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One of the major advantages of being a sole trader is that invariably we speak directly to our potential new customer. We have first account contact and the obvious advantage from that is the ability to figure out whether a call to sort out their problem will be effective to both parties? Or maybe that there is little point in booking an appointment to fit a door seal if you haven’t got one on the van?
Pointless also accepting a service call to a 15 year old Hotpoint washer that made a horrible banging sound and the inner drum is now loose! A White Knight compact dryer that has a melted fascia panel or an elderly Belling ceramic hob thats cracked right across. …..and if someone has a 14 month old Indesit with a dial skipping round and the red light flashing like crazy…no way! :rotfl:
A fair trading policy will ensure that non of the above examples would possibly be undertaken. And no-one would be expected to pay for such an abortive call……or would they?
Well perhaps the more (shall we say 😉 ) ‘unscrupulous’ would however…..? :rolls:
Perhaps they just happen to carry a brand new washing machine on their van? “Oh dear missus….!..I’m afraid your drum bearings are gone!….but as luck would have it….I happen to have a brand new machine on my van and I’m sure you will be interested…. 🙂 “
(Only when someone rejects such a tempting offer does the truth get out to others in the trade by the way…. 😉 )
But, I digress, where was I?…Oh yes, call screening works for me but what of the multi- engineer firms I wonder? Are they sending their engineers out on wild goose chases on a daily basis. Accepting calls willy nilly? Just how do you train someone outside of the trade to answer the phone and be effective in avoiding wasted calls and charging customers unneccessarily?
Re: Call screening?
In my days at sevice force I and A. N. Other worked alternate weeks in the office, we where able to be asked by recieptionists whilst taking a call if it was viable to book a call. We also went into the call booking system and where able to allocate parts from stock, order if the parts would come in on time or even phone the customer to inform her that her cooker clock might be on auto, or her washer filter might need cleaning, now the system was by no means full-proof, but we even trained the receiptionist to ask rudimentary question to try to stop unnessecary calls.
😆
cab
Re: Call screening?
Martin have you nothing better to do these days than put us off carrying out our work? Of course all of those faults reported are not “abortive calls’ but are jobs that need a visit and a price given for the work required (maybe the exception is the belling hob but even then I have been called to so called cracks in hobs only to find they need a damn good clean). And, maybe, that noisy hotpoint is only a blocked pump and a broken spring. As long as the customer is informed of and agrees to our charges there is no such thing as a “abortive call”. Even if the customer says it wants this or that spare, no one in this trade would still be in business if they ordered parts required from the customers description of their requirements and therefore an inspection visit should be arranged first, deposits taken or in my case full service charge up front and parts to be paid on completion.
If using your example, a customer asks for a door seal to be fitted I think most of us know that 8 times out of 10 it doesnt need one (overfills, leaks from dispensers, customer only just noticing that drain hole in the bottom despite having the machine for 6 years, etc).
I think your list of abortive calls is infact warranted and fair revenue that you have probably talked yourself out of, even the flashing indesit, more than likely just a blocked pump….and yes I do have a new machine in the back of the van….and you know which one it is too.Re: Call screening?
eastlmark wrote:Martin have you nothing better to do these days than put us off carrying out our work?
So it may appear, but for me at least I consider the replies to my post (so far) very interesting indeed, thanks! 😉
Re: Call screening?
Cheek!!!!
Unscrupulous just for being ready with a machine on the van when due to past employment have a great many budget machines with sky high part prices or lots of Zanussi bearings going.
It’s good business sense and customers appreciate honesty both with repair estimates and a decent replacement if warranted. It is their choice to repair or not.
I am here to earn a living, and I am, and I can sleep soundly at night with no worries(cant spell consience).
Customers come back and I get lots of referals for new appliances without even visiting some new customers.
RobRe: Call screening?
When these customers are phoning you, do you not think they have made every attempt to solve it without paying a penny.
Judge every one on its own merit, If you go too far down this road why not direct every punter on to this site and you can tell them online exactly how to repair the machine from your armchair, thus saving them from any charge, and loose the last bit of the cherry we enjoy.Surely they are buying a service, it sounds a bit like going for a meal and the waiter saying, dont buy the wine off me, nip over the road to the supermarket its much cheaper.
We all know its cheaper, but we still buy if we want to enjoy the service.Yes I have told the customer to reset the machine stuck on test (hpt) but Ive also gone out and charged for the service too.
:rolls:Re: Call screening?
burns wrote:Judge every one on its own merit
A man after my own heart here. 😉
Re: Call screening?
Martin, we get customers who don’t know left from right, report the dishwasher faulty when it’s the washer, report the fridge door seal falling of when it’s the freezer ………
Yep, we do make visits, cause sometimes you just have to.
We take £40.00 deposit on the 1st visit before ordering parts because we had some change their minds after we’ve left.
Kevin
Re: Call screening?
Dont think there is a definitive answer to this problem.
If a customer reports a broken handle our receptionists flags the call and the details are checked and parts ordered if required.
Still doesnt always work.Customers can be seriously dense!
Also we deal with a high persentage of ethnic customers where the language barrier can be a real problem.
A call earlier last week sums it up.Customer reported fridge door seal faulty on an lg fridge.Gave model no’s.Excellent,we’ll order the part and contact you when its in.
Engineer goes this week.Appliance was a w/pl fridge still within warr!
On examining the ins doc it was found the customer was paying for a policy on an appliance she did’nt have.Yep thats our public!!Pinky
Re: Call screening?
kheath wrote:Martin, we get customers who don’t know left from right, report the dishwasher faulty when it’s the washer, report the fridge door seal falling of when it’s the freezer ………
Yep, we do make visits, cause sometimes you just have to.
We take £40.00 deposit on the 1st visit before ordering parts because we had some change their minds after we’ve left.
Kevin
bloody hell!! £40 deposit, how much do you charge!? you must be good! 🙂Re: Call screening?
kandl-appliancerepair wrote:you must be good! 🙂
A multiple prize winner, no less.
Chris.
Re: Call screening?
I think his £40.00 deposit is also is labour charge and call out fee.
We do the same and take £47.00 (£40.00 + VAT) at the point of the initial call. Customers are advised this by telephone at the time of booking so as to prevent any embarrassment when the engineer calls. It simply prevents the time wasters obtaining your knowledge to repair it themselves.
With regards to stupid calls, many years ago we took a call from a foreign diplomats secretary claiming the dishwasher used at the embassy was smashing the crockery.
We attended but due to a language problem in the kitchen could not speak with anyone to get a better fault diagnosis, so we just went ahead and tested the dishwasher. We couldnt find fault with it. After 3/4 of an hour messing about an interpreter arrived and questioned one of the staff whom pointed us in the direction of another appliance.
The washing machine. Yep you’ve guessed it, they were using the washer as the dishwasher because thats where they washed the clothes.
We could not beleive it, and yes this is a true story.
Thank god the country concerned dont have nuclear power 😀 😀
Regards all
Jackal
Re: Call screening?
Just for the record…..
Deposit £40.00 + vat
Completed electrical repair £50.00 + vatGas £50.00 + Vat
System now @ £75.00 +vat + sundries
De Dietrich (any) £100.00 + Vat
Cheers
Kevin
Re: Call screening?
If we sense that there is no point in calling, we are up front with the customer. Far better than having to confront the issue when the engineer is in the kitchen telling the customer what they told us when the call was booked.
If a timer on a cooker sounds like on auto, we talk them through it. Such things as “spiked” evaporators, broken/cracked ceramic hobs etc. We tell them straight that they may be better off putting the money towards a new machine. We do hovever in those cases suggest they try off the household insurance, and get back to us should they authorise an inspection.
Classic example. Customer with an AEG induction hob, which we did not know at the time, all we knew was it was an AEG built in. Complaint of not working at all, only dashes on the lights on the display. Would not supply model details, said it was up to the engineer when he called to get that information. He was chargeable and we advised the cost of a visit.
Engineer called, checked operation and discovered the child safety set up was applied. Engineer reset it & tested it with a pan, being induction you have to, checked it over and invoiced him.
Week later, cheque returned, “Countermanded by Drawer”. Guy sent me a letter telling me it was up to us to have advised him before the engineer called that it was due to this. I wrote back suggesting that had he supplied the model details we may have been aware, but as we deal with over 15,000 different products, we may have missed that in our office, and he was the one that had the users manual that was unique to his product.
He accused us of sharp practice, and I could not get through that had he had someone without the experience, he may have had to spend out on a new PCB controller, at a lot more money, and been none the wiser. A point that fell on deaf ears.
We had to use a debt collection agency to get paid.
Damned if you do, Damned if you don’t.
Alex
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