A Heater Debate

I work for a well-known do-it-yourself moving company. I receive a call.

Customer: “My heater in my truck doesn’t work, and if I turn it on it makes my windshield freeze. But [phone line akin to AAA] says that they can’t do anything about it because it’s not an emergency. And anyway, I need to keep the truck longer.”

We go through the process of extending the rental, and then the customer starts griping about the faulty heater again and asks for a discount. This particular kind of rental does not have any kind of discounts available, and prices are only ever reduced if it is a matter like a vehicle breakdown or if something happened which was the company’s fault.

I also notice that the customer is in a southern state, where it isn’t very cold at this time of year. I hold my tongue.

Me: “As far as discounts go with this kind of rental, that would have to be negotiated with the manager of that location upon dropoff.”

Customer: “What about a manager? Can your manager do it?”

Me: “I can transfer you to a manager, but they would most likely say the same thing, as it was this location’s vehicle which had issues with the heater.”

Customer: “They made me walk two blocks to come to get my truck. I had to walk two blocks to come to get my truck because they wouldn’t bring it to me!”

Me: “Unfortunately, dropping off trucks is not a service we offer.”

Customer: *Sounding furious* “You’d better get me to a manager now before I get upset!”

The customer angrily interrupts me repeatedly while I explain that they will have to be put on hold for a moment. I call the manager to explain what happened.

Manager: “We don’t offer dropoff services.”

Me: “Yes, that is what I said when they got upset. They want a discount because the heater is broken, though it is in [Southern State].”

Manager: “Yeah, it’s probably just a little chilly.”

After completing the transfer, I checked the weather there. It was cloudless with a low of forty-five degrees – in late October. The customer had acted like they were trudging through two feet of snow and driving the unheated truck when it was ten degrees out, when in reality it was “keep your sweater on in the car” weather.

Thank goodness this company has the employees’ backs on stuff like this. It’s a good company, and 99.9% of issues people encounter are caused by other customers or themselves. In this case, it was other customers failing to report a faulty heater.