It never hurts to ask...

The first week of December I was cooking a turkey. I put my meat thermometer in to see if it was done and while it was in the oven, the glass on the thermometer exploded. My normal course of action would be to throw it away and add it to my grocery list of things to buy. Before doing that, I decided to contact the manufacturer and see if they would replace it. My thermometer was made by OXO. So, I contacted the customer service by email. I soon received an email from them stating that "OXO has a satisfaction guarantee policy" on all their products. They then directed me to their website to find the item that best resembled the one I had break. The FedEx man just arrived with my new meat thermometer today. I appreciate that they stand behind their products and will definitely buy their stuff in the future. The effort of contacting the manufacturer also saved me the $12 of buying a new thermometer. So,when you have something break, check to see if there is a warranty on it or check with the manufacturer to see if they will replace it....it just might save you some money!

Do your own "grunt work"

Right before we were leaving to visit my husband's family for Christmas, we discovered that the sewage line from our garage was blocked. We had thought it had frozen I will spare you the gross details, but we called out a plumber who discovered the blocked pipe and discussed with my husband what we needed to do. We turned off the water to the garage and left for Christmas. When we got home, we called the plumber to figure out when he could come and fix the pipes for us. We tend to be "do-it-yourselfers," but this was something we felt we needed professional help with. The plumber estimated it would cost $300 to access and fix the pipes and drill another hole in our septic tank. Once we knew when he could come, we let him know we would have it all dug up. So, we took an hour and dug up the two pipes that he indicated we needed to access. Then when he came, I was available to run to ACE Hardware when we the plumber needed extra parts. When all was said and done, because we did our own "grunt work" of digging up the lines and being available to run to the store to get the necessary parts, we were able to save $150.

Just Ask!

I received a statement from the bank with a $8 maintenance fee for last month for our business account. We have had the account for over 6 years and I honestly didn't remember what the minimum balance I was required to have to avoid fees was. In finishing up the end of year expenses that needed to go on this tax year, I let the balance drop lower than usual. Hating extra fees, I put in a quick call to the bank to find out if there was "grace" for this happening one time in over six years? The gal at the bank was happy to reverse the charge for me. She also told me that since it was over the end of the month, I would have the same charge for January too, and to just give her a call and she would reverse that charge as well. She went on to tell me how much they appreciated that we had been customers for many years with them and asked if there was anything else I needed help with. I appreciated their being willing to reverse the charge and I also appreciate the great customer service I received. So, if you end up with extra fees, give a call and see if the company is willing to reverse them for you. Thankfully, I got to talk to a real person right away and the call took less than five minutes.