Many of us denounce bad service and announce we will not frequent businesses that have such service. Yet we sometimes do.
Why?
What’s your perfect world?
My friend professional speaker and author Scott Friedman has a mantra for working with others. As he explores how they will work together, he asks, “What does your perfect world look like for our working together?” The person then explains what needs to happen — or not happen — to be their idea of the … Read more
Ways to further infuriate an upset customer
I’m remodeling my kitchen and selected the granite fabricators based on my neighbors’ reports on their great customer service. I found that to be true all along the way until the end.
When the granite was installed, we discovered they’d made the sink cutout template wrong so the overhang over the sink was right on three sides but not on the front. My contractor had several discussions with the rep beforehand ensuring the overhang was to be the same on all 4 sides, and reiterating it with the guy sent out to ensure the job template was right before cutting the stone.
It may not seem like a big deal, but 3/8″ can make the difference between brushed crumbs landing in the sink vs. on the sink edge, which would be a pain to clean.
When the granite was being installed, my contractor pointed out the problem immediately to the installers. The three installers wanted to scrap the $800 piece of granite.
I called the fabrication rep immediately and left him a message.
My contractor and I explored my options. If we made the fabricator tear out the granite, it would cost them $800 for the granite, 3 guys 2-3 hours at $50/hr to tear it out and install the new piece, an hour of fabrication time, plus repairing any damage to the cabinets. All in all, we figured the company would be out close to $1500 to make it right.
A week later, no word from the rep. However, I did get a bill, minus a 3.2% discount for the wrong template.
What????
Are you unknowingly insulting others?
For 3 months I’ve interacted daily with my remodeling contractor. He’s a sweet, thoughtful man who goes out of his way to make sure I’m feeling good about his work.
He recently shared with me that a new woman client refused to give him a key or use a lockbox at her house — she had to be home whenever he entered. This makes it difficult to get his work done. When he asked about other options, she said, “I want to be home when you’re here. I have daughters and I don’t want anything to happen to them.”
He was insulted.
What sayings are holding you back?
When I hear someone declare, “There’s nothing new under the sun” I want to scream, “Have you not been alive the last 10, 20, 30 or 40 years?” So much new has been invented you’d have to have been living under a rock to believe the trite saying they so adamantly express.
The theater of AT&T
I’m not talking about an actual physical space, but instead, of the verb form. An action that is just for show.
While doing some work on my house, the crew accidentally messed up the outside box where the wires come into my house. I have VOIP through Comcast so wasn’t sure the wires were even relevant. So I called Comcast and they told me to call AT&T.
I did. The rep was helpful and said the wires running to the house were their responsibility so she scheduled a guy to come out the next Monday. Since it was Friday and it wasn’t urgent since I still had phone service I said fine.
Lesson from a proud vendor
My visit to the summer farmers’ market yielded a delightful feast for the eyes and mouth. The bright-colored fruit and veggies were displayed with gusto. The abundant fruit samples at the many stalls were succulent delights.
Approaching a vendor displaying large watermelons, I asked “Would you do half?” He nodded yes. “How much?”
“Five dollars” he responded with an impish smile on his face — a whole melon was $5. I obliged with an exaggerated expression of disbelief.
“No!” I exclaimed.
When you need to give a hug
When I stepped on the hotel elevator on the second floor, the only other person inside was a twenty-something woman. She was crying but working hard to not. Yet she couldn’t stop. I have been there — something hurts so badly you can’t control the emotion, even when you’re in a public place and you feel embarrassed at not being able to stop.
I paused briefly to look at her, unsure whether to ignore her and mind my own business to my 14th floor room. I noticed she’d pushed the 6th floor button so I knew we wouldn’t share this space long.
A super star septuagenarian
Many people would assume that she was a stay-at-home grandma who mostly watched TV and crocheted cozies. How surprised they would be to see this 70-ish woman navigate through the Macy’s computerized cash register with aplomb.
How’s your follow through?
In my experience, lots of people say yes to things they never provide. Some people even volunteer to do something that never materializes. And they don’t even have the professionalism to get back to the person or group to whom they committed to tell them they won’t be delivering what was promised.
Two recent occurrences of this reminded me of how rampant this bad habit is.