Selling a Vintage Drinks Trolley the Old-Fashioned Way | A Personal Customer Experience

How a Vintage Drinks Trolley Caught the Eye of a Traditional Buyer

One of my handmade pieces, Clementine—a vintage drinks trolley finished in striking orange silver leaf— had recently been featured in The English Garden Magazine. It wasn’t long before I received a call from a gentleman on the South Coast who had seen the trolley in the magazine’s shopping section. He’s 91 years old and doesn’t use the internet, so he did something rather rare these days: he picked up the phone and called me.

Unusually, and thankfully, the magazine had included my phone number alongside the feature. He’d only seen the one photo in the magazine, and I wanted him to be absolutely sure Clementine was right for him. So, I printed off a selection of photos and sent them in the post. After receiving them and deciding she was indeed the one, he posted me a cheque. Once I’d worked out what to do with it (!) and it had cleared, I gave him a ring to arrange for me to personally deliver the trolley.

Delivering the Trolley and Rediscovering the Human Side of Business

I made the drive to his home near Romney Marsh, where we carefully set up Clementine in his art deco living room. Then, we sat down for coffee and biscuits as he shared stories from the 56 years he’d lived in that same house. No emails, no texts, no DMs—just conversation, connection, and coffee.

It was one of the most human business experiences I’ve had in a long time and for him a very personal customer experience—something we rarely see in 2025, but something I think many of us quietly long for.

Why Traditional Customer Experiences Still Matter in 2025

In an era where convenience often trumps connection, it’s easy to assume that everything must be digital to be functional, that speed and automation are always better. But this experience reminded me that there’s still space for the traditional, the tactile, and the thoughtful. Not every customer journey has to be digital, and sometimes, those old-fashioned ways bring not just a sale, but a story.

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