Customers and Delays

Ah... It's always good to start the day getting screamed at by a customer for another company getting delayed. The short of it is my company accidentally moved a box to his home in Arizona instead of his daughters home. They were both moving from the same house to different locations so unfortunately it can happen. A mistake happened and the box was not picked up as scheduled by the mail service. Things were fixed and everyone was happy.

This last bit is a tad exagerated.

The gentlemen mostly screamed and swore at me on the phone. He was so loud that my co-workers could listen in from a few desks away. Our HR manager was sitting next to me during it and afterwords said if he had been on the receiving end he would have hung up on him. That's how bad this gentalmen was.

I managed to get him to go on hold three times. the first was so I could collect myself and call the woman who set up the pickup. I asked her if she preferred poison or a bullet. She laughed and then said she would contact the mailing company to see what was up.

I picked up his line and let him know the mailing company was being contacted and that he would be called back about it. He was not happy and started screaming about everything under the sun. Including paying for his stay in Arizona. The worst part? He wanted the person who set up the pickup date for the box. My HR guy said not to give him her number because while we are used to him (and can laugh at it) she was not.

After he screamed at me some more I got his number so she could call him. I answered a few more calls and then called her to let her know what was going on. As soon as I said hi she said she should have taken the poison. Apparently he had called a few other people that work for us and gotten her office number.

While it seems like this customer 'won' or something like that, he didn't. His actions just further proved why we try to not end up servicing customers like him. There are so many notes on his account right now I'm amazed the computer still runs. As soon as this latest possible move is completed I'm pretty convinced that we will refuse to move him a third time.

Mondays....

This Monday has not been a happy day. Almost every potential customer I spoke with today wanted everything that I could not give them. Three people wanted a quote for a move. After I told them we needed to have someone see the items, they all said some variation of "Oh, you can just tell me. I won't hold you to it."

When I informed them that no, we actually need to have someone see the items, two of the callers were very nice about it and said they would call back closer to their move date. This is completely understandable because house sales and such are temperamental things.

The other... well, nothing I could say that wasn't a price would make her happy. She ended the call by saying that I just didn't want to tell her. Belligerent tone of voice and flouncing away attitude just oozed through the phone. I can understand just wanting an idea of a price, but to keep pushing for one? No, that I can not understand.

Every time I get someone like that I just remind mysef that if they don't call us back that it just might be a good thing.

Not So Open Letter

To The Unhappy-est of Customers

Please, please, please think of moving companies as your friend. Just like your friend would not like it if you were to swear at them then we also do not like it when you swear at us. Unfortunately screaming and swearing at us will not get you what you want.

Unfortunately some parts of the moving industry are out of our hands. Equally unfortunate is that you turned down our earliest available dates to pick up your items. And considering that you have purchased a plain ticked this is twice as worry some.

No sir, unfortunately because you played dealer for the owners' fathers' parties in days gone by, does not mean that you can get a move when ever you feel the need. Demanding that the owner guarantee everything, a bag of chips and a small puppy is not going to sit well.

From Reception

P.S.
We have contemplated getting a bookie to handel the bets of acts of god causeing this move to not happen of n the selected date. Driver Quitting on day of pick up is at the top of the list. Quickly followed by you calling and rejecting that pick-up date. If you have any advice we would be much appreciative.
X's & O's

Customer Etiquette

If you are going to be rude to someone at least have a valid reason for it. if you call one day asking for something that policy says they can't tell you over the phone, don't call in the next day claiming you asked about something totally different and that the company policy is ridiculous. Better yet, admitting to being rude and then threatening to wright a 'very nasty review' if your demands are not met.

This is an excellent way to make sure that a company will not want to work for you.

This is almost as effective as making a mistake in writing your notes and saying the company lied. Exasperatingly when said customer had made a joke about it being on Friday the 13th.

When this happened I got chewed out three times that day. By my boss, the sales agent and then the customer. I got the customer to read his notes and corrected him that no, the 13th was a Friday and not a Saturday. Talk about lesson learned.