“You’re not going to blog about a piece of wood!”

“Oh, yes I am, because it’s not just a piece of wood.”

I have this tiny bit of wood on my inventory shelf. I know it’s from one of my miniature Adirondack chairs. I just don’t know which one.

‘Cause it’s gone. To the customer. Sometime over the last month.

Do I email everyone that bought a miniature Adirondack chair, “Hey, it’s Janit. Are you missing a rung?”

My husband said to not worry about it. For me, it could mean an incomplete order and a disgruntled customer. Or, it could just be a piece of wood.

Over the years, I’ve been working on letting my perfectionism go. It’s taken a long time to be this position where things are done well – not perfectly, but well. It’s a process of forgiving oneself and, well, getting too busy to be stubborn about some things.

“Your ‘pretty good’ is better than most people’s ‘best,’ get on with it.” An art instructor once told me.

But there is that little piece of wood ~ surely I would have heard from the customer if the chair had arrived incomplete. Surely?

I enjoy customer service for the most part. I like surprising people by going above and beyond the call of duty. Everyone likes good surprises, so why not be the one to do it?

My latest kick is giving people refunds on the shipping; with carrying both plants and the mini garden accessories, it gets a little tricky to find the best way to ship sometimes, and my online store doesn’t think – it just does!

People are floored by my honesty but I have to sleep at night, too, you know?

Not too long ago, a customer filled out her address wrong when ordering, and it was addressed to the huge hospital where she worked. She emailed me when she received the shipping notice and complained that it was sent to the hospital – why did I send it to the hospital? Why would I send it there?!?

She threatened me with attorneys and the Better Business Bureau if I didn’t replace the order, or credit her for it. It was for well over $100 so I wasn’t about to give up easily.

After calling the hospital to try to locate the mail room, placating the customer with emails and phone calls, and digging a little deeper, it turned out that the actual address was her home address, and she absent mindedly filled in the name of the hospital as her “Company.”

The package arrived on time and in good shape. She apologized. I probably won’t hear from her again, but I hope I do. It was a simple misunderstanding.

The moral of the story is speak up and ask. Just ask – and do ask! Don’t shoot first and ask questions later.

Missing a rung? I got more chairs here. Shipping charges seem high? They probably are and I’ll fix it.

More often than not, people want to do a good job and move on with their life. Yes, there is that 10 percent of the population that causes us to put locks on our doors, but you can quickly and easily find that out after you ask first, eh?

Now if you’ve received a miniature Adirondack chair from me without a rung – I would be more than happy to send you another – and the rung! Just ask!