- This topic has 34 replies, 22 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 1 month ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Hi All
I was wondering how others deal with a call back from a customer after a repair has been carried out. While im always prepared to honour any gaurantee on a repair, i was interested to hear how others explain to the customer that if the fault is found not to be to do with the original repair
there will be a charge for the call out. I find this can sometimes be a bit difficult to explain without sounding as though your trying to be a bit defensive or difficult. Especially if the call is soon after the repair.Any examples would be of interest.
Subs
Re: Dealing With “Call Backs”
Yep, its a thing i’ve always found difficult too, a little old lady (often the biggest pains :rolls: ) usually gets off without charge. Someone with a fancy house & a drive full of German cars does not get to take the p*ss so easily.
If we’re playing fair then any fault that is nothing to do with the repair we’ve been paid for must surely be charged for at the same rate..in theory.. In practice i tend to knock a bit off just to keep the peace, but tell them that i hope they realise they’re getting a good deal.. sometimes theyre grateful.. sometimes not. I’ve always said this job would be brilliant if it did’nt involve the general public :rolls:
Re: Dealing With “Call Backs”
A subject which is thorny at the best of times !
Personally I find that plenty of tack is required, for example say I had a call where the customer reported a fault of No Drain on a Washer, At the time of the call it was necessary to fit a drain pump, Job Done, now fast forward to three weeks time customer calls claiming callback status ( which inveriably they do ! ) that the machine wont pump out the water again !
I always make it clear that the previous job would be under guarantee in so much that if it is the pump that is responsible for this similar breakdown then warranty will apply, if however the fault is not related to the part fitted then the job will be chargeable. Upon inspecting the machine it turns out they have now washed a bathmatt and its disintergrated blocking the sump, hence no pump out.
That for me now becomes chargable as it is not the pumps fault or mine !
Now this is where the tack comes in, if its a regular customer I may consider the bigger picture it all depends on the customer, how you work and how you put it over.I always try to be fair to both myself and my customer and weigh the options, some customers will have you round every month to clear filters and pumps all at your cost if you let them. For me a call back is specified where a part I have fitted has become defective, or sometimes when a fault is elussive or intermittant on the first call.
Re: Dealing With “Call Backs”
Thats it squadman, it would never be worth loosing a customer you’ve had for a decade or whatever just to prove a point.. one has to be pragmatic, even if it sometimes means taking a financial mini hit.
What i find is if i’ve had a real good earning week, i’m in a good mood & feeling generous, then i dont mind popping back to a couple of (local) callbacks ( & your blocked again after pump change is a classic) and maybe doing them for nothing just for brownie points, the goodwill this can generate sometimes pays for itself 😉
HOWEVER.. These last few months have seen far too many weeks where barely break even was on the books by Friday.. so that call on Sunday just as you’re leaving for church 😉 bitching about how their Servis aint draining again & how they hope this isnt going to cost them, cos they’ve just paid for the ‘same’ fault, blah, blah might not be dealt with, with my usual angelic speaking voice. 👿
Re: Dealing With “Call Backs”
Heh – that’s why MrsP usually deals with the phone calls – far more tact than I have.
We did recently go back to a pump replacement (After three lots of coin blockages finally trashed it….) and left a bill for 1/2 hour (Key under doormat job). Customer rang in to complain and Julia finally said “Which bit of ’empty your pockets’ is causing the problem?” Cheque appeared the next day.
Chris.
Re: Dealing With “Call Backs”
Just having one of my most costly (timewise) call backs at the moment.
Had to be a bl***y Indesit washer dryer, bearing has failed again after 1 month 8O. They didnt notice the noise, I did, they called me for NDA due to belt had come off after going slack. 🙁
TCRe: Dealing With “Call Backs”
I’m glad someone else brought up this very thorny issue and one that, I suspect, could be a topic that runs and runs.
I don’t have so much of an issue with the great general public but I do with contract work where, it seems, that almost anything is considered to be a recall and that impacts on any scoring as well.
Classic example this morning…
Guy calls back, I think it was a DAG customer, complaining that although we’d been there Friday and cleared a no drain fault that it had failed again the next wash.
Now, apart from the obvious question of why didn’t you call back on Friday or leave a message on the answering service over the weekend it would appear that allsorts of other problems have also strangely manifested themselves as well. This all strikes me as a bit odd as Robert, the engineer, whilst not perfect (no one is) always runs a spec test and would have been sure that the machine was draining when he left if he said it was okay.
And that’s aside from the fact that a machine either drains or doesn’t, there really isn’t much in between.
So, okay I can accept that it’s one of those “sh1t happens” affairs and we have to pick up the tab on another call to keep the peace and I’m fine with that. What irks me is that I know the customer will call up whoever and whinge like hell saying that we’re deficient and all of that and that, the person on the other end of the phone will believe it, pretty much without question. That annoys me.
It annoys me more as I know we do the best we possibly can to resolve the issue without hassle or cost and minimal inconvenience to the customer as, until proven otherwise, we regard it as being our problem even when we know it isn’t.
Sadly, these days, it seem that isn’t enough and you are not allowed to make mistakes in the first instance. Even if they weren’t yours.
K.
Re: Dealing With “Call Backs”
Penguin45 wrote:Customer rang in to complain and Julia finally said “Which bit of ’empty your pockets’ is causing the problem?” Cheque appeared the next day.
Could you get Julia to write us her top ten tactful quotes Chris so we to can ease the pain of call-backs and the various forms they may take?:D
Re: Dealing With “Call Backs”
The one thing that annoys me is when you call back to a customer to a totally different fault 9 or 10 months later and they say ” its not really been right since you last did it” :rolls: 😈
Jim.
Re: Dealing With “Call Backs”
The other one is when you price a repair and customer gives the go ahead, when you have finished and are packing up the customer says, “so that should last me a few more years then”.
Well may do, but the part that I fitted is the only bit with my guarantee.
silverbroom
Re: Dealing With “Call Backs”
silverbroom wrote:The other one is when you price a repair and customer gives the go ahead, when you have finished and are packing up the customer says, “so that should last me a few more years then”.
Well may do, but the part that I fitted is the only bit with my guarantee.
silverbroom
Yes, i think thats whats called a ‘loaded’ question :rolls: What they really mean is that outrageous £45 you charged me better mean i can call you 24
hrs a day for the next 3 years if this thing so much as squeaks. :rolls:Re: Dealing With “Call Backs”
I was once accused of ignoring an imminant fault after repairing the reported fault. just to get another repair at a later date. I took exception to that, as I allways repair whats needed, or point out potential faults. And I am allways aware of not fitting unnecassary parts. Sometimes i think we are dammed if we do, and dammed if we don’t.
Re: Dealing With “Call Backs”
just been back to a beko washer I fitted a module to in June last year module gone again just checked with Connect and their gurantee on spares is now only three months. my gurantee was always six months and I’d usually stretch a bit, but on expensive parts like this I just cant take a hit. I think I’ll have to review my generosity.
wilf
Re: Dealing With “Call Backs”
Another case in point : This very afternoon the phone rings and my customer asks how long my work is guaranteed for? 12 months I replied, but what’s your problem? It turns out his Neff washer/dryer makes a funny noise when it pumps out and he’s got my last invoice out to show I fitted a new pump on 12/2/08. So that means it’s got just 24 hrs before the guarantee expires. 😕 :rolls:
When I reminded him that the reason the pump broke last year was due to brass collar stiffeners breaking the impellor off, rendering the pump u/s. But seeing as it still works OK I suggested when he goes home to get on his hands and knees and check the pump before calling me out.
“Will you charge a call-out fee if I ask you to call?”…YES!! “In that case I’ll look at it myself and call you if I need you?”
OK so I haven’t got the tact of Mrs P on the phone but we all have our weaknesses I guess.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.