Tag Archives: gift

Now This Is Customer Service!

Linda in Newsletter

REAL customer service! What a concept! So RARELY experienced anymore, which makes it so much more special when it is!

I had ordered a Coravin Wine Preservation Opener (a device that allows you to insert a needle into a bottle of fine wine, allow you to pour and enjoy the wine, then reseal the cork to protect the wine from oxidation) from Bed, Bath and Beyond for Ron for Christmas. What else can you buy for a man that has too much of everything! Our friend, Steve, is coming down from Santa Barbara on Christmas Day, so I had it delivered to him and he’ll be bringing it down to Cabo. By the way, I can write and post this before Christmas because there is NO WAY that Ron would ever look at this blog beforehand.

Anyway, the Coravin Wine Preservation Opener comes in three different models and I had opted for lowest cost unit, Model One. It will do everything we need it to do and saves a minimum of $100 for the next model and and $200 on the Elite Pro or top-of-the-line product.

Christmas is fast approaching and on December 20th, I received this email from Bed, Bath and Beyond:

“Dear Linda;

We’ve just received shocking news. The Grinch was seen sneaking into Santa’s workshop and we’ve discovered that he has stolen ALL of the Coravin Model One Wine Systems! Apparently, you have chosen a very popular gift.

We’ve alerted the North Pole Police and they are searching the area, but time is running out! Luckily, the manufacturer has come to Santa’s rescue and is providing the Coravin Model Two Wine System just in time for Holiday delivery!

Here’s the best part. The Model Two is more expensive ($100 more!), but you will be charged the same price as the Model One. That’s our gift to you for this inconvenience. Santa will soon be on his way! You should expect your shipment on or before Saturday, December 23, 2017.

Thank you for your patience. We wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Order Fulfillment Team
www.bedbathandbeyond.com”

WOW! I was absolutely blown away by this response and action taken! I loved the humor they delivered the message with and the fact that Coravin is supplying their higher priced model and that Bed, Bath and Beyond is honoring the same price is nothing short of astounding!

In an age when price doesn’t necessarily determine loyalty but rather the EXPERIENCE a shopper has, my allegiance is firmly behind Bed, Bath and Beyond after this Christmas!

Happy holidays everyone and sincere best wishes for 2018 and far beyond!

Melissa Errico’s Spectacular Show at Bay Street

Linda in Newsletter, Travel Blog

Photo from www.melissaerrico.com

Ron and I had the tremendous pleasure last night of seeing Melissa Errico, actress and superb singer, in a one-woman show at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor entitled “Funny! I’m a Woman with Children…“. Ron had seen her perform here in the Hamptons previously, but I had only heard her CD entitled Legrand Affair which was a spectacular collaboration with Michel Legrand, one of Melissa’s lifetime musical idols.

I was excited to see her in person as I have met her husband, Patrick McEnroe, a number of times through our mutual friend, Monte. Melissa and Patrick share a loving twenty year marriage and they have three beautiful girls – all of whom Melissa talked about in the show with great love and devotion.

Photo from www.melissaerrico.com

To see Melissa in person was an absolute gift: sharing her warm personality, the intimacy of her stories about dating, romance, falling in love, motherhood, the importance of her girlfriends, marriage, career challenges, and so much more. She is tremendously talented and, in the words of Stephen Holden of the New York Times, “Melissa has the power to take a sumptuous Broadway ballad to the moon and back!” Her selection of songs was spectacular and we’re hoping that she records them on a CD in the near future so that we can savor the lyrics, the music, and her beautiful voice over and over again.

On The Road To Land’s End – Again!

Linda in Site News

Every year, Ron and I head up to the BNP Paribas Open Tennis Tournament in Indian Wells, California (www.bnpparibasopen.com). As always, we watched some fabulous tennis and had an opportunity to catch up with many special and long-time friends (Bonnie and Don, Pete and Tony, Judy, Peter, Bob and Roxy, Bob and Winnie and so many more).

We drive to and from the tournament every year, which is approximately 1300 miles each way. We’re on the road home as I write this and I’m remembering how much fun we had with my Mom on this same trip to Cabo last November.

My Mom has always loved every aspect of travel and makes every experience a great adventure. It’s such a delight to be on the road with someone who takes everything in and enjoys every aspect. She has a child-like sense of wonder and curiosity – it’s a true gift at any age and especially for someone now in her 80’s.

We planned our trip down in November, just as we’ve done on this trip, to get to Mulegé to spend Saturday night at the Hotel Serinidad, a fly-in hotel that has been a Baja classic for decades (www.hotelserenidad.com). Every Saturday night features the Serinidad’s famous pig roast, which lures people with small planes to fly in from the States or other parts of Mexico and for people like us who are driving, to plan our overnight stop for this weekly event.

The staff at the Serinidad know how to do a pig roast well, and it has become a real highlight on our many trips up and down the Peninsula. Mom LOVED it, and she enjoyed every aspect of this legendary and iconic hotel. There are some great memories and stories at this hotel, with pictures on the walls from famous guests of years gone by like John “Duke” Wayne, June Allyson and Dick Powell. We’ll stay overnight and get an early start to ensure that we arrive home in Cabo tomorrow night.

We wish Mom was with us again on this trip and we’ll be thinking of her tonight. Hopefully she’ll be with us again for this amazing trip next November!

The Birthplace of Chocolate

Linda in Newsletter, Site News

Mexico is the birthplace of chocolate (thank you for such a wonderful gift to the world!). It was revered by the Aztecs and was served exclusively to priests and kings with such additions as herbs, chiles and honey. Although the hot chocolate of Mexico is famous throughout the world, they are also well known for their use of chocolate in a sauce called mole, where it is used as one of many spices.