Doesn’t Understand The Custom Part Of Customer, Part 15

(We are a small company based in the UK, and the customer is calling from America. He has never purchased from us before, and this is our first contact with him.)

Customer: “Do you have any free stuff you could send me? I’m just looking for a few things to decorate my garage.”

Me: “We sometimes have promotional stuff from our suppliers. If you let us know when you have placed an order, we will see if we have anything available and we can send it with your order.”

Customer: “Okay… I don’t really want to place an order and spend any money with you guys. If I give you my address, could you send it, anyway?”

Me: “I’m sorry, but we are a very small business and our suppliers have told us that the promotional stuff is for customers. Hang on, just let me check something.” *checks our promotional drawer and sees that we do have some of our own branded stuff left over from an old promotion* “Okay, I can not send out the promotional items, but we do have a couple of [Company] branded bags and pens we could send out, if you would be happy to pay the postage.”

Customer: “No, I really do not want to spend money with you. Can you not just send it for free?”

Me: “We are a very small company with small profit margins. If you were in the UK, we might be able to, but as you are in the United States, it would cost a lot more for us to post it to you, and we cannot afford to do that at the moment.”

Customer: “What if I told you that I worked for an [Industry] business and it was going on display in my shop? It would be free advertising for you.”

Me: “If that is the case, then please email us from your business email address and we will see if we can make an exception.”

Customer: *makes annoyed sounds down the phone* “It is bad business, you know, not sending stuff to potential customers.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but as I have already said, we can not afford to send stuff for free at the moment, especially abroad. If you paid for shipping, we would be happy to send you what we have.”

Customer: “Have you heard of [Review Site]?”

Me: “Yes, it is a review site.”

Customer: “Keep an eye on it. I will be leaving a very bad review shortly.”

Me: “Because we refused to send you stuff for free when you refused to pay postage?”

Customer: “Yes!” *click*

(The customer did leave an awful review, which we thankfully got removed.)

Related:
Doesn’t Understand The Custom Part Of Customer, Part 14
Doesn’t Understand The Custom Part Of Customer, Part 13
Doesn’t Understand The Custom Part Of Customer, Part 12