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Lost A Customer That Wasnt Happy !

harunh

Well-known member
Messages
10,382
Its been raining today and i was cleaning in the rain... i cleaned jsut the front of the hosue for £5.00 like always /emoticons/smile.png

Then i knocked on the door... and no answer.... then i posted the invoice through... andi heard someone rattle the letterbox then he opened the door and the man had jsut woken up i go windows been cleaned mate he went inside to get money then he came back saying u just cleaned them ? I go yeah he goes your having a laugh arent u ? its raining... I go to him it doesnt make a difference if it rains mate.... then he goes we dont want them cleaning next time then i go fine. He said come back later for the money

So i just went now after 8pm

His misses answered the door and said to me im not happy with the way u cleaned my windows... ( this was the 3rd time i cleaned her windows )

She goes im not paying u... u said to me u have a guarantee and if im not happy i get a free clean next time she goes well i dont want a free clean i jsut dont want to use u anymore i go fine never mind cya

so i drove off collecting more money... And i thought to myself why didnt i take the money /emoticons/wacko.png i cant let people get away like this /emoticons/wacko.png so i went back.... and said to her i forget to collect the money she goes but im not happy i go to her i got to put bread on my table she goes i couldnt tell u cleaned my windows their were just wet... i go to her well their not dirty are their go check them now ? ? I go to her just give me the money and ill be off /emoticons/smile.png

She goes oh here have ya money she went in got a £5.00 note... and she had my invoice in her hand... she ripped it up in half and gave it to me with the £5.00 note... i dropped it and said to her thats for u luv

she goes oi dont litter on my drive she bent over and picked it up i said its for u love /emoticons/smile.png then i said cya take care /emoticons/smile.png

Lol

 
Hmmmm! I think you might need to use a bit more diplomacy! She did say she didn't want the freebie, which would be the same as not paying this time! /emoticons/smile.png

 
So your Guarantee isn't much of a guarantee?

You handled that bad.

Word of mouth matters, and people may have seen that.

I hope none of your customers come on here and read that.

 
Totally agree, sorry h but it's for your own good we say it. When he asked about the rain, you might have been able to appeal to his better nature by saying something like I know what you mean and at this time of year I wouldn't work in it but this year it is constant and if I put it back too much I'm out of business, but would normally pick decent weather ESP at this time of year, I'm sure you understand.

I know you're right about it not making any difference, but folk are strange and you have to give a bit of leeway here and there, if you'd played it better, you might have kept it

 
Indeed. I don't want to sound mean but as a business you need to be tactical like a business.

People who work at call centres get tons of abuse yet to keep a job they'll always be polite and bend for customers as one bad review can sting for a long time.

As a one man business you're the only person who can give your business a good image, yet at the same time the only person who can give a bad image. If this lady speaks to others then you've shot yourself in the foot.

Don't get me wrong, I feel the same way too with some customers who need to be told they're not dealing with a part timer cowboy, yet you need to keep those feelings and words to yourself and think about the big picture.

£5.00 in an isolated incident shouldn't be something to ruin your rep with.

 
Not good big H. Not good at all. Gotta forget about this paying bills bit. If you sent your van in to be fixed & you weren't happy you would not pay. If he said I gotta pay bills you still would not pay coz your not happy with the service. She/he could now have friends that she will tell giving you a bad name. Be a bit more diplomatic. You want these customers mate. You should have waved goodbye to the fiver & said will be back & if yer not happy then call it a day. We all get the odd complaint. It happens in all walks of life & you have to deal with it professionally even if inside you want to tell them to swear word off. As chip said we're just trying to help you H. You could start getting a bad name.

Take note of all the above comments coz there all good advise.

 
I had a customer today infact, new one and one i took on for the sake of the fact I clean the guys business.

He rang today complaining that I hadn't cleaned them when I said I had.... now this was 2WEEKS AGO!

Instead of telling him there was no way for him to prove I hadn't done them as the windows would be showing signs of dirtiness now, I politely told him I wasn't going to expect him to pay if he wasn't happy, BUT if he complained again would he please tell me on the day or the day after the clean as only at that time can his argument stand.

I COULD have told him he's tight and I believe that on the first day of sun he's noticed the windows haven't been cleaned in two weeks and comes to the wrong conclusion they weren't done properly and that he's not being smart.

As it stands my customer is happy for getting away with murder and although I'm short of money this month, I'm wiser about this guy and will drop him at the first sign of me not needing his custom or him pulling another stunt like this.

Either way my business keeps it's good name.

 
I had a customer today infact, new one and one i took on for the sake of the fact I clean the guys business.

He rang today complaining that I hadn't cleaned them when I said I had.... now this was 2WEEKS AGO!

Instead of telling him there was no way for him to prove I hadn't done them as the windows would be showing signs of dirtiness now, I politely told him I wasn't going to expect him to pay if he wasn't happy, BUT if he complained again would he please tell me on the day or the day after the clean as only at that time can his argument stand.

I COULD have told him he's tight and I believe that on the first day of sun he's noticed the windows haven't been cleaned in two weeks and comes to the wrong conclusion they weren't done properly and that he's not being smart.

As it stands my customer is happy for getting away with murder and although I'm short of money this month, I'm wiser about this guy and will drop him at the first sign of me not needing his custom or him pulling another stunt like this.

Either way my business keeps it's good name.
Big H take note.

 
U dont understand, this man was very rude and i tried explaining to him he didnt take any of it he goes to me your having a laugh arent ya ! he had no top on and had his nipples pierced /emoticons/wacko.png looked like a very odd character !

She owed me money and i done the same job as i did the last 2 previous times... she was just being awkward because her husband was being like that with me... I dont need people like these on my round anyway. I do a good job all the time all of my customers know that /emoticons/smile.png

But i did a good job... they just didnt like me cleaning in the rain... i want customers who dont mind getting their windows cleaned in their rain... the ones that complain can do 1..... u cant survive in this business if u dont clean in the rain... we get more rain now then more dryness so its got to be done... if their not happy dump them and replace them with better customers ! SIMPLE !

 
We do understand, people can be difficult and rude for all sorts of reasons, you judging him by his looks makes little difference.

If you complained about something you bought but they said you had your nipples pierced and you were rude so you had to pay regardless would you pay?

 
I did a good job and i will always pick up customers.... if i do a good job they will be happy /emoticons/smile.png Some people are just awkward... u always get those 1 or 2 customers in your round.... that just arent happy with anything and this is what type of customer this was.

 
I got to move on and get on with it mate, but she said to me i arent happy you left water on the windows.... how did i know they were cleaned ?

Customers like that I dont need mate... i want a round with good paying customers...... who dont mess me about simple as that

 
If you don't want the custom, ok, but all we are saying is handle them a bit more tactfully. You know the cliche the customer is always right, well, the customer is usually wrong and often annoying with it, but you have to learn to deal with them, what happened here could affect your prospects on the whole street.

 
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