A Shower of Good Luck

54-year-old Bill Smith and his wife Lauri Damon-Smith, 48, have been living in their Warminster home since 2008. Since then Bill, a union brick layer, and Lauri have been slowly remodeling their house one project at a time.

It was last March that their next project went under way: the remodeling of a downstairs laundry room, with an addition to add support to the kitchen on the second floor.

Needless to say it was to be an expensive endeavor, but with Bill working steadily and a confident handyman, the plan seemed feasible.

That was until two weeks after construction began, when Bill was laid off. Optimistic, he figured that he would find work again soon and pushed the project on. Bill did not know however, that he would be out of work for the next four months.

Unknowingly to the Smiths, a series of seemingly random events would lead Lauri and Bill to the Doylestown Glass Company, where they would be entered into a sweepstakes that would award them the grand prize - a $1,500 shower door.

However, long before that alleviating phone call came, the bills were starting to pile up and the line of credit that the couple took out was getting tight. Their optimism began dwindling as fast as their cash was.

"It was pretty rough," Lauri said. "Reality began to set in and it was scary."

Lauri, who was already working as a patient services representative at the medical offices of Coverdales-Hermann Ltd, got a second job working at Bed, Bath and Beyond in Warrington.

Already in a mentionable amount of debt, Bill and Lauri decided to stretch their line of credit a bit further and complete the project.

Bill worked on the soon to be bathroom, laying tiles in the walk-in shower and painting the walls. Almost finished, one piece was still missing - a frameless, glass shower door, which in the meantime was a plastic, fish-patterned curtain that Lauri bought from K-Mart.

"I knew I wanted to finish the shower and I wanted it be perfect," Lauri said.

With that, the plan went on to Home Depot to look at shower doors.

"Home Depot actually recommended us to Doylestown Glass," Lauri said. "They said that for what we needed [Doylestown Glass] would have a lot more to choose from."

At Doylestown Glass Company on Easton Road, Store Manager Dan Krier showed the Smiths a selection of door models.

"We knew that we had really hard water and Dan, who was familiar with Warminster, knew too and recommended ShowerGuard glass from Guardian," Lauri said.

ShowerGaurd glass is specially constructed glass with elements infused with it to prevent corrosion and hard water marks.

It was just what Lauri wanted, so she purchased a frameless model with all the bells and whistles - a fancy silver handle and top of the line hinges - bringing the price up to $1,500.

 With her new state-of-the-art shower door, Lauri and Bill filled out and mailed a $25 rebate coupon that came with the model. A month later, there was a message waiting for Lauri on the answering machine.

"The message said that I needed to call Guardian right away concerning my rebate," Lauri said. Knowing that she had already received and deposited the $25, she assumed something was wrong.

"When I called them back, I was told that I won a sweepstakes," Lauri said. By sending in the rebate coupon, she was automatically enrolled in a special promotion conducted by the company.

"I was like, 'Oh great, what is it? $25 off my next shower door?'"

But it was more than that; it was the grand prize. Lauri and Bill would receive a full refund for the purchase price of the shower door.

"I called [the representative from Guardian] a liar three times," Lauri said, "I just couldn't believe it."

As soon as Lauri hung up the phone, she called Dan at Doylestown Glass, who was already notified that the Smiths had won. Then, she ran next door and told her neighbor.

Finally, with Bill having found work and arriving home exhausted after a long day, Lauri told her husband the good news.

"I was as excited as my body would let me be at the time," Bill said, "I was happy, but wiped out after working all day."

With the full refund, the Smith's put $1,000 toward the line of credit that they had taken out for the project.

Lauri and the representative from Guardian became friends on Facebook and talk from time to time.

Yes, the bathroom was finally finished and the Smith's were feeling better than ever.

But the good news didn't last long.

Shortly after winning the sweepstakes, Bill was laid off again the day after Independence Day. 

As for Lauri, she no longer works at Bed Bath and Beyond, but still has her job as a patient services representative at Coverdales-Hermann Ltd. 

Despite the hardships, Lauri and Bill's remain optimistic. The couple laughs and smiles as they recall the story and think about plans for the future.

"What's our next project?" Lauri said, "Well, we have a lot of projects. Probably another bathroom."