Oxyfresh president flies chopper with products to Billings

For the president of one major Lake City company, customer service is the ultimate goal.

A couple weeks ago, a distributor for Coeur d’Alene-based Oxyfresh Worldwide Inc. set out on a little adventure from her home in Fort Dodge, Iowa, to Billings, Mont., for an American Cat Fanciers Association pet show.

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Hundreds of feline lovers from across North America attended. Eager to share Oxyfresh’s products at this big event, the distributor, Camille Rogers, ordered a couple hundred dollars worth of Oxyfresh merchandise — ranging from Pet Deodorizer and Pet Ear Cleaner, to tongue scrapers and little tubes of toothpaste. Then she hit the road with her mother, Margie McCollough, and the 5-month-old kittens: Brunnie, Fancy and Blue.

Through a series of frustrating mix-ups, the parcel carrier managed to misroute the products. When they finally arrived at the Billings hotel, the goods were damaged beyond use. Rogers’ heart sank as she desperately called Oxyfresh in Coeur d’Alene, some 500 miles away, for help. With the beginning of the cat show just hours away, Rogers didn’t hold out much hope of sharing Oxyfresh products with her fellow cat lovers.

But after her frantic call to Oxyfresh, employees began to devise a plan. Company president and CEO Richard Brooke, who doubles as "corporate pilot," has his very own whirlybird. Why not fly the products to Billings?

"We saw it as an opportunity," said Brooke. "There wasn’t any other way to get her the product."

After a nine-hour round trip, with a gas stop in Butte, Rogers had her goods.

"I felt so taken care of," she said. "It was an awesome experience knowing the company was supporting me 200 percent with the ultimate helicopter delivery."

Brooke, who’s been flying for about 18 months, frequently flies his chopper to business meetings, said distributors get a kick out of seeing him arrive in it.

"That distributor will never forget we went above and beyond the call of duty," he said.