Need to Expect the Unexpected......Really

You just never know what a new day is going to bring.  Monday morning January 21st, 2013.  It is MLK day.  A holiday that traditionally is great day for the ski industry.  This one we know is not going to be that great with the media screaming that nobody should go outside due to the bitter windchill.  That message alone does huge damage to traffic.  It was not that bad.  All you had to do was dress appropriately.  The media chastises us for being inactive, but scares the public into doing just that.  
At 10am, temps are in the single digits with a breeze blowing.  Cold, but not that bad if dressed in layers.  We  have about 70 brave souls ready to go tubing, many of which traveled a great distance.  Tubing Lanes are freshly groomed and Magic Carpet is warming up.  All is well until the electronic drive unit of the carpet fails and is not appearing to be an easy fix...........Patiently the tubers wait .  The damage to the drive unit is beyond a fix and the nearest replacement unit is in Minneapolis. 
We are now looking at about 70 very confused and disappointed customers.  Customer service is always a challenge, but this is one is way out there!  How are they going to respond to this news?  We brought many in to the lodge for hot chocolate, told them the bad news and assured them we would make the best of this bad situation.  Bad situation was an understatement............. disappointing for them embarrassing for us to say the least.  We gave them all the opportunity to try skiing at no cost and many of them took us up on the offer.  The others???????  Gave them their money back, told them the tube hill would still be open for those that would still like to go tubing, even if they had to walk up the magic carpet.  And that is just what they did!    
Fun was had and they all refused to hibernate for the day!   What a great bunch of people.