Audacity and Hope?
Posted in Personal Stuff by John E. Pannell on July 14th, 2008 at 6:54 pm This is a non-patch related story about some experiences I have recently had. Before I start I need to first give you some background information. First, I love mocking puerile catch phrases. I also am a very demanding customer: I expect businesses to treat me professionally and honestly. I respect clear and forthright answers to issues, even if I may not initially like what they have to say.
About two weeks ago now I came home from a bike ride and noticed a crack in the glass of the picture window in my living room. This is a large window with a central portion about five feet across and a narrow flanker on each side. The crack was in the wider central portion. Luckily that section is divided into four panes, one above the other. The bottom pane was crack, from top to bottom. It needed to be replaced and was beyond my skill level.
So, I started calling local glass shops the following Monday, June 30. I knew this was the Monday before a major holiday so I expected businesses to be working a shortened week. Still I did not find it unreasonable to expect folks to be working that Monday.
I first called a local place, the largest glass place in town that does a lot of home and automotive glass work. The receptionist told me their residential person was not yet in, took my name and phone number and said he would call me. I never heard back from them.
I waited until mid-morning on Tuesday and then started calling other glass places. The next one I called was honest and told me they don’t do much residential repair work and recommended another business. I called that third place. Again I was told the person I needed to speak to wasn’t in the office, left my name and number and was told I would be called back.
I then called the first business back to follow up on my message. The man who answered the phone acted like he knew my issue, but started talking about my trailer. Clearly he didn’t know the issue. I explained. He put me on hold. He came back and told me the residential person (gave a name) would call me “shortly”.
Tuesday passed and no one called.
Wednesday passed and no one called.
On Thursday I noticed Lowe’s, a big box home improvement store, was still running a special on 12 months interest free financing. That got me thinking. The window in question is the only window the former owner of my home did not replace. It’s probably still the original window. It’s old and has single pane glass. It should be replaced. Yes, that would cost much more than replacing a large pane of glass, but it’s something I should do anyway… and I get a year to pay it off.
I go to Lowe’s, price out the window. The price was a bit better than I expected. I was told an installer would need to come and verify the measurements. Since it was not Thursday evening (July 3rd), the sales person told me I probably wouldn’t get a call until Monday or Tuesday. I appreciated his honesty.
Sunday night the installer calls me! We schedule an appointment for him to come out on Tuesday evening. He said he’d probably not be able to get out to my place until after 8pm. That was good as I usually go bike riding in the early evening.
On Monday, July 8, a guy from the first place showed up at my home unannounced. He tells me he was on vacation all last week. “Sorry,” I tell him, “I already made other arrangements for the work.” Surely his coworkers knew he’d be out all week — if he was being truthful to me! — and could have told me that!
There was still no word from the second company I called.
Tuesday evening, just as I was leaving for a bike ride, the installer called. He wanted to come over earlier than scheduled. No problem. He was there in a couple of minutes and did his work. The only complication from me is that I then had to cut my ride short due to an approaching thunderstorm.
This morning, almost two weeks after I called and was told someone would call back, two guys from the second company came knocking at my door this morning. Luckily for them I was home. “We’re here to measure your window…”
That’s audacity! They came unannounced almost two weeks after I called and without ever returning my call. Did they really think I was still sitting around waiting for them? I told them I already made other plans.
I guess they would have measured the window even if I wasn’t home? Then when would they call with an estimate or something. Were they hoping I still wanted to do business with them?
I bet both these businesses would do a lot better if they simply returned phone calls, rather than send employees to job sites unannounced. At a minimum they’d save some gasoline, and we know how everyone is griping about the high price of gas! It also would have helped if they dealt with prospective customers “on the level”. Give honest and reasonable answers about when I could expect that return call.
Neither company met my standard for good customer service, or even basic professionalism. Is this how contractors and “trades” businesses conduct their business now? At least neither one copped an attitude when I told them I have someone else to do the job.
Small businesses owners complain how the “big box” stores are killing their business, about all the business that is lost to them. Not only was my business lost to one of those stores, but I also spent a lot more money at the “big box” store. The point is here, that the big store didn’t hurt their business, they hurt themselves.
Mission accomplished!
P.S. Yes, I know I’m lousy at answering email and sometimes slow adding things to the site. But I make no promise of acting or calling back “shortly”! 
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