February 15, 2005

Just one more thing before I let you go...

To any of you that have tried to have a phone conversation with me that line should sound VERY familiar! ;-)

But I did think of something this morning as I was getting ready to hit the road.

I need gasoline. Hmmm.....do I have enough to get to Tampa? I think so. Because there is a station in the Carrolwood section of Tampa that I ALWAYS fill up at when I'm in the area.

When I was living over there times got kinda difficult. There were serious pay issues with my job and for 2 months I didn't get a check. No food money, no cigarette money, no gas money. No gas money = no driving = no store visits = no job. Not Good.

So.....I was standing in the station one morning trying to count out change. I should mention that the owner carried my cigarettes just for me so he knew when I wasn't in as often as usual. Anyway - I'm counting, I'm counting, $2.50, $3.75, ahhhh $5.00. Go to pre-pay and he stops me.

Missy? Is everything alright?

I hemmed and hawed and eventually just mentioned there had been pay issues and my deposit should hit next week.

He then set up a line of credit for me....payable when I could.

Including soda, coffee and cigarettes.

I cannot tell you how loyal I am to this store, this man. Like I said, if I'm in Tampa, I stop and get gas, cigs, soda and munchies. Even if I don't really need it.

What he did was amazing. It's almost unheard of in this day and age. Especially in a city the size of Tampa.

Yeah - I think I've got enough gas to get over there........and I need cigarettes too!

Posted by Tammi at February 15, 2005 09:51 AM
Comments

Having seen you in action, I'm not surprised he did that for you :-)

Posted by: Harvey at February 15, 2005 10:38 AM

See I love those kinds of places. I'm the type that holds grudges against businesses. In fact I'm currently boycoting 28 local and/or chain stores for poor service. But when I find a place that treats me good I go out of my way to go back there, even if it costs a little extra. I have three local stores I frequent that even though they cost about 5-10% more then some chain stores, they know me by name and comment if they haven't seen me in a while. I like that kind of service.

Posted by: contagion at February 15, 2005 11:04 AM

And to think last time I was in Tampa, I HATED it -- mainly because you get incredibly screwed at the airport car rental place -- my rental was $39 a day and the taxes (and fees) were an additional $40 a day. I expected to pay about $120-$150 for my 3-day trip to see the Yankees in Spring Training and ended up with about a $240 bill. That was about 5 or 6 years ago and because of it, I've not returned.

Posted by: Ogre at February 15, 2005 02:25 PM

My father taught me to be a business' "customer".
It has paid dividends many times.

Oh, and Harvey; "Having seen her in action..."
-- Did I miss something???

Posted by: _Jon at February 15, 2005 03:41 PM

Yeah, Harv! What the hell went on down there?

Posted by: That 1Guy at February 15, 2005 06:55 PM

_Jon - Yes, you missed some SERIOUSLY HOT Tammi action! :-P

T1G - It's not what went on, it's what came off that you should be asking about ;-)

Posted by: Harvey at February 16, 2005 12:01 PM

HOT TAMMI action.

*GASP*

*PLOP*

(again)

Posted by: Ogre at February 16, 2005 02:18 PM