Putting this in the blog catagory because I don't know where else to put it.
I work for a small computer repair business in my home town, and the owner and I are pretty close. The business is successful, we get good google reviews, and overall are well liked by our customers. I just encountered something from a customer I have never had happen before, in all my time working retail. The customer was coming in to pick up his Toshiba laptop we had replaced the keyboard on, and, to my surprise, started trying to find something wrong with the laptop that we might not have fixed. He complained that there was flex in the laptop (that was present before we repaired it) and then accused me of lying when I told him there was now tax on labor in my state, which there is.
I was just wondering if anyone else here owned or worked in a repair shop and had encountered similar customer distrust, and, if so, how do you deal with it? I, for one, don't react well to being accused of lying.
That will happen no matter what. customers just want to squeeze every penny out you or try to find a way to sue you. just disregard them and keep good records.
customers just want to squeeze every penny out you or try to find a way to sue you.
Now see, I don't agree with this line of thinking. I, for one, believe, or would like to believe, that customers are NOT out to try and screw me, and I do not think that kind of thinking creates a good relationship between the employee/owner and the customer.
yeah most will be good but you will find one that will always try to find something wrong. worked in the siding business. have had customers filed false reports saying we never did the work even when the work was done with photo evidence.
Just keep good records of what you do and dont do with it. records are important for court.
Yeah this happens no matter what. You always have someone trying to get something for nothing. It didn't used to be as bad as it is now, but it has gotten steadily worse the last ten or fifteen years.
Like Dje said, just make sure you have exceptional records of all work done on any machine and you should be OK. It's said that a service oriented business has to go into CYA mode for everything they do, but that's the sad reality we live in.
I worked in a computer shop (I did not deal with the customers myself) and other similar places and my family has a accounting office and I after seeing/hearing many types of customers and I tend to see see a few patterns on customers.
While It depends heavily of the type of services and other factors, assuming that you provide good quality service/product with good prices, usually there are:
many customers that will be satisfied
a few customers that sometimes might not be 100% satisfied (either because the service/product ended little more expensive that they expected, conditions different from what they expected, etc) but they pay can any way and continue to be a costumer (or not)
a number of customers that will give all sorts of trouble (complains about the slightest things, demand unreasonable requests, tries to avoid paying using arguments that defy any sense of logic or common sense,etc )
I suggest you starting come up with several method to avoid these problems: turning the pc on with the customer present (if possible), the keeping records (photos, etc) of the machine, log work done, have documents that prove the current state law (for that specific case that you mentioned), etc.
If ever visit other computer shops or similar shops you can try asking someone that works there, BUT be very careful to to bother them, just try asking general tips to avoid problems with these types of clients.
LOL..... I have owned several businesses over the years, several were retail only but my current business is wholesale/retail mix, there is a marked difference between the customers on each side as to expectations, wants, needs, and attitudes, retail customers are mostly nice people but a percentage are assholes, and they are assholes no matter how good the service or value is that they are purchasing from you. Some of them can be converted to good customers by explaining every aspect and every detail of what they are getting, but others have a shitty attitude no matter what.
I've found there really isn't a good way to handle that small percentage of assholes other to weed them out by whatever tacit is necessary, the profit you would make from them really isn't worth the amount of BS you have to take when there are plenty of good customers out there, the trick is learning how to read customers when you initially talk to them before accepting the job, it takes time and experience but eventually you pick up on the little nuances or vibes that customers put-off while talking to them giving you clues to what they are going to be like dealing with.(if they come in bitching about someone else's work you can bet they are going to bitch about yours also)
When I first started out I never turned down a job regardless of what my gut told me, I really took a lot of pride in that fact but over the years I found that it just wasn't worth the headaches because some people just can't be pleased even if you do the work for free (which is a huge mistake), today I weed them out best I can by either making it too costly or can't be done in their time frame, or not doing that type of work on whatever they own, obliviously that isn't always possible but the bottom line is you do have the right to refuse service as long as it's not based on race, creed, color of skin, or sexual preference, in most businesses the best thing is to use work orders that spell out what is going to be done, noting any problems or defects in the customers property and have the customer read it in front of you while you point out the work being performed along with noted defects, then have them sign and date the WO, this way you are covered....verbal contracts suck and hand shakes mean nothing, you just need to adopt a method that limits your exposure to crappy customers who have unreasonable expectations.
Worked in a computer repair/sales shop for about a year and a half. Some customers are just complete idiots; you'd fix one problem (such as in your case, changing the keyboard), and 2 months later, they'd come back asking for warranty on their HDD because it died. Seriously, assholes like that make me want to slap them.
One time I had to remove a customers viruses 3 FUCKING TIMES because the idiot kept installing them back onto his computer, and BLAMING US for not removing everything, even when we showed him twice that we removed everything, while he was in the shop. We eventually just reinstalled Windows and told him if he get's another virus, he will have to pay us to remove it.
One time, a customer left his laptop in a computer store for 2 months, and didn't have enough money to pay it back, so he wanted to take it back, and come back whenever he had money to leave small payments on it. He tried to talk to my manager about it, and my manager took none of his shit, and just removed all of the work he had done, and handed it right back to the customer the next day. Fuck those people.
One time I had to remove a customers viruses 3 FUCKING TIMES because the idiot kept installing them back onto his computer
Yeah, we don't put a warranty on virus removal at our shop, just on the part that was replaced and maybe labor related to that part (for example, if we do a Windows install and it fucks up for non-malware reasons)
One time, a customer left his laptop in a computer store for 2 months, and didn't have enough money to pay it back
We sell or recycle their computer after 30 days if there is no pickup or if they don't call us or answer our calls, and we tell them this very plainly when they drop the machine off.
We've tried this in the past (90 days instead of 30), but we never follow through because in the past, some customers go on vacation or some shit or forget that we have it, and when they come back, they want their computer. We've gotten yelled at in the past for throwing out a computer they had there for 6 months... And yes, somebody "forgot" (probably didn't want to pay) about their computer after 6 months.
That is why we tell them in the plainest language possible AND have them sign a form stating that, yes, after 30 days your computer becomes our computer. So far we had ONE customer threaten legal action, but since he signed the form, there was little he could do.
I've worked at a few repair shops, and I currently work for a nonprofit one inside my university. That being said, college kids are far worse than any of the seniors I regularly dealt with. But that's just my experience.
My answer is education and understanding, but even that sometimes will not work. You can only do so much, but as previously mentioned, understanding and gauging a person is better than not. Alas, I have dealt with similar issues. There is only so much you can do, but I've been trying to work out an intake checklist that lists any prior damage, OS, spec, and the specific service required (so somebody doesn't pull the "I thought I said I needed this too'). I also typically write a detailed invoice, even if the customer doesn't want it. It's important for your records. Previous places I worked used software like quickbooks to keep track of regulars, when/why a custo was in last, etc. I would recommend it for covering the business. Most people are more reasonable when you try to educate them.
Sometimes we do make exceptions if the customer is on vacation or if something comes up. If we can get in contact with the customer we will hold it a bit longer, but no call no show is 30 days max. We give plenty of warning and several phone calls and emails are sent before we refurb the machine to sell in our shop or recycle it.
I'll be taking over a tax preparation business in a few years (when my grandma retires). Most of the customers are great, some are a bit of a pain, and then there are the terrible clients... With the clients who are just pure asshats we just charge them quite a bit more. If they come back then it's more money for us, if not then thats great too (less headaches). Some customers are just bad people in general (at least when dealing with businesses) but don't let that discourage or get to you, most customers are great and if you prove your trustworthyness they'll be coming back year after year (we have customers that have been coming for each of the 36 years we've been in business).
See it all the time, plenty of customers that will try to save money in any way possible. It's an unfortunate reality in retail (retailty). Make sure you take good logs on the computer especially when checking the computer in, note any damages take pictures etc. Also I would assume you have a waiver of some form stating you are not liable for damages, data loss and so forth.
Like you said treat every customer like they are a good customer, but know in the back of your mind that they can always try and screw you.