my customer service sucks

[Greenthorn]

You're right, not worth the effort, unfortunately that's what's fuccckered up with today's society, there is no self reproach or culpability anymore.

But just in case....

http://ehome.uspis.gov/fcsexternal/

 

[Jon1212]

"If" the cheap bastard ever orders again, tack the postage onto the total, and upcharge him $5.

 

[Little Al]

he was actually mad because thats not how "return to sender" works......there shouldnt be any postage owed on a package marked "return to sender"

The same as the post system in France no charge to the to the original sender. I would remember the customer well & if he returns for any reason add the charge +10$ to his bill

 

[drf255]

"If" the cheap bastard ever orders again, tack the postage onto the total, and upcharge him $5.

I'm with John here.

Just add $5 to his next order and once you get your money back, stop doing business with him.

It's more of a principle than money thing at this point.

 

[Definitive Dave]

Make life simple, avoid this cheesedick entirely.
If he calls for another part....I'm sorry sir we are all out of that, click.

I agree that Nate is first rate in every regard
Dave

 

[kevin j]

I might be missing something, but it seems simple enough: I would send him the refund check for 1.79, the cover of the envelope showing the postage due amount, and short note explanation. (He already knows all this, but I'd be clear and prefessional.)

or, had you already issued him the $5 credit, on the promise he would return the bar tip?

Either way, its money gone. Thankfully not much money.

But I would remember his name/face and in future it would be cash only, no pay me later, no extra bend over service.

 

[SCHallenger]

OK, DD started to hit on it, you sent an envelope and expected to get it returned for free? Maybe I'm missing something here, but the way I read it, that is fraud. I could very well be wrong, something just doesn't pony up to the smell test though. Why would anyone expect free shipping back to them? I guess I'm confused? Whenever I have something sent return to sender I have always had to pay the return shipping to receive the item. Why is everyone bashing the customer? Please explain the transaction of mailing, I'm just not getting it. From what I read there was 2 mailing transactions, you shipped a bar tip to him, and he shipped a "different" bar tip "back" to you? Did you tell the customer to take it to the post office and put a return to sender label on there?

I don't see any confusion here. You are approaching the issue from an honest & responsible person's point of view, which is commendable. Simply stated, the "customer" is a dishonest JERK & deserves zero consideration. Send him my way, & I will arrange for a horse to "double barrel" him. If you are not familiar with that term, It means a full powered kick with both hind hooves, preferably in the butt!!

 

[wde_1978]

.
And the tip he was returning was one that another shop(eBay seller) had sold him that was not the correct one. I was trying to be nice and give a credit on a part I did not originally sell so I was not going to be responsible for return shipping.

Not trying to be a smarta$$ , but don't accept trade-ins that didn't originate from You unless it is a confirmed reliable repeat customer!
I think it's more trouble than it's worth.

What a cheap individual even coming up with such an idea.
How could the post office even take the package back AFTER it got successfully delivered!?
They are liable for taking the package back just as the dude is guilty of fraud trying to resend the same packaging.

I'd have gone through the roof on something like that.
I have a short fuse and a raging temper - not proud of it!

 

[tallguys]

Just read the thread and I have to tell you fordf150, that your customer service does not suck... actually seems rather exemplary...

 

[Michigan Escapee]

You're way overthinking it. If he's already in the Michigan area, take him of a "walking tour" of Dayton Ave in Flint, and then ditch him.

 

[bryanr2]

Had seamless deals with Nate. No complaints.
Is that guy local to you (as in came in to your shop), on line sale? is he a member on any of the sites? I don't want to ever do a deal with him... so if he is- pm me his name, either here or elsewhere.

 

[fordf150]

Had seamless deals with Nate. No complaints.
Is that guy local to you (as in came in to your shop), on line sale? is he a member on any of the sites? I don't want to ever do a deal with him... so if he is- pm me his name, either here or elsewhere.

not a walk in customer. no clue about being a member here or anywhere else for that matter, didnt mention any of the sites or where exactly he heard about me. Basically just a bad deal all the way around starting with me agreeing to accept something i didnt originally sell. another lesson learned is all.

 

[MountainHigh]

For the few dollars out of pocket I'd just change all my invoices and online shipping policy in future to read:

"Customer responsible for all shipping costs on returned and credited items" ... and call it a day.

There's always a few ash holes who will make your day. Good people who work hard to treat others right in their business, often have to try a little harder to not sweat the little stuff

 

[president]

Hey ,for a few $ loss you recieved lots of the kind of
feedback/and affermations from appreciative customers
well done

 

[CoreyB]

The thing that upsets me is even good guys get spit on enough they eventually stop being nice to everyone.
@fordf150 please don't let dill weeds tarnish you. Many of us appreciate your customerserves and it is very reassuring knowing you are there if we need you.

 

[fordf150]

Hey ,for a few $ loss you recieved lots of the kind of
feedback/and affermations from appreciative customers
well done

true, compliments make you feel good and let you know your doing something right , they dont help you improve on the things that your doing wrong or need improvement though

 

[fordf150]

The thing that upsets me is even good guys get spit on enough they eventually stop being nice to everyone.
@fordf150 please don't let dill weeds tarnish you. Many of us appreciate your customerserves and it is very reassuring knowing you are there if we need you.

i would say so far im still the same, the fact i was willing to return and credit a customer on a part that wasnt bought here shows that but everyday it gets harder to continue doing things like that. 2 years ago i would have gave this guy his $5 and chalked it up to "good customer service" but at this time giving him a full $5 and paying the shipping wasnt even a thought that crossed my mind. another 40 yrs in this business and i can see why some of the old timers are the way they are.....they put in their years of bending over backwards for guys like this and got to the point that they didnt feel the need to deal with it anymore. We no longer work on the MTD built trimmers and blowers because they are just too much hassle, you wouldnt believe the grief we catch over that one. I occasionally bend my rules and work on them, always get reminded of why we quit too. latest was a 1 year old Remington trimmer that they left sit over winter with gas in it, cleaned the carb, installed a kit. fired up and ran for a few minutes before the flywheel spun loose. in case you havent seen them...this is how the flywheel is held on

1/2 hour of my day and a $10 carb kit wasted......worth every penny to remind me why i dont work on junk anymore.

 

[Michigan Escapee]

[QUOTE="fordf150. We no longer work on the MTD built trimmers and blowers because they are just too much hassle, you wouldnt believe the grief we catch over that one. I occasionally bend my rules and work on them, always get reminded of why we quit too. latest was a 1 year old Remington trimmer that they left sit over winter with gas in it, cleaned the carb, installed a kit. fired up and ran for a few minutes before the flywheel spun loose. in case you havent seen them...this is how the flywheel is held on

1/2 hour of my day and a $10 carb kit wasted......worth every penny to remind me why i dont work on junk anymore.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, most of the cheap gas powered string trimmers are garbage. Spend $100, figure on it being toast after a year.

However, battery powered trimmers, as ridiculous as they might once have seemed, don't suck that bad. Like this thing, which I just bought because it was $5 more than a new battery for my cordless drill.

This is trailing edge tech, NiCad battery tech. Also pretty hard to wreck just from throwing it in a corner, and forgetting it for 5-6 months. $40 on sale, sometimes you can get a better deal than that even. Will run maybe 25-30 min on a charge. With multiple batteries, and a speed charger, you get sick of running it faster than you run out of juice.

So, what can you get for the price of a "doesn't suck super bad" trimmer, say $150? This thing.

It's a fun device, and lays waste to weeds pretty good. Recharge is fast, and it runs for longer than I'd want to bother running it in one go. I would say it was the begging of the end for the cheaper gas powered string trimmers. So how long before you get something that will displace the higher end, say, 30-40cc trimmers? Probably gonna be 3-6 years. Which means, anyone producing gas powered string trimmers won't be wanting to put a whole lot of effort into improving them.

 

[dougand3]

Yeah, most of the cheap gas powered string trimmers are garbage.

I heard that. I just worked on my buddy's Bolens BL110 (cheapest MTD line). The clutch is a block of rubber that gets fat with centrifugal force! It was partially worn out and wouldn't touch clutch drum. I wrapped it in 10 revolutions of electrical tape and stuffed it tight into drum. He now has a direct drive unit. I wouldn't buy a $15 clutch for this POS.