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Got a call from a customer abort 2 months ago, very disatisfied with his SS top. It show scratches he said. He insisted he thought something wwas wrong so I told him next time my rep was through the area, I would let them see it. He agreed.
While my rep has yet to come through the area, he called a couple of days ago and demanded a brand new top with a very, and mean very rude and demanding demeanor. I told him if he was that unhappy, I would just file a claim since there was no talking to this guy.
At that point, he became even more irrate, saying he bought it from me, he was looking to me to put him in a brand new top and didn’t care how I put him in a new top, I was going to.I guess since he is a preacher, I decided to keep my cool and was really in disbelief he was being so disrespectful.
I told him I couldn’t file a claim without photos, and in doing so upon closer inspection, above the dishwasher was many defects caused by sitting the dishwaher utensil basket on the top with all the forks and knives pointing down.The top has been in almost a 1-1/2 yrs. he liked my work, even gave referrals and now Mr Hyde has stepped in.
I’ve offered to wave my fee for a repolish, but he rejects any suggestions or comments. I’m to the point now, his anger, tone of voice almost has me decided to not do anything for him regardless what the company decides, and I think we all know what a company says about scratches.
comments anyone??
People like that are the reason I never, ever want to be involved in residential work again. I tend to stress over things like that in a manner that is disproportionate to the actual problem.
Give me a huge set of plans and a thick spec book and I’m happy.
KC,
The problem is that the customer was asked to wait and heard little from anyone for 2 months. In my past experiences, we were told that you needed to respond in 30 days or less and we even gave the repair agents more pay if they had the claim resolved in 30 days, not just looked at. I don’t know what you should do if he rejects a free sandout. Good luck.
KC, if you had a problem with your car or truck and the mechanic told you he would report it to the manufacturer and you heard nothing for 2 months, how would you feel? I am not defending rude people, just trying to give you a little perspective.
Bill, I did inform him I only saw the rep about every 3-4 months. he was fine with that. I don’t feel I left him hanging.
However, his insistance that I am the provider of his warranty and happiness and the manufacturer has nothing to do with it and I will replace it with whatever he choses is just nuts.
I’ll offer a repolish, but I don’t see where a customer can demand a replacement from a fabricator because they become unhappy.
Kelsey, I demand you buy everyone drinks at the next ICE show, doesn’t make is so though does it, lol
If you take your new car back to the dealer 1 1/2 years latter with scratches all over the hood and demand a new car ……
What would he say ?
Would you get a new car ?
.
it all depends on the customer some have reason to moan and are nice as pie some have the perfect job and do nothing but moan .
we have had one this week kitchen installed in one week apart from tile and every day they have moaned about everything todays was that the sink was leaking in fact when the lads got there they were splashing the water over the side of the sink .i think nothing we do for these people will be good enough (or maybe just maybe they think they may get some money off
)at the end of last year we did a job that had a blemish in the sheet and they had to wait for it to come back into stock 6 weeks later . they were great about it .
i think it its just about their understanding of processes and if they think you will sort it out for them in the end.hope that makes sense
dom
Posted By Karl Crooks on 30 Mar 2012 10:07 AM
If you take your new car back to the dealer 1 1/2 years latter with scratches all over the hood and demand a new car ……What would he say ?
Would you get a new car ?
.
Great Karl!! Loved that analogy!
I learned long ago that I could not please everyone. Now I just please the guy in the mirror and know I did the best I could and gave them more than they paid for.
Not an easy position to be in Kelsey, but this too shall pass.
KC, please understand that I did not mean to imply that the customer was correct or even sane! It has been proven that the longer someone looks at what they perceive as a problem with no movement to a resolution, the worse that problem becomes in their own mind. I unfortunately had to deal with several issues like this and there is no real solution. Sorry if I miss lead you.
no Bill, I understood. I agree with you 100%. I didn’t feel like I let anything go, he understood how often my rep came through.
A nice phone call inquiring about if I had heard from my rep is what I was expecting… not a verbal grenade going off in my ear.
but then…. Dr Jekyll changed the rules without me knowing it.
How about this:
Give him a call and explain you need to stop by to see the defective material. Explain that in order to have the top replaced, we would need to get the pictures and show the manufacturer that the material was indeed defective.
If you have the sample box, take it with you to show that the material scratches on the color he bought and other colors as well.
If he never uses his kitchen, then the entire top should look the same with the same scratches. Since he did not cause the scratches, then of course the entire top would look identical. Take pictures of the other areas as well.
Make sure he has the paid invoice so that he will be able to file a claim.
Be extremely helpful and pass along the warranty claim phone number along with the phone number of the sales rep. That way he can start calling to complain to those people rather than you.
Ultimately you want to make the manufacturer the enemy and not you. If you are the enemy it will hurt your business by the word of mouth. If you come in and put the pressure on the manufacture to tell him no then it gets him off of you and on to someone else. I know this sounds chicken sh*t but you are dealing with an irrational person. You already tried explaining in English.
I feel this is just human nature and your customer is looking to blame someone for what he believes is a poor purchasing decision on his part. It help him feel better that he didn’t make the wrong choice.
Sadly, many customers have no idea what is a good job or a bad job. I had a customer years ago complain about the mitre on a post form counter top. Since I had purchased the top from a post form shop, that shop owner and I went to the customers home to inspect the top. The job was good, in fact above average. He told the home owner, if he could get anyone else to guarrantee a better top he would pay for the new top. Try as the guy did, he could find no one that would promise a better joint. He never did pay me the last $100 for the job. About 6 – 8 months later I run into this homeowner in a store, he says Tom..just wanted to tell you I have looked at dozens of counters and your right, mine was a great job. I looked at him and said, does that mean your going to pay me? He just looked at me and walked away. Sometimes you can’t please everyone, or even when you do, they will try and screw you. So I just try to please myself, and if I can look in the mirror and know I did all that was possible, and gave the customer more than I promised I have a clear concious.
Once a customer makes a fuss over how bad something is, nothing will ever satisfy them. They would never admit they were wrong. Good Luck !
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