oh, the sweet, flat accent of home

I have a Saris Bones bike rack for my car, which I've had for...3 years? 4? Ever? I don't know. Anyway, about 2 years ago I lost one of the little black plastic tightener screw thingies. Every time I've gone into a bike shop since then, I've asked about getting a replacement part. Every time, they tell me that they don't keep spare parts on hand, but I can call Saris and they'll send me some under the lifetime warranty. I've heard this spiel at least half a dozen times in the past two years, because I go to the bike shop so infrequently that I forget the answer between visits.

To this day, I'm still operating one screw shy of a full set. Mostly because the thing is still pretty stable without it, but also because I hate, hate, HATE calling customer service on anything...or calling anyone for anything, really. Not a big fan of the telephone, am I.

So, since the value of the bike I carry on the back of my car just tripled, I decided to get over the hate and call Saris today. I went to their website to grab the phone number, and noticed that they're based in Madison, WI. This made me smile, because I haven't been to my home state for nearly 6 months and I miss it.

Anyhoo, got the number, placed the call. Was utterly delighted to find that their entire automated routing system was voiced by a girl with the most awesome Wisconsin accent ever. I was on hold for maybe 3 minutes, then got to talk to a customer service rep who sounded like every boy I grew up with. I told him my problem, he got my address (Pronouncing "road" back to me with that inimitable midwestern 'o'), and told me that they would send a few of the screws out to me tomorrow. This whole call, which I had been putting off for years, was totally pleasant and took less than 5 minutes. Based on the ease of this call (and the overall quality of their stuff), I highly recommend you go out and buy a Saris product right now.

Sigh. Homesickness takes such weird forms sometimes. I can't wait till September.

"To this day, I'm still operating one screw shy of a full set."
Truer words were never spoken, my dear.

lol...you know, I was waiting for that one. I almost made the joke myself, but I couldn't find a way to fit it in the post that didn't feel awkward.

Pot - meet Kettle