As a consumer, I was disappointed twice today — but the two different ways in which my disappointment was handled made all the difference in the world.

I took my car this morning to the repair shop to have the exhaust system fixed. (Last week, I was dragging an exhaust pipe on the pavement.) When I called back later to check, I discovered that the parts house had sent the mechanic the wrong part. The mechanic was extremely courteous and professional about this; he went back and checked the ticket to see if it had been his mistake, but it wasn’t. So I won’t get my car fixed until Friday.

Meanwhile, I’ve been waiting for an $111 overpayment refund check from my oral surgeon. I was told two weeks ago that the check would be mailed last Thursday from Murfreesboro. I called today to check on it, and the woman in the business office was curt, dismissive and came very close to calling me a liar. They couldn’t possibly have promised to send the check last week, because the woman who writes checks was out all last week! She had all kinds of excuses and barely let me get a word in edgewise. The end result is that they’re supposed to be sending out the check tomorrow.

I have written a letter to my oral surgeon complaining about this; I will look at it again tomorrow and see if I still want to send it.