The Value of Patch

I’ll give you a disclaimer right up front: I am a Patch editor in Southern California and just celebrated my three-year anniversary with the company.

That being said, I’d like to share a story about the value of Patch.

My childhood friend’s father died over the weekend. Although we have been connected through Facebook for several years, I don’t know her home address or her phone number. Why does this matter? It does because when I attempted to send her flowers, each website I went to would not allow me to complete the transaction without providing her phone number.

Is asking someone for their phone number couth when they have just lost a parent? I mean, I’d already asked her for her address, feeling a little uncomfortable about that.

After few minutes, I said “To heck with this, I think there is a Patch where she lives.”

I quickly pulled up the Patch site for Renton, Wash., went to its Business Listings directory and found there were only a few flower shops in town. One came highly recommended by a reader review, had been named Reader’s Choice, and was owned by a mother-daughter team, according to the listing.

Ring ring. I relayed the situation to the woman who answered the phone. In less than five minutes, the transaction was complete and I was confident the flowers would be delivered.

Within the hour, I had a Facebook message from my friend, acknowledging she had received them.

“You just made my day,” she wrote, with a smiley face.

Thanks Patch, and thank you, Renton Flower Shop. You just made my day.