Getting The Call Back Flack

I’m training our new evening cashier. Service and parts close at 7:00 pm and the sales department closes at 9:00 pm. It’s not unusual for service customers to pick up their vehicles after service closes. One evening, around 7:15, a woman calls us and asks us if her car is ready to pick up from service. We say it is. She comes at 8:45 when we’re in the middle of closing out. She’s huffy, but the cashier gets her paperwork and tells her the total.

Customer: “No. This is ridiculous. I never got a call saying my car was ready. You need to comp my service.”

The cashier looks at me.

Me: “Unfortunately, there isn’t anyone here right now who can authorize that.”

Customer: “There’s not a manager?”

Me: “There’s one sales manager right now, but he can’t give us permission to comp service. We can have one of the service managers call you tomorrow morning.”

Customer: “There’s not a general manager who oversees both departments?”

Me: “Not at this hour, no.”

Again, the store closes in fifteen minutes. Most of the employees are already gone for the day.

Customer: “But I never got a call, so you need to comp my service.”

I try to page the sales manager to the cash register, but he doesn’t come. I leave the customer with the cashier while I go find him. He’s currently with the one finance person on duty. When he’s done, I explain the situation and ask him to come help.

Manager: “Hello, ma’am. I understand there’s a problem with the service you received?”

Customer: “Yes. I never got a call and want it comped. This is completely unacceptable.”

Manager: “I understand, but unfortunately, I can’t do that for you because I don’t work in service. I’m the sales manager. I can definitely have the service manager or service director give you a call tomorrow morning and you can talk about it with them. I’ll email them right now.”

Customer: *Sarcastically* “Yeah, sure. I know how it goes. I work in Human Resources. You always say you’ll call the customer back, but that never happens.”

The manager pulls out his phone and begins composing the email right in front of her.

Manager: “What’s a good number to reach you at?”

Customer: *Rolls her eyes* “It’s [number].”

The manager shows her the email and then sends it.

Customer: “And who is the service manager?”

Manager: “There are two: [Service Director] and [Service Manager].”

Customer: “They’re not going to call me.”

Manager: “Yes, they will.”

Customer: “No, they won’t. I know how it goes. You always say whatever it takes to get the customer to go away. I’m in HR; I know how it is.”

Manager: “I can’t tell them to not charge you for the service. All I can do is have the service director or the service manager call you tomorrow, and you can discuss this with them.”

This went back and forth for a bit longer before the customer finally relented and paid her ticket, at which point I let the cashier take over.

Once she was gone, I got out my phone and texted the office manager — my direct boss — to ask them to please make sure the service director called the customer the next day. By the time all was said and done, it was 9:05. Everyone else had left already, but it took us another fifteen minutes to finish closing out and leave, and the manager had to wait for us to finish before he could leave.

And the service director did call her as soon as he got into work the next day, and her advisor called her later in the day to personally apologize. The reason she wasn’t called in the first place was that just as service finished her car, a salesperson totaled one of our vehicles. The salesperson broke their leg in the accident, though it could have been much worse. In all of the chaos, the woman’s pick-up call was forgotten.