Light at the end of the Tunnel?

Sometimes good things happen to good people.

On my last post, my beloved elliptical had become an el-limp-tical when the pedal axle sheared off. I spoke with someone last night at ICON Fitness who had actually looked at the pictures. But what a journey!

First, I was told by Liz, the telephone support person, that after a "supervisor" had viewed the pictures, what that person said I needed was the housing for the pedal that had fallen off. Um, NOPE! After a little back-and-forth, I then asked whether the supervisor who had viewed the pictures had ever disassembled one of these units. She could not confirm or deny.

I did my best to keep my patience with Liz, the person on the phone - she was really trying to help me. Ultimately, she agreed to show the pictures to someone who had more intricate knowledge and that person would phone me back *within the hour*.

Nearly two hours later, the person called. Dane, another supervisor, had viewed the pictures. He agreed with me that the parts originally suggested were NOT correct and that the parts I had outlined originally were in fact what was actually required for the repair. He apologized profusely and ordered the parts to be sent to me for receipt next week while we were still on the phone together. Judicious application of intellect and patience, and a smattering of whup-a$$. I was firm, not mean-spirited or nasty.

Most of the time, people will do the right thing, the ethical option, when you present your case as a rational human being. There's no substitute for knowing the facts. While this repair is technically out of warranty, by presenting photographs of the damage I was able to make a case for a defect in the manufacture of the equipment that the experienced technician could see as well.

A bit of positive reinforcement goes a long way. It's always better to be nice than not. ;)

[A note: when someone does you a "solid" (a favor, in the parlance of the Northeast US), you thank them, and explain that the people helping you did what they could. I suggested to Dane that when he next trained co-workers, he take them into the shop to show them the real-world version of the exploded view of the equipment. And I thanked him. ]

Besides, I need the parts before Mercury goes into retrograde on Thanksgiving Day.