one of those bad customers again

[huggytree]

2.5 years ago i installed a $5k sump pump system for a house on a river....they had major water issues and wanted to make their basement safe

yesterday they called saying the pumps arent working....i offered to run over ASAP and fix the pumps....they said no when i told them id be charging them

i told them i have a 1 year warranty and my pumps carried a 1.5 year warranty....they argued back that the pumps should have lasted more then 2.5 years

i called MY supplier to discuss the pumps....i was told they were top of the line (which they were)



then i get a call at 9pm last night from the homeowners Father....yelling, accusing.....wouldnt let me talk, just saying over and over how im screwing them....and that their basement 'may' now flood and its my fault....which i argued back that i offered to come and fix them, so it was not my fault.....this customer would not listen to anything and threatened to call the news....


now im waiting for the BBB letter or the next Angies list review.....now things that break 1.5 years after my warranty are also my problem.....i feel like i cant win sometimes

here's a bit of background on these pumps, so if i end up on the news i will be the good guy

1.they chose the pumps(not me)...i gave them a choice of 5 pumps...they chose the model and brand name
2. they chose the controller (what turns the pump on off)..i believe they chose the cheap one
3. the alarm went off and the homeowner admitted he just 'turned it off' instead of calling me immediately
4. both pumps are not working, but 0 chance they died together...odds are 1 died a while back and was ignored by turning the alarm off
5. ive had pumps in continuous use situations that DO only last 1-2 years....something cant run for continuous for 365 days a year for years at a time....it is just possible the pumps wore out from use...the homeowners just call me every other year and spend $700 to replace the pumps w/o blaming me

reasons i dont warranty more than a year--
1. a float could have gone bad causing the pumps to continue running even when the water was gone....this is most likely the cause
2. the homeowner could have played with the float heights (who knows)
3. the pumps could have sucked up rocks from inside the drain tile (50 year old rocks) and jammed the pumps

there's a million reasons the pumps could have went bad....the homeowner only sees 1 reason....i picked a bad pump

i dont even know if the pumps are bad....because the homeowner wouldnt pay me to fix them...im sitting here trusting that he is correct and they are shot.

i offered to supply the new pumps at 'cost' which would save them $200-300......they said nothing short of a free replacement is acceptable

im in a position where i cant win....either i give them $1000 or they report me somewhere......ive had this once before 3 years ago(reported to BBB)....its a situation where you cant win unless you give in and pay

its so hard to handle phone calls like this.....you cant defend yourself....you sit back and let the homeowner rant for 5-10 minutes...repeating all the arguements 30-50x over and over....any response is immediately shot down by them.....it was hard to get him off the phone w/o hanging up on him....i told him to contact the supplier and bring the pumps in for a check.....i had to just repeat and repeat it until he finally snapped out of his rant and took the phone number...for 30 seconds we were having 2 different conversations ignoring what the other was saying....i just kept saying 'call the supplier, heres the #' over and over

[Freelancier]

Anything with a small motor that runs on a regular basis -- including attic fans -- are destined to die within 3 years. That's just the state of the technology of inexpensive motors.

As for the only mistake you might have made here: stop answering the phone at 9 pm unless you promise 24-hour service. At some point, you need to set business hours that you get other people to respect by respecting them yourself.

As for the homeowner having his father call to yell at you.... Heh heh heh. That's funny. And sad. I might do it for my kids, but they're 7 and 5 years old. ;)

[KristineS]

Sounds like you did the right thing, huggy. Just keep repeating your message and let the customer rant and don't be drawn in. I know it's tough, but that's they way you have to handle these things.

[huggytree]

what do you do about neg reviews on BBB or Angies list that comes from things like this???


the answer is your screwed and stuck with them....an unreasonable customer can screw you at any time and the BBB and angies list wont throw them out

my best hope is for the next plumber to tell them its not my fault....odds are good that may happen

[Freelancier]

Are you not able to write a response to these reviews? For BBB, you get a chance to respond if you belong. Don't know about Angie's.

[Harold Mansfield]

what do you do about neg reviews on BBB or Angies list that comes from things like this???


the answer is your screwed and stuck with them....an unreasonable customer can screw you at any time and the BBB and angies list wont throw them out

my best hope is for the next plumber to tell them its not my fault....odds are good that may happen


Are you not able to write a response to these reviews? For BBB, you get a chance to respond if you belong. Don't know about Angie's.

Yes, you can write a response to your reviews. I don't know about the BBB, but I know you can on Angie's List. A lot of times, a well thought out, respectful response explaining your side of the story is enough to let others know that the person is a loon and was never going to be happy with anything.

Most reasonable people won't hold one bad review against you over all of the other good ones. If anything they want to know more about the situation and how you handled it.

Trust me here. I learned this years ago as a Bartender, the proper response to a bad situation can get you more work than a good review. Look at it as an opportunity to shine and show your professionalism. It really does work and gives people an opportunity to respect and trust you, and that makes them really want to spend money with you.

However, handle it poorly online and you can write that website off. You'll never get business from it again.

[huggytree]

the issue i have w/ the BBB is no matter how wrong the customer is it still counts as a neg. against you....it will take my A+ rating to a A rating.....if i get another bad one tomorrow them im at a A-

in cases like this they should all throw the bad reviews out....its not a grey area....my warranty ended 1.5 years ago......


the problem is angies list and BBB wont throw it out...they need an arbitrator to determine if the complaint is justified...

now i sit and wait a month and see what happens...hoping the person will calm down and let it go....i could tell the father is the type who wouldnt let it go

[huggytree]

Are you not able to write a response to these reviews? For BBB, you get a chance to respond if you belong. Don't know about Angie's.


why should i have to defend myself for a warranty thats clearly outside my warranty period.....every neg review is still a neg review.......sure i can explain this one away with perfection.....i know exactly how id respond on Angies List.....or if he calls the local news station (which he threatened)...

ive tried reporting a business to the local news once.....i thought i was very justified, but they blew me off......in a situation like this being outside the warranty period i dont see the local news getting involved.....but they HAVE been doing stories about price gouging from Plumbers lately....they take a water heater, wreck it and then get plumbers to fix it... its dramatic how different the solutions and prices are.......plumbers are a hot topic

[Harold Mansfield]

When you put your business online, you accept that you are vulnerable to the good and the bad. If you deal with enough people, eventually your luck runs out and you get a bad one or two. This is today's reality no matter who you are, or how big your company is.

What separates the big boys from the cry babies is how you handle it. Great public relations people turn negatives into positives. That doesn't always mean giving in to extortion. I wouldn't. It just means handling it professionally and when you get a chance to do that in front of an audience, you should jump on it.

You may never get more attention, than when eyes are looking to see how you handle an uncomfortable or bad situation. You can't pay for that kind of publicity any other day. Use it to your advantage. Kill with kindness and professionalism (without being condescending).

You need to stop looking at this from the stand point of how unfair it is to you, and blow the dust off of your contingency plan for just such an occasion. If you don't have one, let this be the origin of it.

I understand that you are venting here, but they haven't left you a bad review. If they do, you need to be ready with a response that shows you to be the professional and the adult in the conversation. If you respond with emotion and "poor me", you're going to blow a prime opportunity.

If you handle it wrong, but still save your A+ that'll actually be worse.

Given the choice, I'll take a A- and the respect of potential customers, than an A+ and have nothing but the satisfaction of being right and publically beating someone down.

Take if from a guy who has physically tossed people out of a bar, only to have them come back a few days later and thank me for treating them professionally and with respect even though they didn't deserve it. Not to mention the increase in money you make when other customers see that not only are you not an assh*le, but that you have their back.

I've been where you are, and used the same method online when dealing with trolls, bad reviews, and other unpleasant things written online, and the benefit from the people reading from the sidelines was huge. I've also done it the wrong way and gotten into online back and forth's that just made me look like an immature idiot.

It's not about being right. It's about keeping the reputation of your brand and looking like a stud to potential and future customers.

But for now, you are freaking out about something that doesn't exist and a review that hasn't been posted.

[huggytree]

But for now, you are freaking out about something that doesn't exist and a review that hasn't been posted.

you are correct!

im not freaking out....just irritated at the whole 'potential' situation

[KristineS]

Harold is exactly right, every business should have a contingency plan for bad reviews, and always take a breath and think before you respond to anything, positive or negative that is said about your company. I know being calm and explaining your side of the story can defuse a bad review or comment because I've done it for our business. You're always going to encounter malcontents who fly off the handle and who will say things that aren't necessarily accurate or fair about your business. Your job, as Harold says, is to protect your brand, and the best way to do that is to calmly, without whining or attacking, present your side of the story. Customers are looking for professionalism, and someone they feel would provide good service in an emergency. If you handle the, in this case hypothetical, situation correctly, you can defuse the negative and actually place your company in a good light.

[nealrm]

I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.
-- Mark Twain


If I had my life to live over, I would perhaps have more actual troubles but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.
-- Don Herold


Let us be of good cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which will never happen.
-- James Russel Lowell


People gather bundles of sticks to build bridges they never cross.
-- Unknown


Some of your hurts you have cured,
And the sharpest you still have survived,
But what torments of grief you endured
From the evil which never arrived.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson


Some men storm imaginary Alps all their lives, and die in the foothills cursing difficulties which do not exist.
-- Edgar Watson Howe


How much pain they have cost us, the evils which have never happened.
-- Thomas Jefferson


There are people who are always anticipating trouble, and in this way they manage to enjoy many sorrows that never really happen to them.
-- Josh Billings


There are more things, Lucilius, that frighten us than injure us, and we suffer more in imagination than in reality.
-- Seneca


My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened.
-- Michel de Montaigne