As several of you may know, I just had a birthday. Every year I take a step back to reflect on my (long) list of failures and my short list of accomplishments. Following that evening of bourbon-fueled navel gazing, I started looking through my desk drawers and my Facebook page and I found a certain story that the readers of TTAG may find interesting . . .
Does anyone remember the recall that wasn’t really a recall because Springfield Armory recalled all the XD-S pistols without an actual way of fixing them? At the time, I had a metric ton of the guns in stock. In fact, Nick Leghorn actually helped me crate them up and send them all back to the factory one fine fall evening after a lovely dinner at the Olive Garden. I still can’t go to that restaurant without the hostess thinking I’m one half of a gay marriage. Anyhow…
At the time, Springfield had no clue how to fix them and couldn’t provide estimated turnaround. As this was a large chunk of my inventory, I got creative.
I hand wrote on a legal pad the following message:
Dear Springfield,
My name is FC. I own (name of business here) and due to the recall I have a massive stack of guns that need to be fixed.
I’m going on vacation to see my grandma. Grandma loves to see me. When I tell her business is good, it makes her very happy. She was also born in 1911 – good year, right?
(I taped a photo of me and grandma taken a few months prior just below this line)
When I don’t make money, she is less happy.
Is there any way to get these fixed in less than a week? You know, to make everyone happy again?
For America?
For my balance sheet?
For my 102-year-old grandma?
Thanks for reading, FC
About a week later, all the guns came back fixed and ready to resell. I had a chat with the Springfield factory rep at SHOT show a few months later and he told me the staff there got a kick out of it and they put my stuff at the top of the pile.
Moral of the story: be reasonable and people will be realistic back. If you’re the guy who is screaming bloody murder with a bad case of diarrhea of the mouth, nobody’s going to want to help you. If you want to be cheeky, fun and use your 102-year-old grandma in a vain attempt to make money – well, I’m not one to argue with success.
I really didn’t think it would work but after talking with several other dealers, I did manage to get all my stuff back a lot sooner than anyone else did. As a consumer if given a choice between angry and funny, I highly suggest you go the funny route.