After having a problem with my car I need it collecting from my house and taken to the repairers a huge 3 1/2 miles away. Spoke to a recovery company yesterday who said they'd be here this morning to take it.
This morning became "about lunchtime"...
Lunchtime became "might be about 2ish"...
"about 2ish" became "might be a bit later, around 4ish"...
"around 4ish" became not arriving at all...
With the result that I've now got another firm to do it for the same price, first thing tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed they arrive.
There you go, "How to lose a customer". Any tradesmen / sole traders / business owners etc (a category which includes me) please take note.
NOT HAPPY. Why do people do this? If they don't want the trade, just say. It saves us all the bother. Meanwhile I'm off the road for another day and the garage will think I'm wasting THEIR time because I've got "the car that never arrives when the customer says it will".
It is not only small operators thet have this problem, recently I booked Currys/PC World to deliver a fridge/Freezer before Noon I took the morning off come noon no sign rang Currys we'll be therer this afternoon, come 5 rang again, we'll be there shortly, they eventually turned up at 8.30.
An update to my tale of earlier, to which I could now add the subtitle "... and get yourself a criminal record":
Recovery Man arrived at 7pm and I explained politely the facts of today and that I'd got someone else to do it tomorrow morning. Bloke wasn't really listening and had his own version of events (incorrect I may add) and when I finally tired of going round in circles with him I walked towards my car saying, politely and calmly, that someone else would be doing the job tomorrow morning.
At which point he leant across to the passenger side where I'd been standing, opened the door a bit, moved towards me and said "you're just being an ******** now. I feel like coming out there and knocking the **** out of you".
WHAT?!? The second word can't be written here but it rhymes with the type of a bird I used to feed with bread at the local pond years ago. If I'm allowed to drop hints like that (sorry if not).
I hadn't been rude, argumentative, hadn't raised my voice or anything. What a nutter.
Made a quick call to the local police for advice and I'm considering taking it further. Probably won't as I don't want any reprisals and I can retire with the moral highground, and of course it's my word against his. However, if anyone wants an "unrecommendation" for a recovery service in York just let me know and I'll pass on his details so you can avoid him too.
But nevertheless, left me shaken.
Quote from: GroupC on June 29, 2016, 06:09:53 PMWith the result that I've now got another firm to do it for the same price, first thing tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed they arrive.
I do hope you phoned the first contractor and confirmed you would not be proceeding as they had not met your requirements
When they did turn up I would not even enter into any conversation with them!
This is part of the problem with verbal agreements, one-off contracts, short notice, etc
Most businesses try to fit them around existing workloads, locations, etc
If a contractor says 10:00, then I ask them confirm the actual window they will work to
Quote from: Ditape on June 29, 2016, 06:21:14 PM
I booked Currys/PC World to deliver a fridge/Freezer before Noon I took the morning off come noon no sign rang Currys we'll be therer this afternoon, come 5 rang again, we'll be there shortly, they eventually turned up at 8.30.
There are (at least) three different delivery options
I refuse to pay for premium delivery
I select "At store" delivery, if I cannot guarantee to be at home, and can then pickup when it suits me
If you have paid for a premium delivery and they did not meet this requirement then claim a refund AND compensation
My Credit Card includes this, the compensation is £50 and the retailer has 28 days to process the refund or they pursue them on my behalf
A few years back (shortly before Comet closed down) our tumble dryer failed beyond repair. With three primary school children, each required to wear badged blazer, tie and pullover to school, it was not unusual to need to wash things at night ready for the next morning, so we couldn't do without it for long.
Most suppliers were out of stock of the particular model we wanted and stock wasn't due in the country for 5 to 6 weeks.
We found an online supplier with stock and ordered for next day delivery. At 22:30 we got a phonecall - they'd come to load it on the wagon and found it was damaged and didn't have another.
In the morning I phoned their office to cancel, only to be told that they had plenty in stock! Delivery re-arranged for next day.
Call received at 07:30 next morning, "None in stock." Phoned office again to cancel, told they *were* in stock. Cancelled anyway.
Managed to order same model from Boots website for next day delivery. When the confirmation arrived, it looked suspiciously familiar. Phoned Boots and they confirmed that they used the same supplier that I'd already ordered from!
Cancelled again. Hitched up my trailer, went to Comet and paid £50 more, but at least left with it.
For a period of nearly a week, I'd paid out over £1000, got one tumble dryer and was waiting for a refund on two!
It does get to be a something of a pain with such wide open delivery times or services as in the OP.
I currently have a skip awaiting collection following a phone call asking them to collect it from last Thursday :-\ though the firms big gaffer only lives around the corner from me and mentioning that has gotten a faster response when needed in the past ;)
Delivery of consumer goods to here these days is strictly from John Lewis only, otherwise Ill fetch it me self!
Oh and if an operative talked to me as in the OP I would be the one doin the stuff :D