What is the most outrageous thing you have ever said to a customer and kept your job?

[pepper38_cnd]

I guess mine is what is the most Outrageous thing a custommer has said to me.

I arrived on a call for an OKI Fax, the call descriptions was “Faint Blurry Prints”. On arrival I asked for the person who place the call. “do you have a sample fro me ?” I asked. And she produced a sample.

Upon looking at the sample print I said “ This looks like a dirty print head, it’s a simple solution thanks for keeping a sample for me.” She replied I have already cleaned the print head and it made no difference”. So I asked her “Oh ok could you show me what it is you did?” She then opened the cover removed the drum assy and wiped off the drum. I replied “ I’m sorry that is not the print head”, I pointed to the print head attached to the open cover and wiped it with a tissue. Then closed the cover and showed her the nice clear print. I told her I would give the unit a general cleaning and all should be good.

After completing the call getting the work order signed. As I was sitting in my Van talking to my dispatcher about my next call. A gentleman knocked on my window. I rolled down the window and he asked if I would come back in. I followed him to an office where he slammed the door and laid into me with every vulgarity you can imagine. The long and short of it was “I have a contract, when I call, you come fix it, and don’t talk to my employees, you are never to tell my employees what they should do, you are a lousy tech.” I told him “ I was only doing my job, and instructing her how to clean the print head could reduce future down time.” He started in on me again, and I just got up and walked out.

I told my boss the situation and asked him to call the customer and tell him he could not treat the techs in this manor. What happened with that is he refused and I refused to ever service that customer again.

The next time and the only time a customer ever laid into me again. I simply looked the customer in the eye and said “Insulting me or my company will not resolve your problem any faster, please give me some time to evaluate this issue, I’m sure it can be resolved, and I will give you a full report when I have completed my task.”

The point is be polite, meet confrontation head on, and don’t take shit! Yes they are the customer. But the customer is not always right.

[Lagonda]

All: make a note to yourselves to never ever give your cell number to customers

your right, but a good trick is to give them the salesmans own mobile phone number and tell them to call anytime, even afterhours

[kingarthur]

I had a really stroppy customer once...i was fixing her shredder....she got so annoyed.. she told me i couldn't leave until i fixed it..even if it took all night!!...i said fine....what side of the bed do you want!!..she got quite annoyed until her colleagues started laughing & then she calmed down...we've become good friends...but i never did find out which side of the bed she slept on lol

[prntrfxr]

The point is be polite, meet confrontation head on, and don’t take shit! Yes they are the customer. But the customer is not always right.

And that is the point. Everyone I've ever known in sales has always insisted that the customer is always right. I've worked all my life in customer service fields and I'll tell you that the customer is not always right, but they are always the customer and should be treated with respect.

I have never resorted to screaming or using bad language. When you do that you lower yourself to their childish level. Remain calm and in control of the conversation. Which means you are not a wimp because you have to be firm. Most clients who behave in a childish way are on a power trip. Turn it around by empowering them. Try not to tell them that you can't do something.

Example:

"I can do A, B, or C. Which would you prefer?" You can elaborate to give them the pros and cons for each, but let them make the decision. If it doesn't work out the way they want, it was THEIR decision, not yours.

If they start with the bad language:

"(sir or ma'am) I can handle the problem with the machine, but not your language. Let's keep this professional, please." If they continue the best thing to do is walk away.

Any manager that won't back you up after you have followed the above steps is not a real manager. Management needs to understand that as a manager your techs may not like everything you do or agree with everything you say, but they should respect you. If you don't back your people when they face confrontations from the clients, you will not have your techs' respect. This can hurt you in the long run. On the other hand, when I was a service manager I NEVER backed techs that resorted to being disrespectful or who used bad language on a client. There was no excuse for that behavior and they knew it. If you can't control your mouth, walk away.

[Ianizer]

Copy that, prtrfxr. About 100 years ago had a customer lay into me... Closed up my kit, told them we were obviously having a personal conflict, assured them someone would be out to fix there problem as soon as possible, and walked out... Called my boss immediately to advise he might get a call and why. He had my back. I did return at a later date and the customer apologized for being a b**** (her words)... Everybody's entitled to a bad day.-I

[fixthecopier]

When they got the machine, I gave them a good demo, including how to load paper in the universal tray. The first call for " can't find the jam " was the paper loaded incorrectly. I showed them again, and the next call a few weeks later was the same thing.They want another machine now. I laugh and say no. They call back a week later for the same thing. The woman in charge said she wanted a new machine. I replied "Putting a new machine here will not make the people using it any smarter than they already are. " She promptly stood up and walked out, slamming the door behind her. They never called that work order in agai