McCoy Millwork

We were having our fireplace re-tiled from floor to ceiling, and I didn't want to keep our surround mantle with the new look. Our tile guy recommended I go look at custom mantles on the website and at the showroom of McCoy Millworks. My husband and I went in and chose a style we liked, in a high-grade wood that we knew we wanted to lightly stain, and not paint. We ordered the mantle, and when it came in, I went to see it before the worker picked it up for transport to our site. The millwork was beautiful, and the mantle was just what we ordered, in the light shade of wood, but I was still disappointed when I saw it because there was a dark knot just off center where the mantle protruded the farthest out. I wasn't going to complain, because, hey, it's wood. It's gonna have knots. But I stood there looking at it a long time because I knew that for all the money it cost, what I would always be looking at on our new fireplace was the big blemish (as I saw it) in the worst possible place. I thought I'd just had bad luck. Gary Linder saw me looking at the mantle, and took the time to ask me questions about what I thought and why I didn't seem so happy. It only took a couple of minutes for me to tell him why I was disappointed. He did not try to talk me out of feeling that way, and didn't argue with me at all. I would have expected someone in the business to remind me that wood is natural and has flaws, and to tell me to get over it. Gary didn't take that approach. Instead, he told me it couldn't hurt to send it back and see if the millworker could do anything to make the knot less obtrusive. He was clear that he couldn't make any promises, but also made me feel like he really cared about customer satisfaction, and wanted to do whatever he could to make sure my concerns were taken seriously. About a week later, I was called back again to see our new shelf mantle. I don't know how the millworker fixed it, but he made it absolutely perfect! Gary indicated that it took some careful negotiation, but he was as happy as I was that it all worked out. Originally I had believed the cost of the mantle to be a little steep, but once I experienced the level of service and caring they put into their production, I no longer felt that way. It was a great experience. I will buy any future moulding, stair bannisters or other millwork from them in a heartbeat. We've had the mantle installed for a number of months now, and every time I look at it, I think how perfect it is! :-)