Brand Junkie

I tend to get in a rut about where I shop. I lean toward certain vendors, particular establishments, and well... companies that I'm just in adoration of. Let me give you an example.

Situation #1:

Today my husband called and said he needed fuel for his car and since he left his debit card at the Chinese takeout place in the San Antonio airport and has since closed all of his accounts, wouldn't I be so gracious as to lend him my card? I only carry around a driver's license and a debit card, so I led him to where my credit card was safely stowed away in our hurricane box. He called 20 minutes later saying that the card had been cancelled and in my spare time couldn't I call over to the bank and see why all of our accounts had been frozen? As a very obliging personality (not really, but my husband never reads my blogs...) I called over to our bank: USAA Federal Savings Bank. [Please note as a special aside that when I was studying Organizational Leadership and Management for my undergraduate degree we did a research piece on a particular company that was featured in the Harvard Business School Press journal on the topic of knowledge management and information sharing and excellent customer service. The company? USAA Federal Savings Bank. ]

The phone rang once and a middle-aged woman answered the line and I gave her my information and I told her I was concerned about my credit card being cancelled, etc. etc. I returned to the work at my desk and within ten minutes she returns to tell me that she is FedEx-ing my new credit cards (both mine and my husband's) next day and that the debit card that my husband had ordered last week should have been delivered this morning and could she help me further? Let's just say I wanted to send her some flowers. I've dealt with difficult banks, federal credit unions, financial institutions looking for a quick buck and a reasonable excuse to keep you from withdrawing your money. I have never had a negative experience with this bank. For that very reason, we use them for all of our banking, investment, insurance and auto rental needs. They have my unswerving devotion.

Situation #2:

I love Kitchen Aid. I have this ridiculous draw to small appliances that I cannot explain. From my blender to my coffee grinder to my food processor, they all share that sweet little stainless steel label: Kitchen Aid. For my birthday this year, my parents blessed me with a mixer. Joshua has declared for years that I do not need one, that his arm is strong enough for anything that needs mixing, kneeding, blending, whipping or stirring. I entirely agree, but again, I love small appliances. The first thing I made with my new mixer were these ridiculously disgusting "health" carrot-ginger-nut muffins that were supposed to miraculously cure my morning sickness. Well, they didn't. But I enjoyed the blending process anyway. Last week I got inspired to make gingerbread cookies. Of course, muffin batter is quite different from the shortening, molasses, 7 cups of flour concoction that comes with gingerbread cookies. My poor little mixer starting freaking out (as if appliances could do this) and even in the "lock" position, it started moving around and the motor really sounded like it was struggling... and I only had put in 4 cups of flour.

I called Amazon.com this afternoon and said, "yes I understand it's been 30 days since I received this gift, and I would like to keep the product, I just would prefer an exchange as the item I received seems to be defective". The lady I spoke with was exceedingly kind of it being the holiday rush season, she placed me on hold and when she came back she said they had another of my model in stock and that it was being sent tomorrow and that I could wait to inspect it before I sent the model I had and that she hoped I enjoyed making gingerbread cookies with this new model.

This holiday season, I don't know where I would be without them.