His news almost made me sick to my stomach. My boat had been at the dealership for nearly two weeks already and now they are telling me that I have to come up with a boat load of money. There was another factor that weighed heavily into the equation. It was only nine days before my bachelor party. Typically, this isn’t an issue because boats don’t usually play a role in bachelor parties. As usual, I don’t do things “normal” like everyone else. Instead, my bachelor party was going to consist of a large field of my friends and family getting together for an enjoyable day on the lake. Of course, no day on the lake would be complete without a fishing tournament and a bunch of friendly trash talking. The only problem is now I don’t have a boat. I explained to the technician that there was no way I could come up with that kind of money with so little time prior to my wedding, let alone before the bachelor party. After a brief period of silence, I told him that I would call him back.
After I hung up the telephone, I called the extended warranty company. They confirmed the fact that they were not going to cover the whole cost of the parts or repairs. I was instructed to read the “fine print” in the contract. Immediately I started to recall a series of stories I had heard from different anglers about Mercury’s excellent customer service. It was then that I decided to call Mercury and see if they could help. After taking a few minutes to prepare myself for another letdown, I dialed their Wisconsin phone number.
Those few rings seemed like an eternity but then a friendly voice answered the phone. “Hi thanks for calling Mercury Marine, this is Eric how can I help you?” I took a deep breath and began explaining my situation to Eric. He listened very patiently as I explained the whole ordeal to him and how all I really wanted was to get my boat back in time for my bachelor party. Eric said, “Let me see what I can do, I will call you right back.” I assumed it was just a ploy to delay the bad news that was inevitable. Every minute of waiting for his call, seemed like an hour. After only twenty minutes, my telephone rang and the name “Mercury Marine” appeared on the Caller ID. The words he spoke were enough to make me think I was hallucinating. “Here is what we are going to do,” he said. “We are going to send you a brand new, fully dressed 2005 PowerHead and cover all of the labor costs to have it installed.” It took a second or two to sink in and then I replied, “Are you kidding me?” Eric must have found my reply a little amusing judging by the slight laugh he had in his voice. Then he stated, “Consider it a wedding gift from Mercury.”
I didn’t even know what to say. Repeatedly I told him Thank You and that I thought it was really awesome the way that they were taking care of me. Eric kind of took it in stride as though he was used to being so nice to customers. It has to be an excellent feeling going to work everyday for a company that allows you to treat customers so good.
The old saying about one angry person being a lot louder than a bunch of happy people doesn’t hold true in this case. As soon as I ended my conversation with Eric I began making phone calls to everyone I knew. It didn’t matter to me if they fished or not, I was still telling them about how awesome Mercury’s Customer Service is. Even after I arrived at work, I was still telling everyone. The most important people that I told were the handful of friends that are in the market to buy new boats. I assured them that regardless of the boat they chose, it had to have a Mercury Outboard motor on the back.
No matter how many people I tell about my experience, I could never begin to thank Mercury and Eric Reilley enough for the compassion they showed me in my time of need. What they did for me was something that most companies would never dream of. Yet from Mercury I got the impression that it was no big deal to them. Customers are their number one priority and it shows. One thing is certain, regardless of how many years and boats I have in my lifetime, I will always have a Mercury motor right behind me.
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