in life is to suck all of the joy out of life. All change to them is bad and anyone who is happy is suspect. Oh well, it sounds like your idea really hit a home run though. It sounds like a really cool remodel. You should offer them the large topographical map in your dad's office of the smokies :-)
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Offer my inheritance? Are you insane?
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Amazing isn't it? The dreamslayers ride again. Their mission in life is to suck all of the joy out of life. All change to them is bad and anyone who is happy is suspect. Oh well, it sounds like your idea really hit a home run though. It sounds like a really cool remodel. You should offer them the large topographical map in your dad's office of the smokies :-)