Credit Where Credit's Due

A couple of months ago, I wrote a post complaining about a shabby pair of Lee jeans. They were literally falling apart, and I vowed that I'd not waste any more money on Lee or their jeans. I figured that was that, but Mrs. Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk doesn't waste her time with all talk and no action. She looked up Lee, discovered that their parent company was VF Corporation, and sent them a strident letter along with the actual jeans themselves. Late last week, we got an unexpected package from UPS. Lee stood behind their product and replaced the damaged jeans with another pair. I'll happily wear these new jeans, and provided that they don't disintegrate like the last pair, I'll likely buy more.

I don't know whether this is just my sense of things nowadays or whether there's something (that I'm too lazy at the moment to research) to back it up, but it seems like too many businesspeople are content to get the money into their hands and lose interest in any sort of service for their product. For most products, it's not just a matter of selling it once, but selling it twice, three times, or multiple times. If I like something, I'll generally replace it when it wears out. I'm happy to keep bringing my money back to get products that work and that appeal to me. Why wouldn't I? And I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'll reward good work, and I'll spurn bad work. Does that make me out of step with the rest of the world? I don't care if it does. I've got a new pair of jeans.