experience matters

My Trek was stolen from work just over a week ago. As an aside, if you park on or around Michigan Avenue – watch out. The story: I parked and locked my bike outside of our building, just like always. I left work and it was gone. What’s next? I hop on the train and check Craigslist for Trek Bikes for sale. Yep. It was there – or I thought it was. That night, I do the basics: file a police report, and plan a full-blown sting operation. I was thinking, “I’m going to get this ‘jerk” (except replace the word “jerk” for about 10 other colorful descriptors).
I emailed the Craigslist contact and we set up a meeting for the next day. I went. He stood me up. Grrrr. Wait. He emailed me back asking to meet at a different location – in a sketchy neighborhood, but I’m down.

Experience #1: Be receptive to my attempt to resolve the problem. I shared the back story with the folks at Critical Mass. They allowed me to take part of the day to pursue the lead. They allowed me to drive the situation. Special thanks to @Shamberg, for that.

Experience #2: Understand my needs. My husband is out golfing and has our car. “Oh great.” Out of rage, I look up Enterprise Rent-a-Car and check their inventory for a vehicle large enough for a bike. They immediately contact me via phone in response to the online query, and I tell them the stolen bike story to this point. Unbelievably supportive to my cause, they arrive at my doorstep within 10 minutes.

Experience #3: Give me something unexpected. I called Chicago’s finest as I pulled up to the perp’s location. They met me outside. We planned a sting. They allowed me to participate. The plan: I’ll ask this guy to bring the bike outside of his house, and confirm the last 4 digits of the serial #, loop back with the CPD who will wait down the block for my ok.

“Whatever you do, don’t go inside,” said one of the officers. No arguments from me there… Until I walked up to the address and realized it was a pawn shop. I rang the buzzer, and walked right in. The door locked behind me. I play dumb and ask to see the serial number, as I had never bought anything from a pawn shop. “404C” It’s there. I say that I need to go back to my car to grab my purse. I leave and the cops are outside – “What the hell, did I walk out of the briefing? You weren’t supposed to go inside,” said one of the policemen. Ha. Very funny. From there we re-enter, and to make a long story short, the serial number is 1 number off. Now what? The police still come through and determine that the bike is stolen; I just can’t be the one to retrieve it. I feel vindicated because they supported my cause as a citizen. What’s more, is that they gave me their contact information and badge numbers should I decide to play detective again.

Experience #4: Authentic and personalized customer care. I’m thinking, “1 lousy number off – that’s my bike.” I call Village Cycle Center, and ask if they made a mistake on the serial number. Within 24 hours they get back to me with a confirmation of the Trek inventory they scanned in, well before my purchase. Amazing. The serial number given is correct, but they’ve contacted Trek on my behalf to see if this ‘new’ serial number exists.

Experience #5: Quick response. Trek replies back with an email and a text message. “Both serial numbers belong to real bikes.” Ok, I’m hoping they’d give me proof, but they are timely in their response. This was helpful in that it let me move on to other leads.

Experience #6: Solve the problem. The next day, I go to the director of security for my building to file a report. He goes to his security tapes and gets the thief on film. Even if the pawn shop bike isn’t mine, we’ve got a lead and a visual on the guy who took my property.

Where are we at now? I’m still waiting for the owner of the “mystery” serial number to claim the bike, unless I can come up with additional proof. I decided to write this post without the final ending in case it’s not a successful recovery effort. What’s most relevant is the experience. While I dealt with several “brands” throughout my experience, I appreciate that the individuals took responsibility for their contributions. If every branded interaction could deliver at this level, we’d be able to drive more business and very easily participate in the tough stuff, like social media. It’s amazing how people rally in a crisis. Now, can we deliver under normal circumstances?

I’ll keep you posted on my bike, and the bastard that stole it.