Going that extra mile ...

Mary’s efforts are possibly surpassed by American academic Daniel Fleisch, who flew more than 900km on Christmas Day from Ohio to Ottowa in Canada to hand-deliver a copy of his book on an obscure set of physics formulae to a customer who had posted a negative review on Amazon complaining that he’d been sold a flawed copy. At first Fleisch offered to send a copy of the book via overnight delivery, but the date—it was 24 December—meant the book, intended as a Christmas present, wouldn’t arrive in time. He thought about driving to Canada from Ohio, but the weather was too snowy. ‘I felt pretty lousy,’ Fleisch told the Dayton Daily News. Then he found a flight leaving at six am on Christmas morning, hired a rental car, and arrived at the disgruntled customer’s house. Fleisch apologised for the flaw in the original copy, handed over the book and headed back to Ohio, arriving home after midnight. ‘Just seeing the look on his face ... it was worth it,’ he said. The customer has now updated his Amazon review, saying the book is ‘excellent for a new aspiring electrical engineer, physics student or even a practising engineer.’