One of our fabulous Piggers here in Customer Service, Cheri, has a “journal” full of funny quotes that were overheard. She inherited this journal from another fabulous Pigger, Leigh, who now works in another department. These are some of the tamer entries! Enjoy!

Pigger to dismayed Customer
“Fear not!”

Customer discussing a volume of liquid with a Tech Services Pigger
“You could pee more than we’re talking about.”

A shining example of our listening powers
Pigger: Did you say your name is Tom or John?”
Customer: “Charlie.”

Good stuff from customers
Customer: “We got them from your distributor—Sweat Hogs?”
Pigger: “Safety-Kleen?”
Customer: “Yeah!”

Exchanges related to promotional items
Pigger: “Do you want the Stress Balls?”
Customer: “No, I have bourbon for that.”

Pigger: “We have T-shirts, a Sporksball … That’s like a Nerf ball that looks like a pig.”
Customer: “A sports bra that looks like a Nerf ball?”

Pigger: “Just a minute, let me get out of the Shirt.” (meaning go to another part of the order system)
Customer:  (stunned silence)

Classic one liners from Pigger to Customer:
Discussing options for shipping some items: “They should be able to go postal.”

“Are you Rich?” (Yeah, how wealthy are you, anyway?)

“It has 2″ and 3/4″ bung holes for you to get in and out of the drum.”

“Let me grab Jennifer for you.”

“I don’t want to hold you any longer.”

Oscar Mayer, the third Oscar Mayer to head the famous meat products company, died at age 95 on Monday. Condolences to his family.

This brings to mind the jingle, of course (“My bologna has a first name …”), but also a little-known fact … so little-known that it will be news even to many New Piggers …

New Pig owns the toll-free number

1-800-HOT-DOGS

(1-800-468-3647)

Yes, with a “D” that goes with the number “3.”

Image © JLV Image Works – Fotolia.com

Mind you, the phone number that we promote everywhere (and have even registered as a trademark) is 1-800-HOT-HOGS® (1-800-468-4647), with an “H” that goes with the number “4.”

But it’s possible to mis-hear or mis-remember “HOT HOGS” as “HOT DOGS,” so years ago, after we became aware of this, we acquired the “HOT DOGS” phone number as well, so we would still get those calls.

By the way, I feel free to point out this tiny flaw in our timeless toll-free number (a) because 1-800-HOT-HOGS has generated countless laughs and smiles, and (b) because yours truly happens to be the Pigger who originally suggested 1-800-HOT-HOGS as a phone number just about 24 years ago (speaking of little-known facts!). I got a $200 prize for that! Nice money now and even better back then!

Anyway, our having 1-800-HOT-DOGS is all part of our customer service! If our customers encounter a common problem that we can fix, we’ll fix it!

We do get the occasional call over the HOT-DOGS number asking for hot dogs or hot dog vending equipment (and we try to be helpful with those as well), but …

Sorry, Oscar Mayer!

Sorry, Ballpark!

Sorry, Nathan’s and anyone else who might be interested in 1-800-HOT-DOGS …

… but we’re keeping it!

I just read an online excerpt from a high-profile new book, but I’m not going to link to it, because I don’t want to do the least bit to help promote it. That’s right, I’m withholding even the tiny benefit of a fledgling industrial blog.

I took an instant dislike to the writer, a reaction that I think is part of his success formula: “I’ll get great word-of-mouth if I’m skilled at being a jerk.” He does have a way with words. He did an excellent job of channeling his ugly persona.

The author looks back many years to a summer job at a candy factory. Every week, someone had to scrub down a particular piece of equipment. He volunteered because the spot wasn’t easily inspected, and it gave him a chance to hide and do his summer college reading. So apparently that piece of equipment went uncleaned for months, and the person who took over in the fall had all the more scrubbing to do.

The author points out that the weekly cleaning was required by a health regulation. That reminds me of the tainted peanut processing plant in recent news. I’m sure that any one of us would feel better about a loved one’s dying from food poisoning if it stemmed from a lazy student’s wiley way of finding time to better himself.

But what did the Boy of Summer care about any of that? In September, it was back to college for him, on the way to a “better class” of life (his words) than those who remained “stranded” in the factory.

My father and uncles worked for decades in a factory. I worked in a factory for a summer (yes, I went to college that fall). Factory workers cover the whole range of personalities from champion to rat, the same as workers in offices, schools, churches, government or any other organization. You’re as low as any person in any job if you (a) don’t do your work in the first place and (b) assume you’re superior to anyone just because of what they do. Don’t assume you’re happier than the next person either, college education or not.

I’m writing this because so many of New Pig’s customers are in factories, and I despise this writer’s dismissal of factory workers as a whole. If you find out who he is (I hope I haven’t made it easy), dismiss him.

Image © James Steidl – Fotolia.com

A customer asked me to pass along how much he loves the Pigalog® catalog. He said that when it comes in the mail he goes through it like it’s the Toys R Us catalog for adults. He picks out what he wants and creates a wish list just like he did when he was a kid!

I thought that was such a wonderful compliment!

Click here to page through the Pigalog® catalog online

Click here to have your own copy of the Pigalog® sent to you

Thanks so much to the customers who sent in the pictures below and told us where they snapped them!

Now send us YOUR pictures of PIG® products doing dirty deeds to keep workplaces clean and safe!

Near the generators at Hoover Dam

At the Louvre near the Mona Lisa (ooh-la-la!)

Drawing a blank on the location, but I do know that it’s PIG® Elephant Mat!

This morning, a customer called to ask a special favor. Her company is in Indiana, PA, (hometown of actor Jimmy Stewart) about an hour and 15 minutes away from New Pig. She’s holding a spill response training tomorrow and needed one of our free educational videos. Was there any possibility that the video could be delivered by a Pigger on the way home from work? She’d meet the Pigger halfway.

Our service rep Nicole emailed this to all Piggers at 10:03 a.m. She emailed again at 10:14 to say that this was all arranged.

The only thing that surprises me is that 11 minutes elapsed. This is just one small example of how we’ll do whatever we can to help our customers.

Today’s a day for tooting our own horn! I have to share the wonderful comments below. We received them this afternoon.X

If you’re not a New Pig customer, you really should think about becoming one! You could be the next to email us—after we knock your socks off, too!

We’ll be happy to help you in any of these areas:

Absorbents
Ash & Trash
Containment
Drums & Containers
Drum Accessories
Facility Maintenance
Gloves
GripZone™ Floor Safety
Janitorial Supplies
Leak Diverters
Parking Lot Supplies
Personal Safety/PPE
Plant Safety
Spill Kits
Spill/Drain Barriers
Storage & Handling
Stormwater/SPCC
Wipers & Rags

Images © Michael Brown – Fotolia.com

Sunshine Cleaning (opens March 13) has officially made my list of movies to absolutely, certainly, definitely, positively, unquestionably, maybe, possibly see.

Absolutely because: Two sisters work to send their son/nephew to school.

Certainly because: They enter the business of cleaning up crime and trauma scenes, also known as CTS Decon. This means handling the ungodly messes from murders, suicides, accidents, decomposing bodies, meth labs and more.

Definitely because: New Pig has many customers in this field; they deal with a wide range of hazards and materials; see below for products commonly needed.

Positively because: CTS Decon demands not only a strong stomach and a strong back but a strong heart  because workers often end up consoling those close to victims.

Unquestionably because: Sunshine Cleaning stars accomplished beauties Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. Yeah, yeah, Oscar-winner Alan Arkin as well.

Maybe because: My wife will not want to see this.

Possibly because: Will it play in the nearby metropolis of Altoona?

*

How Stuff Works gives a fantastic overview of CTS Decon here, including striking details: brain matter hardens like cement … blood gels up … meth labs can remain toxic indefinitely if not cleaned properly …

We also reviewed purchases by customers in this field. Products used include:

Absorbents
Medical waste disposal services
Biohazard waste bags
Biohazard waste buckets
Biohazard waste burn bin
Sharps disposal services
Poly disposal bags
Trash container liners
Trash container dollies
Power-washing containment & recovery equipment
Poly drums
Pails
Hand cleaners
Stain removers
Mops and buckets
Brooms and handles
Shovels
Industrial wet vacuums
Floor scrubbers
Level A suits
Boots, overboots & overshoes
Disposable footwear
Chemical-resistant gloves
Disposable nitrile gloves
Disposable vinyl & polyethylene gloves
Disposable latex gloves
General-purpose gloves
Work gloves
Safety goggles
Reusable respirators
Disposable respirators
Respirator filters and cartridgesWipers and rags

Listening to customers—something we’ve always prized at New Pig—takes on fresh meaning in an age when online outrage leads a major brand like Tropicana to pull new packaging within two months of introducing it.

Orange you glad you have such power?

Using means like this blog, Twitter and more, our sizable ears will get even bigger—the better to hear you with.

Image © Simone van den Berg – Fotolia.com

A local customer (call them Company X) called about a spill this afternoon. Customer Service immediately started working with Distribution on an emergency delivery.  Tim in Facilities was even working on getting the order on a New Pig truck until we confirmed that it could ship with one of our shipping partners, Ward Trucking. The Ward Truck got there so fast with the PIG® products needed that the people at the front gate of Company X hadn’t been informed yet that the delivery was coming. A Pigger in our Distribution area placed a call to Company X to please open the gate.

Appreciative emails started flying around here, aimed largely at Piggers in Distribution for making this happen. Ya gotta love this email from Janet in Distribution:

Thanks for all the praise but keep in mind “THIS IS WHAT WE DO” not just for [Company X] but for all of our customers.  Monday, [Company Y] had a spill and needed our product ASAP. We got the call at 3:00 and the product was on a truck leaving New Pig at 3:45. We appreciate our customers and give them all the same New Pig service.

Right on, Janet: THIS IS WHAT WE DO.