If it’s not good enough for Mary & Jess – it’s not good enough!

We’re confident when we offer you our Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee because we have two of the best Quality Controllers in the business! Mary and Jess put their hands on every product we offer and every product we’re thinking of offering. They’re working for you, making sure everything we sell meets our high standards, and lives up to our slogan, “Products that make life easier®”. You can order with confidence knowing that if it’s not good enough for them, it won’t be offered by Solutions®.

Mary
Mary approaches her work as quality controller with a sense of humor and a sense of adventure – and she often needs both!

“One time I brought home a de-icer,” she says. “This was in August, mind you! I bought a huge bag of ice and smashed it up into powder, then spread it over the sidewalk to test the product…my neighbors would have thought I was nuts if they weren’t already used to the sight of me doing things like this!”

Safety isn’t the only issue Mary keeps in mind when she’s testing a product.

“I see my job as having two parts,” she says. “On one hand, I have to make sure that a product meets all the industry, state and federal regulations for safety and quality. But it also has to meet our own very strict regulations here at Solutions® – and that’s the second part of my job, which, to me, is being an advocate for the customer.”

Being a customer advocate, Mary says, involves making sure the product will do what it’s supposed to do, is constructed properly, has understandable directions and can be assembled without a lot of fuss.

“It’s a bit like sleuthing,” says Mary, who loves reading mysteries.

Checking products for quality can be frustrating, but it can also be a lot of fun. Mary often uses her own home as a test lab for products, and encourages her co-workers to do the same. She also welcomes comments on various products from her neighbors.

“Sometimes I get too caught up in looking at the product from a quality viewpoint, so it’s helpful when a neighbor sees something I’m testing and remarks on how interesting or unusual it is,” Mary says. “It really helps me to get an idea of how our customers will feel about it.”

Even Mary’s family gets in on the testing.

“Sometimes my husband will yell, ‘no, not more!’” Mary says with a smile. “But mostly he enjoys being a part of what I do, and he really is a discerning critic. I get good feedback from him.”

Mary especially enjoys testing yard and garden products.

“My husband loves to barbecue, and I love gardening…anything that dresses up the yard,” she says. “My granddaughter especially loves the solar stuff!”

Jess
Testing products for quality appeals to Jess’s perfectionist nature. Her background in art and love of arts and crafts make her super detail-oriented – an essential trait for a quality controller.

“I won’t just test the prototype sent by the vendor,” Jess says. “I make sure to test a sample that’s identical to the one our customers will actually receive.”

This helps Jess to determine not only if a product is appropriate for a Solutions® customer, but if it can be improved, too. Product directions are one area where she works to make a product better overall.

“Sometimes I’ll test a product I’m sure our customers will love, but the directions may not be as easy to follow as they could be,” Jess explains. “We then work with the vendor to make the directions clearer.”

Like Mary, Jess often uses her home as a test lab, and her family as testers.

“I like to think of them as my unofficial associates,” she says with a smile.

Jess’s love of hiking and canoeing attest to her love of adventure, which she agrees is helpful in tackling quality control. But the job sometimes tests even her pioneering spirit.

“It was January, and I had to test an outdoor shower, sink and garden sprinklers,” Jess remembers. “That was one time I was sorry the products worked properly…because I got properly soaked! And naturally this took place during one of Western Oregon’s rare winter cold spells.” She laughs ruefully. “It was raining, the sprinkler had a twenty-foot reach, and I had to run the hose from inside the building because all the outside taps were turned off for the winter…I’m glad I didn’t wind up with pneumonia!”

Being a quality controller can not only put life and limb in jeopardy – Jess points out that it can be rough on the dignity, too! And while the Solutions® staff is often happy to offer help in testing some products (like the time she and Mary were trying out a popcorn maker and had more than enough volunteers eager to sample their results), there are some areas where they draw the line.

“Later on I’m going to test a machine that exercises the abdominal muscles,” Jess says. “I notice my co-workers aren’t lining up to help me with that one!”

While she’s glad she finds her work interesting, Jess’s primary goal remains the same no matter what she’s testing: making sure the customer has the best possible product.