What would you do?

[robbra]

Hi, just had a call, Indesit not draining. I advised him to check the filter and he rang back to say it worked a treat, thanks.
Would you just take the call and do the job ao do what I did?
I’d be interested to get some views.
Rob

[Lawrence]

Re: What would you do?

Its a judgement call ,We will screen calls through the office advising of poss things cust can do themselves.
In my experience we get more work further down the line as people remember the little things and will come back to you out of obligation
Lawrence

[Jonah]

Re: What would you do?

Personally I always do the same as you, it always looks good to be as helpfull as possible, the customer will definately call you again when there is something he can’t sort out easily, this happens to us with loads of our customers they like honesty above everything and always come back, you may have lost a job this time but you will have that customer again one day.

Cheers

Dave

[Phidom]

Re: What would you do?

These days I’m less inclined to give free advice that will lose me a job. It’s hard enough to make a living without talking yourself out of work. I used to tell people with oven trouble to check that the timer was on manual…. now I do it for them and pocket the call-out fee. If they were phoning Hotpoint or Zanussi they would just speak to call centre staff who just make appointments and don’t have technical knowledge. I wonder how many people end up paying £80+ to get their filter cleaned out?

[goosegreen]

Re: What would you do?

Depending how busy I was, If like this week rushed of my feet I would have offered the same advice. I think most customers remember things like this and would call you again, And if its an Indesit probably sooner rather than later 😆

Goose

[reaper]

Re: What would you do?

Unblocking the filter is rarely as simple as unscrewing it and removing the blockage.The washer is full of water,the outlet pipe is threaded up and through the sink unit, unscrew the filter and you have water all over the floor.Customers pay you for your skill in emptying it without flooding the floor and if the bloke is looking over your shoulder to learn how to do it himself next time he pays for the privilege.Remember we are professionals,lawyers etc never give you any information for nothing why should we?

[Lawrence]

Re: What would you do?

Like I said a judgement call..
Lawrence

[smartin]

Re: What would you do?

just to add a different slant to this thread, what you said in your post phidom is totally contradictory to what happens on here.if you think about it we give out advise to people for free taking a possible service call away from someone.although i agree with what you say i also agree with what everyone else has said so far, to help or not to help in the public forums this is the question 😆

[Martin]

Re: What would you do?

smartin wrote:to help or not to help in the public forums this is the question 😆

A little soul searching will likely guide you into making you own mind up on that score. I did long ago. 😉

[robbra]

Re: What would you do?

I agree Martin. Me too. Often if you give an experienced answer someone will contradict you anyway.
As I started this thread I will say that I have a call now from the customer to ask me to call to his neighbours washer so there are always two ways to view this. Think I will still advise on checking filter etc. but that’s me.
Rob
Thanks for the input

[DDSDDS]

Re: What would you do?

I would tell them it was most likely the filter but also explain that it could be other things, also that wet floors and feet are involved mostly they ask me to do it for them to show them how for the future, pocketing me my 35 plus vat

[silverbroom]

Re: What would you do?

I would also give advice re filters or oven clocks, this has served me in good stead over the years with customers retuning to me with more work and recommending me to others.

silverbroom

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: What would you do?

Nice easy job. I would only advise them to look themselves if I was really very busy and didn’t want any more work or if I didn’t like the sound of them or they were in a dodgy area etc.

Likewise if I was selling toasters in a shop I wouldn’t advise someone wanting to buy one they were cheaper down the road. Best way to impress customers is to do a good quick job at a fair price.

[Martin]

Re: What would you do?

Here’s another very similar scenario based no doubt on what many of you guys have come across before. First, I’ll set the scene – bear with me on this :rolls:

Elderly gentleman customer (must be 90 if he’s a day?) very poor eyesight, refuses to use his specs anyway. Called to his machine 2 months or more back ‘cos he’d broken the door handle (in spite the door locked light still glowing like a beacon all round the kitchen. 😈 )

I replaced the handle, gave him clear and concise instructions not to touch the flippin machine until it switched off and the ‘door locked’ light extinguished, and charged the usual rate – end of.

He phoned me yesterday to say that the dryer now wasn’t working. I recalled the previous fracas getting the old duffer (excuse me 😳 ) to even set the machine was like asking the impossible?

I spent 10 minutes or more on the phone with him asking questions, getting him to try switching it on whilst I was on the phone etc etc…bl**dy etc.. :rolls:

Anyway, before I put you to sleep, I called today, oiked the machine out, lifted the lid, checked and double checked the dryer function and all was 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}.

Then I asked him to set the dryer for me please? The old boy had lost the plot totally, hadn’t a clue about the question I asked let alone how to turn the washer dryer onto a tumble dry cycle. There’s more chance of John McCain putting Obama in a Vietnamese jail in all honesty. 😈

But there we have it, I charged him the usual fee again to cover my costs and all the agro that it entailed – my conscience is clear. But I ask you, based on that example, what would you do?

[Bryan]

Re: What would you do?

In these circumstances I sometimes ask if the elderly person has a relative I can phone to explain the situation and whether they want to check the operation of the appliance before I call again and again :idea:.

With regard to the original question of the possible blocked filter there’s no way I’d ask the customer to check the filter for the reasons already given by reaper.

Oh , and also because I need the money 🙂

Bryan

[Author]

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