The Bird Feeder, the Boogeyman, and the Birth of Customer Loyalty

“We don’t even sell that bird feeder!”

That’s what my dad’s employee told the angry customer in the store.
And technically? She was right.

But what happened next has stuck with me for decades.

This man stormed into my parents’ Wild Birds Unlimited shop holding a mangled, off-brand bird feeder. Said it didn’t work.
Wanted a refund or replacement.

The team checked, we’d never sold that model.
They tried to explain. He wasn’t having it.
Meanwhile, other customers started putting down their items… and walking out. Awkward.

Finally, they called my dad out from the back.
He listened to the man.
Walked straight to the shelf.
Grabbed a brand new bird feeder.
Handed it to him and said:

“I’m so sorry. Here you go. I hope you have a great day.”

No questions. No drama. Just grace.

But here’s the kicker: The guy left…upset.

Why?

Because he had to fight for it.
He didn’t feel cared for.
He felt worn down.

Now zoom out with me.

That feeder wasn’t just a $9.99 product.
It was a relationship. A referral. A customer’s spouse who might never shop with us again.

My dad understood that. His team didn’t…yet.

But more importantly, my dad didn’t do it just to win loyalty or word-of-mouth. He believed it was simply the right thing to do.

Loyalty and advocacy? Those were just the natural by-products of doing the right thing.

And he didn’t just train his team at the store. He trained us at home. Around the dinner table with me, my three brothers, and my mom, those conversations never stopped.

Stories. Lessons. Values.

That’s where the real leadership school happened.

It wasn’t flashy. It was forks clinking, voices overlapping, and my parents shaping four boys into men who understood what it meant to serve.

So when it all went down, my dad brought it back to the table.
And he shared a lesson that’s still with me today:

𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝗺𝗽.

Don’t make them haggle. Don’t wait for escalation. Lead with generosity, not defense.

Too often, we get scared of what my dad called "The Boogeyman": the fear that if you do it for one customer, you'll have to do it for everyone.

That was his phrase. And it stuck.

That’s fear talking. That’s scarcity. But it’s also not true.

You won’t have to do it for everyone. But the ones you do it for will never forget.

When you lead from the heart and use common sense, your customers will become your storytellers.

At Vortex, we made that decision a long time ago and it has made all the difference.