Badley's has come to the rescue of an Australian mum after a birthday treat for her father was thwarted by the Covid-19 crisis.
Trish Reilly, who lives in Adelaide, had been planning to buy travel vouchers for her father Bill – until lockdown left the retired army major and his wife confined to their Ironbridge home.
But G.N. Badley & Sons, the family-run butcher based at Gibbons Road in Trench, answered a last-ditch plea from Down Under, and came to the rescue.
“The other thing I know my dad likes other than travel is a good barbecue and a nice steak, so I frantically started searching for local butchers,” Trish said.
“Bearing in mind I was literally looking for a delivery within 24 hours in the midst of a pandemic, I was not holding out much hope.
“Badley’s were the only ones to respond. Not only that, they said that given the circumstances they would be happy to help, turned my order around and delivered on the same day.”
Later that day, Badley’s were on the doorstep to surprise Bill, and his wife Trisha – at a social distance - with a bumper delivery which included fillet steak, T-bone steak, back bacon, pork, and a large pork pie.
“I have to say that I felt a little bit like celebrities must feel when they receive special treatment,” their daughter said.
“Mum and dad were blown away not only with the surprise, but also with the lady who made the delivery, who they felt was genuinely thrilled to be able to help in making sure that dad got his birthday present - all the way from his daughter in Australia.
“They have not stopped raving about the quality of the meat, and say they now can't wait to be out of lockdown so that they can visit the shop themselves.
“Most miraculously of all, my mum loved the pork pie, which has never happened before. I am not sure how thrilled dad was to realise that after 40 years of marriage he will now have to share!”
Trish added: “You have no idea how grateful I am to Badley’s for what they have done.
“Organising special occasions from the other side of the world is hard enough - but in a pandemic it’s almost impossible.
“I really wanted to express how very grateful and touched I was that the Badley’s team would go so out of their way to help.
“I was completely and utterly blown away by what they did, from the fast response after initial contact to the easy payment and ordering, with the personal touch.
“It is not often in a world of faceless consumerism to come across a company that still holds customer service at the heart of what they do, whilst delivering a great product.
“I can honestly say that it was the best customer experience I have ever had - all the more magical as I was requesting this from the other side of the world, so not even the desire to secure repeat business was a factor in Badley’s delivering such fabulous service.”