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On February 12^th, Long Island was hit with its first storm of the season.  There was only a small amount of snow, but icy roads made traveling dangerous.  Unfortunately, the dangerous roads prevented me from making it to the Nassau Coliseum with my son to see the New York Islanders play against the Philadelphia Flyers.  Because I didn't want to disappoint my son, we actually did attempt to get to the game, but I quickly realized that it wasn't meant to be. 

Since we were already on the road, and we had planned a night out, I offered to take him to dinner at Bennigan's, and promised to take him to an Islanders game later in the season.  He was disappointed, but agreed once he saw how slow we were moving.  It took us almost 40 minutes to go less than 4 miles to Bennigan's, so it would have taken almost three hours at that pace to get to the Nassau Coliseum.  We ended up having a great night together, so it wasn't a total loss.

The Islanders run promotions every once in a while, and the tickets that we bought for the game against the Flyers that night were part of a promotional package.  Since the package was ordered by phone, we were supposed to pick it up at the box office. This was a great package deal, offering 2 tickets, a $30 gift certificate to one of my favorite restaurants (Butera's), and a box of chocolates, all for the low price of $49.  In addition, the first 10,000 fans were to receive a New York Islanders calendar.

The next day, I called the New York Islanders corporate office to see if I could at least get the gift certificate, even though I couldn't make it to the game.  The customer service representative was very friendly and helpful.  He told me that I could still pick up the gift certificate at the box office, and that he would see what he could do about getting us out to another game.  I asked about the calendar, but they apparently ran out of them. 

The offer of tickets was a totally unexpected, but much appreciated gesture.  Because I was the one that didn't make it to the game, they were under no obligation to offer tickets as a replacement.  The customer service rep told me that someone would get back to me by the end of the day.  Less than 5 minutes later, he called back himself and told me that the tickets for another game were being mailed out immediately.  Although he told me that they were going to do whatever they could for everyone that didn't make it out to the game, the immediate response was particularly impressive.

When the tickets arrived in the mail, I was shocked to see that we had received tickets that had a face value of $75 each.  Any seats would have been fine, but great seats are just above and beyond.  Perhaps the customer service representative was moved by the fact that I told him that it broke my heart to see my five year old son (a diehard Islanders fan) crying because we couldn't make it to the game, so he decided to go the extra mile.  It's possible that others received great seats as well.  The fact of the matter is that the Islanders went above and beyond to deliver great customer service.  This is even more impressive because they are the only game in town (so to speak).

My son and I went to the replacement game last night and had a great time.  The Islanders shut out the Tampa Bay Lightning, and continued the winning streak that started with the game that we missed due to inclement weather.  It was a very exciting game, and my son and I had another great father-son moment.

During the intermission, a short commercial about the new sports complex that is being built at the site of the Nassau Coliseum was shown on the scoreboard.  It is really going to be something amazing from the looks of it, but the sad part is that it will mean that the Coliseum is being torn down.  I know how much the Coliseum means to me, but that's because I have had many, many experiences there.  Always one to surprise me with his maturity, my son told me that he's sad that the Coliseum is going to be torn down because it's special to him.  I told him that I feel the same way, but that we will make many more memories in the new sports complex.

As we pulled into the driveway, I asked my son if he had a good night.  He said, "of course, the Islanders won, I got an awesome souvenir pack and I have an awesome dad!"  It doesn't get any better than that for a dad.

Thank you New York Islanders for affording me the opportunity to make great memories with my son.  Your outstanding customer service has made being a loyal fan a very rewarding experience.