Quality customer service often involves going above and beyond the call of duty, whether it’s taking the extra time to educate a client or it’s selflessly searching for the owner of a lost diamond ring.

It might be uncommon, but it’s not unheard of. A septic pumper out of New Hampshire is looking for the owner of a diamond ring discovered in the tank of a company truck.

Employees of Rowell’s Services in Northfield spotted the ring during a scheduled cleaning of the truck’s tank.

“We started pulling stuff out and putting it in a wheelbarrow, so we could get rid of it in the proper way, and we saw something shiny,” worker Jeffrey Lacoy told WMUR News.

And there it was: a diamond ring sparkling against a backdrop of human waste and random trash.

The truck they found the ring in has only been in operation for a little over a year, covering the same service area. Rowell’s Services is confident they can find the owner, but they’re keeping the details of the ring a secret so the true owner can identify it.

“Let’s just try,” company owner Mandie Hagan told WMUR News. “Somebody has a great story to tell, and we would love to give it back to the owner.”

Going the extra mile

Finding engagement rings, wedding rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants and other jewelry in septics and pump trucks isn’t as uncommon as you might think. Stories like this one do pop up from time to time. A similar story took place last spring, when the owners of Reliable Septic Service in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, were called in for help finding jewelry that had been flushed down the toilet by a couple’s toddler.

Dani and David Jacobsen’s 2-year-old child flushed a wedding band, engagement ring, diamond ring, set of diamond earrings and a pendant down the toilet in 2013. They thought all hope was lost, but decided to search for the jewelry in earnest three years later.

David had already crawled under the house and cut into pipes looking for the items, but after stewing on it for some years, decided to call in the big guns and delve into the septic tank.

Reliable Septic sent company co-owner Jake Starnyski to help the couple, and he pumped down to the last couple feet of waste. That’s when David went in to search for the jewelry (we’re sure he had confined space training and appropriate equipment).

“He got suited up and went in and tried to get it done, God bless him,” Starnyski told The National Post.

They didn’t find anything that time, but later on, when the couple was selling the house, Starnyski returned for a final cleaning. Knowing the history of the house, he took care pumping down to the bottom of the tank, and that’s when he spotted something glittering in the waste.

“I believe the first time, it was stuck in the line,” he told The National Post. “But over time, gravity took hold and it went to the bottom of the tank.”

Starnyski ended up finding the engagement ring and the pendant, which was the most sentimental piece for Dani. She said she was impressed with Starnyski and Reliable Septic.

“He’s amazing,” she told The National Post. “Such a sweet guy. A really, really good person. I was blown away he had taken the time to slowly and methodically search.”

When it all works out, going through the trouble of finding a wedding ring’s owner or locating a customer’s jewelry in their tank is a surefire way to win a lifelong customer.

Sources: WMUR News and The National Post