Consumer columnist and West Hartford resident Harlan Levy has more than 20 years of experience writing stories about everyday experiences that anyone could encounter.

By Harlan Levy

For Christmas and Hanukkah, here’s a positive consumer story:

We asked our daughter-in-law if there was anything our son wanted for the holidays – mindful that for Hanukkah, the tradition is to give eight presents for each day of the holiday – and she said, “There is one thing that we both really, really want, but it’s too expensive.”

[“Expensive”: That’s when I hold my breath.]

My wife asked her what it was.

“We need a new automatic cat litter box for Sunny,” she said. ”Ours is 10 years old and has been on the blink for the last nine. We want the brand new upgraded model, the self-cleaning Whisker Litter-Robot 4. But it’s really expensive!”

[Another held breath.]

“When you say ‘really expensive,’ how much could it be?” my wife asked. “Is it more than $400?”

She looked at my wife.

“$500?” my wife asked.

Silence.

“$600?”

“I think it’s $700,” she replied.

[I gulped. That’s eight Hanukkah presents rolled into one!]

My wife looked it up and found it on sale at a few stores, down from $850.

The problem was that ordering it meant it would arrive after Christmas. And our son, his wife, and our two granddaughters were going to Florida for Christmas, and they wanted to leave a new cat litter box for the cat sitter, because the old one doesn’t work consistently.

So my wife’s checked pet supply outlet Chewy.com and found it was on sale for $699. She then called up Chewy and spoke with Greg.

“Greg was feeling very perky, very cheery,” she said, “because he was in Hollywood, Florida, and we were up here in the cold.”

Greg acknowledged that the new cat litter box would arrive after Christmas.

She explained the problem, and Greg said, “Maybe I can help you anyway. Give me your zip code, and I’ll see where it might be available.”

Greg found it at Target at Bishops Corner, but Target didn’t have it in stock. So he pulled up a map of our area and spent about 15 minutes combing through the websites of every possible purveyor in the vicinity. He then found two in stock at the Best Buy at Corbins Corner.

“But I already went on their website and found Best Buy would only ship it after Christmas,” my wife told him.

He responded that, according to their inventory, it actually had two in stock. “If you call, maybe you can get one of those,” he suggested.

“Why did you help me buy it from somewhere else, when I could have ordered it from your store?” she asked him, incredulously.

“Our policy is that if we can’t help you, we still want to help you find what you need,” he answered.

“That’s unbelievable,” my wife responded. “Is there a customer survey I can fill out to give you high marks?”

”No, no,” he said. “I’m just happy I could help. Happy holidays.”

My wife then called Best Buy and found that Greg was right. It had two in stock, and we could pick one up immediately.

“They said the price was $750,” my wife said, “but if we bought a $49 yearly My Best Buy membership, it would lower the price to $699.”

Also, there was a $10 coupon in addition, and if the item went on sale in the next two months we could get a partial refund.

It was a no-brainer. and I drove over and picked it up.

Bottom line: At least in this case, the generous holiday spirit exists in an unlikely place: customer service.

Food hacks

Here are some ingenious food preparation tips I found:

• Tape a tomato’s end, and keep your tomato fresh for weeks. I did it, and the tomato, which was on the verge of decay maintained its firmness.
• To keep bread from mold put a celery stalk in the bag and seal. It should keep bread mold-free for weeks. I did put a celery stalk in a loaf. I’ll see if that keeps the bread fresh for longer than usual.
• Wrap banana stems tightly with a plastic bag. That’s kept my bananas from turning inedible for a week.
• When serving a cake, use a pair of tongs to slice the cake with the open ends out for neat V-shaped slices.
• Cut a watermelon with large vertical V shapes. Makes it easy to share pieces.
• Insert a spoon into an orange, and turn it, easily removing the orange peel.

Merry Christmas, readers, and Happy Hanukkah!

NOTE: If you have a consumer problem, contact me at [email protected] (“Consumer” in subject line), and, with the power of the press, maybe I can help.

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