WOW Word-Of-the-Week #408: Reputable
May 29, 2012 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on WOW Word-Of-the-Week #408: Reputable
Reputable – having a good reputation; honorable.
Have you ever purchased an extended warranty? Did you ever use it? Do you tend to repair an item or do you just replace it? How many times have you paid to have an item fixed after the warranty ran out? Were you satisfied with the results?
I don’t buy extended warranties for appliances because my experience has been if they are going to break that usually happens within the first year and it’s covered. I do, however, buy insurance for my laptops because they will break! I bought Dell computer’s for over 15 years and stopped buying them because they broke too much. My latest one is a Sony Vaio (and I LOVE it) and it is covered for everything. Even if I step on it!
This week’s WOW happens to be the opposite of last weeks. Five years ago we moved into our fully remodeled home and at that time we purchased eleven cordless window shades. All of the blinds have worked perfectly except for two that appeared to be a bit sluggish when I retracted them.
I called the company at the end of April and told them about my problem. They told me, “We have a 5 year guarantee on our blinds. You purchased these in March, 2007.” To which I said, ” Do you mean I missed calling you by a month and now they are out of warranty?” She said, “Yes, but don’t worry we will honor the warranty and we will fix them at no charge to you.”
Kudos goes to 3 Day Blinds for being an honorable company! They even gave me an option of paying to have someone come out and take them to be repaired or I could drop them off at no charge. (They truly believe and back their “tag line”)
This week’s focus is being reputable. Do you have a good reputation within your community? Do you back your product 100%? Do you treat your customers the same way you want to be treated? If asked, would they say you were honorable and that you have a reputation of taking care of your customers?
Reader Responses
“I may have mentioned in previous posts that we have but two things in our lives after everything else is taken away: our names and our reputations. If we lose them, we really have nothing. I watch not just companies but public officials who have betrayed the public trust and wind up going downhill in their lives. The first person who comes to mind is former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. He made a great career in the law for himself before becoming a senator. He established himself as a man of the people and then decided to run for president. During his run four years ago, Sen. Edwards became involved with a woman who was the videographer for the campaign. This was also at a time when his wife was dealing with breast cancer. He denied the affair and the child it produced, even convincing one of his campaign workers to publicly admit it was his child, and then had his mistress, her child and his aide’s family moved to California out of the public view while he continued to run for president. When the truth was eventually revealed, not only were there feelings of disappointment in John Edwards, but betrayal, especially those who had worked so hard for his campaign. Elizabeth Edwards stood by him through all of this, and then she died. I think she died of a broken heart. Whatever John Edwards does the rest of his life, he will have a difficult time restoring his reputation. It took years to establish that reputation, and it could take at least as long for him to attempt to restore it. After what took place a few years ago, how could anyone trust John Edwards at his word. After Barack Obama won the presidency, John Edwards still thought that he had a chance to be named U.S. Attorney General. After everything he did, Sen. Edwards really thought that the president would take a chance at naming him Attorney General! It boggles the mind. I think Edwards will probably be found guilty of conspiracy, but that is it. And, I don’t think he will do jail time. He could very well pay a fine and have his law license suspended for a period of time. But I think that will be it. All that I can say is that my reputation is important, especially as I help my wife raise our daughters. My daughters will have to deal with my reputation after I am gone. So, it is important that they can be proud of me and my life. In my dealings with coworkers, people I went to school with and other alums, and my own relatives, my reputation is paramount. I don’t want anyone to be ashamed of me because our family name and my personal reputation are very important. As for extended warranties, Kristen and I don’t buy them. If the product is good enough, there is no need for an extended warranty. I have always felt that was another way for companies to extract money from customers. I never liked it.” – “Warrior” Joe