The Importance of the Human Connection

Anyway, a couple of years ago we ordered three cubic yards of mini pine bark nuggets, our mulch of choice, from the closest supplier, Bighorn Landscape, which is on the same entrance road to our beloved garden center, Tagawa Gardens.  Okay.  So that means that we should have ended up with the contents of three three-foot cubes sitting in our driveway.  But after the truck had left and I went out to inspect it, I thought the pile looked a little small.  I took out a tape measure, as I recall, and it did indeed seem that we’d been shorted.  I called the supplier, got the manager/owner, and was told, in no uncertain terms, that I was wrong.  I sort of felt (perhaps unjustly) that I was being told that I didn’t understand these esoteric matters, perhaps because I’m a woman.  There seemed to be a whiff of condescension there.  Well, it made me mad.  No apology, no thanks for your concern, no we appreciate your business.  Ho-kay.  So I decided to prove the guy wrong.  We happened to have a box in the garage that measured three feet on a side, so I scooped the mulch into it to see how much we’d really gotten.  It was a pain in the neck to do this, but when I’d done all the scooping I was able to say that we had about half a cubic yard less than we should have.   So I called the guy again.  He very grumpily and reluctantly agreed to have the truck swing by and give us some more.  What a pill!  We vowed never to return.

So the next time we needed materials we went to the next place down the road, Pioneer Sand Landscape Supplies.  It’s more of a business for professionals, I think, and there wasn’t anyone around.  We wandered around a little bit, couldn’t figure out how to get waited on, and left.  My brother had mentioned that he’d gotten stuff from a place near him and been very satisfied, so we decided to go there.  Well!  What nice, friendly people!  We were made to feel welcome and waited on promptly.  Then, when the mulch was delivered, the driver (who also seemed to be the owner) made sure he dumped it where I wanted it and told me that he’d given us a little extra–and he hoped that was okay, or some such.  He was totally charming.  We certainly didn’t expect to get extra mulch that we hadn’t paid for, but it was a nice change not to have to dispute the amount.

So now we’re loyal patrons of Quality Landscape & Soil Products, 2977 North State Highway 83, Franktown, CO.  Jim and I were just discussing that we need more mulch (we always need more mulch), so we’ll place our order with them.  All because of a few friendly words and an overly-generous pile of mulch.  We like them, and that makes all the difference.