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Is it just us here in S.Wales or has anyone else noticed the attitude coming from customers is getting far worse than ever before?
We have had to re-schedule an Engineers day today as he called in sick…. cant be helped, but my collegue had to take a break due to the abuse she got from 70{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of the customers.
Is this right I ask myself….. should we accept the abuse and attitude just because an Engineer is Ill? Anyone have a good way of dealing with these types of people?
Re: Customers Attitudes
We get that up North Wales too. Next time you get a rude customer warn them to change their attitude or you will put the phone down and that you will not call out to them,They soon change their attitude. We had to put the phone down on one customer last week, but after a couple of days he soon came back grovelling.
Twiggy
Re: Customers Attitudes
Yes, customers are more difficult and have been getting so for many years IMO, mostly on warranty and extended warranty work, where customers are paying the bill themselves it’s actually easier. They fail to realise that they can’t get “Rolls Royce Service” for “Mini” money, it’s that simple.
Try asking a few customers how they think you get paid, you’ll get a surprise, most think that we’re paid every time we call, even for spares fits or recalls. So to them, in their minds, they think you should just jump as they command not realising that you’re not getting paid to run back and forth.
One customer that I ended up telling the truth to actually complained to the manufacturer in question as she thought it was a disgrace that we were only paid once and had to offer a warranty on the entire machine, even if a recall was nothing to do with us.
But you have to realsie that in many cases the customer bought a stack of appliances with a new kitchen at £6K plus and they see that as the £6K kitchen that’s gone wrong, not the heap of Chinese manure posing as a dishwasher in the corner.
Customers, gotta love ’em. :rolls:
K.
Re: Customers Attitudes
kwatt wrote:
One customer that I ended up telling the truth to actually complained to the manufacturer in question as she thought it was a disgrace that we were only paid once and had to offer a warranty on the entire machine, even if a recall was nothing to do with us.You’re kidding , is that really the way it works ❓
Which manufacturer expects that if you don’t mind me asking , oh and how do they get anyone to agree to a deal like that 😕
BryanRe: Customers Attitudes
Bryan wrote:You’re kidding , is that really the way it works 😕
Yep, that’s really the way that virtually ALL warranty and extended warranty works, one job, one payment… doesn’t matter if you’re there 20 times. 😕
Bryan wrote:Which manufacturer expects that if you don’t mind me asking , oh and how do they get anyone to agree to a deal like that 😕
If i recall in that instance it was a Kuppersbusch machine.
If you want to do warranty work, that’s the way it is. However the ones that pay a little more, or treat us better when it comes to recalls and the likes do tend to get better service. 😉
K.
Re: Customers Attitudes
What about the bit about having to guarantee the entire appliance even if the recall was nothing to do with the original repair because that’s what I find hard to believe. Surely that can’t be right , you replace a fan oven element and have to stand good for the warranty on the rest of the appliance , nah no way 😕
Sorry to be going way off topic.
Bryan
Re: Customers Attitudes
Yes, some do expect a 28 day warranty on the entire appliance, Servis (or more accurately GB DAR) being probably the prolific example. Many others do try it on, reporting the same symptoms and stuff or saying that the customer says it’s the same problem and expect us to call for free, often months later.
Personally I tend to shy away from contracts like that ever since the old Mastercare one which was pretty similar if I recall correctly, I’m sure someone can confirm or deny that. I’ve said many times, I like to work with reasonable people. 😉
K.
Re: Customers Attitudes
back to customers attitudes, got a call today, indesit, lifter broken off & small leak, turned up to find drum shaft broken on a sealed plastic tank, took a right ear bashing & abusive language from a cutomer who said only an amature & unprepared engineer would turn up without the drum assy!!! looks like im gonna have to take my HGV license so i can carry all 200+ drums made in the last 25 years then 😆
Re: Customers Attitudes
customers… gotta love em
had a guy today… hoover machine.. 3 months old
‘noisy’ he said… ‘sounds like a pneumatic drill’… ‘get it out of my home, i want my money back, compensation, and payment in lieu of my day off’
so, after a ‘constructive’ conversation, i persuaded him to allow me to inspect the machine
guess what? yep, bra wire wrapped round heater, needed a new heater as well, it just wouldnt go back in
‘obviously a rubbish machine’ commented the customer ‘ shouldnt need a new heater, not that new… im going to email watchdog , your service is poor, no1 should have to wait 3 days for a repair’
theres only so much i can take from over demanding customers , who think that cos they spend what is actually not a lot of money on a washing machine, they have every right to abuse you.
anyway, after a good 20 mins i informed him that the repair wasnt actually part of his warranty, but as a good will gesture, id repair it free of charge this time , but explained that in the future any such occurence would be chargeable .. he seemed ok after that
its gettin harder, i always said the job would be easier if it wasnt for customers
Re: Customers Attitudes
Must be at least 90 minutes for an Indesit sealed tub job , is it out through the top?
Jim.
Re: Customers Attitudes
yeah but the plastic one (only 14 months old) can be done in 40ish mins, theres only a few bits to take off these days, seems a huge waste though for a drum support
Re: Customers Attitudes
actually the newer plastic tubs arent so bad
yup out through the top… weight off, motor off, sump, door seal and fill hose, and it comes out
i can do one, less than an hour
Re: Customers Attitudes
helo_75 wrote:‘noisy’ he said… ‘sounds like a pneumatic drill’… ‘get it out of my home, i want my money back, compensation, and payment in lieu of my day off’
We get that on the phone these days before we even call!
All too often we get some clown on saying that they hope that the engineer will have a new machine with him. Yeah right, and if your new car breaks they just give you a new one without question too.
One of the problems is that because of Currys and Comet trying to compete with the level of service that the independents give the customer expectations are way beyond what’s realistic. Both have also systematically driven the margin out the appliances to provide decent service and have directly driven service payments down, yet they expect more for the money whilst selling a more diverse range of products.
Go figure.
IMO it can’t work and at some point the lines of the graph will cross where what’s paid can no longer support service. Already we see the effects of cheap, throwaway products on not only the service industry, but on sales as well. Nobody wins in the end, very short term.
helo_75 wrote:‘obviously a rubbish machine’ commented the customer ‘ shouldnt need a new heater, not that new… im going to email watchdog , your service is poor, no1 should have to wait 3 days for a repair’
If only I had a pound for every time I’ve been threatened with that rubbish. Quite often I ask people if they want the numbers and promptly give them the numbers, often that’s enough to shock them to their senses and realise that they’re just being stupid.
In twenty odd years I’ve had perhaps half a dozen that Trading Standards have called me about. Not one was escalated beyond a simple explanation of what had actually got on, not bad from thousands upon thousands of calls even if I do say so myself.
But it all comes back to customer expectation, what they expect and what can actually be done are all too often poles apart. Much of that is down to one simple fact, service (direct or indirect) is not paid enough to offer the level of service that people want, especially in warranty.
K.
Re: Customers Attitudes
With my company, if we get an abusive customer we just pack our tools and walk away, making sure the machine is safe first mind. Mostly commercial premises, so if they want it repaired they can phone the office and hope we haven’t driven too far away or it’ll be the next day at the earliest for the repair to be completed. We’re paid to repair machines not to take abuse from customers. Any complaints, we tell them to phone the office.
Re: Customers Attitudes
Not so long ago, we had a customer phone in on a Tuesday after being referred to us from an Insurance Company. After taking her details, we offered her an appointment for Thursday…….
Well…. After the initial obsticle of ‘what do you mean thursday, I want someone here today’ was tackled, we thought all was well. Then we have a call from the Ins Co asking if we can get someone out sooner. After explaining Thursday is our earliest (and having the backing of the Ins Co), again we thought all was well……..
Untill our phone rang! It was her! We were branded as a pathetic organisation who cannot live up to the requirements of the public. She also went on to say that she would be letting everyone she knows what an incompetent Company we were so my collegue got abit nervous and passed me the phone.
First thing she said to me……… “Just what do you think I pay my £5 per Month for” 😯 😯 😯
This particular conversation was swiftly ended by myself, but my worry is, are more and more people expecting super service as the same sort of things are coming out of peoples mouths (although not to this level every time).
Funny thing is, when you take your new car to the dealer for repair, they keep it for a day usually causing some travel inconvenience then when you go to get it and they say they needed to order a part….. bring it back next Wed/Thursday, how many times do people stand there and abuse the staff? How many would use the old ‘Dont you think you should have that part in your stores’…….. I bet hardly any……. What is so different about us?
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