Pull The Plug On The Appointment
(I work in a fireplace store. I take a call from a customer.)
Me: “Thank you for calling [Store]. How can I help you?”
Customer: “Yeah, the fan on my stove isn’t working.”
Me: “Oh, no. That’s not good!”
Customer: “Yeah. So what’s wrong with it?”
Me: “Well, hard to say over the phone. It could be a number of things. If you’d like I can set up a service appointment and have one of our techs check it out. Please be aware that we are booked out about two weeks.”
Customer: “Seriously!? What the h***! I’m cold!”
Me: “Well, you have to option to bring the fan into our shop; it’s cheaper and you can do that pretty much anytime.”
Customer: “No, I’m not really comfortable working on this thing.”
Me: “Is your stove working?”
Customer: “Yeah.”
Me: “So just your fan isn’t operating? ”
Customer: “Yeah.”
Me: “Does it make any noises or grinding sounds?”
Customer: “It’s not doing anything at all. I just got this fan two years ago, I’ll be very unhappy with you if it’s broken already.”
Me: “I hate to ask it, but just to make sure, have you checked to make sure that it’s plugged in?”
(The customer completely goes off on me, calling me all kinds of names. I have permission from my boss to hang up on people who are rude to me without cause but at this point I’m not sure what to do. I let him finish his rant and just change the subject.)
Me: “Do you want to schedule for [date two weeks from now]?”
Customer: “I guess. How much is a service call?”
Me: “$150.”
Customer: “That’s outrageous!”
Me: “Sir, we’re the cheapest around here and we’re booked out because when you’re good, you’re busy.”
Customer: “Fine. I’ll take it but this is ridiculous. You guys are con men, ripping off old people like me.”
(We hang up and less than an hour later, I get another call from him.)
Customer: “Hi. Um, not sure if I talked to you earlier, but um this is… and I, um, checked with my wife and it looks like she unplugged the fan to plug in the Christmas tree lights. So, uh, I’d like to cancel my appointment. Um, thank you.” *click*
Question of the Week
Have you ever served a bad customer who got what they deserved?
