Alva James-Johnson: Finding good service takes effort

I had a busy day Thursday juggling a news conference and a couple of other assignments.

The last thing I needed was a breakdown in technology.

But on the way to the news conference, I realized my Olympus digital voice recorder wasn't working. The power button had disappeared and the machine was stuck on off.

If you know anything about me, you know I can't live without my Olympus digital voice recorder. It's the device I use to make sure I get all the facts right in my stories. I had a few good interviews on the recorder that needed transcribing.

But I tried not to panic.

"No problem," I thought. "I'll just get through this news conference and then stop by the electronics store where I purchased the recorder and ask for some help."

Well, that was a bad idea. As I walked into the store, which is part of a national chain, I told the guy at the desk about my predicament. He said he couldn't help me and that made me a tad bit annoyed.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "This is where I bought it."

"We don't do repairs here," he said.

"Can you at least refer me to an electronics repair shop?" I asked.

The man said he lived in Phenix City and didn't know of any in Columbus.

When I asked if there was somebody else at the store who could help, the answer was "no."

By then, my blood was boiling. But I tried to hold myself together as I purchased a USB cable to transfer the files from my recorder to my computer in the future. That cost me $19.95.

As I stepped out of the store, I saw a building next door with the words: "Furniture, Computers, Electronics, Appliances." So, I decided to give it a try.

When I entered the store, I saw more furniture than electronics. It's there that I met Pittman Greer and Santiago Sabino, two sales associates. They greeted me when I entered the store and asked what I needed. I'm sure I sounded like a lunatic as I let out all my frustrations. After telling them the whole story, I asked, "Am I crazy to have expected some help?"

Sabino said he didn't think so and told me about a similar experience he had with another store.

While we talked, Greer asked if he could take a look at the device. He took it to the back, and when he returned it was working.

I asked him what he did to fix it, and he showed me a paper clip that he unraveled and pushed into the recorder to turn it on. It was that easy.

I was so excited and told him what a genius he was. He just smiled and said, "No problem."

Greer said that when he came to work on Thursday his heart was heavy. He had some personal problems that he just couldn't shake. When I entered the store, he could see my frustration. He said helping me made his day.

Now, that's what I call good service.

This story was originally published September 4, 2014 at 10:32 PM with the headline "Alva James-Johnson: Finding good service takes effort."