Bin There Done That

Since the beginning of our organisation and subsequent move to New Zealand, with four kids, four cats, all our furniture and our worldly goods, spouse and I have dealt with numerous companies and institutions whilst closing down our life in the UK and setting up our new one over here. Some good experiences, some not.

How nice then to have our faith justified in the art of customer service. What we have just experienced was so amazingly helpful and efficient I felt I had to shout about it. We brought everything with us from the UK, even my kitchen refuse bin. Those who know me will know it wasn't just any old bin, but a very good (and expensive one) purchased after we had our new kitchen installed. It was something I was extremely pleased to own and therefore came along with us and thankfully made the 12000 mile journey intact, unlike many other items unfortunately (but that's another story). All was well and the bin fitted nicely into a new space in our NZ kitchen and carried on serving us well by efficiently gobbling up our mounds of rubbish. Until one day last week when fils 1 was rather heavy handed and slammed the lid down a little to harshly. Alas the catch was broken beyond repair and a bin with a lid that won't stay shut is no use to us in a rural house full of creatures. Eg. spiders, flies, mice and ever hopeful for a snack, cats. So I immediately turned to the wonders of the web and having typed in the name of the bin manufacturers, I was given the name of a company called Kruger Trading who are based not too far from us. I got on the phone and Marissa, who I spoke to was so eager to help us out. Without any fuss, she organised a new lid to be delivered and hey presto it was sitting on top of our own well traveled bin in less than 18 hours from telling her of our problem!! Thank you Marissa, you certainly offered us the ultimate in great customer service. I couldn't have coped for very long with a copy of the Yellow Pages sitting on top of our bin to keep the lid closed! So if anyone needs to purchase or replace an item of kitchenware, you know where to go.

This has now prompted me to write about another experience of a well transported piece of kitchenware from a company called Lakeland Plastics in the English Lake District. We had a butterdish which was made a bit like a thermos with a double skin to keep the butter at a constant temperature. It was sitting on our kitchen counter, full of butter, when our shippers arrived early one morning to pack up all our stuff. Anyone else who has been through this will know what I mean when I say they are quick! And woe betide anything that is left lying around for them to wrap up. (Our travel documents and papers disappeared in this way and were eventually found after undoing and re sealing about 30 boxes at a time when we had nothing better to do - not! But that's also another story). Anyway, after washing up the breakfast things, ready for packing, I turned round to empty and wash the butter dish, but it was too late. Having made an enquiry to the extremely speedy packer if he knew of its whereabouts, he pointed to a a dozen large cardboard boxes all marked "kitchen items". So that was that, our breakfast butter was on its way to New Zealand and there was no escaping. During the three months between packing day and the arrival of the container at our new home in Auckland we often wondered about the process of what the butter would go through, being churned about on the sea during its long journey, and how it would look, and smell when eventually opened. Fils 2 was the one who came across the butterdish first as we unpacked one box after another. "Look, I've found the butterdish" she yelled, "hold your noses!" I told her not to open it until the whole family was gathered around, always eager to witness a ghastly sight, and spouse had camera in hand expecting the butter to crawl out. After a frustratingly slow countdown by the fils, the lid was whipped off to reveal a perfect normal block of butter innocently sitting in its insulated butterdish that had done its job and kept it at a constant temperature for over 12 weeks. Spouse insisted on trying a little on a cracker to prove it was still edible and the irony being, it was NZ butter that had made the journey home. Well done Lakeland Plastics, your product certainly lived up to its description - and still does.