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Customers an absolute nightmare through this whole covid situation?
Anyone else finding customers an absolute nightmare through this whole covid situation. People have turned into animals.
No one can wait. No one pre-plans anything. I get emails at 5pm on a Sunday night and they stamp there feet when there told no you can’t have it for 8am Monday.
The phone rings continuously the day before places are ment to open with last minute people that also don’t like the answer no.
Literally telling people 10-15 working days for some items and by day 5 am getting dogs abuse and screen shooting emails and circling what I said and sending it back. Still not happy.
Jobs quoted in March, finally signed off at 10pm at night (last night) can I have it for the 1st of august. No you can’t. Job lost.
Is it just me or is this everywhere. I don’t mind the odd few. Sometimes people forget things. It is what it is. But 100+ a week is making me want to greet my wee eyes out. I think what worse is when it comes to the enquiry it’s all laid out and explained, this is the crack and all are fine and appreciate what’s going on and that we are busy. Until day 5. Or in some cases day 3.
On a side note am 95% certain that as the forum took a wee while to load it said Paul Hughes stalked someone 😳😂
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14 Replies
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the same story as you, the customer comes in asking for a framed sign with flat cut composite letters on stand-off locators, priced there and then along with design, 3-4 days turnaround.
on leaving, he loosely asks what the price would be for it in 3D build-up letters in stainless steel. give him a “rough guess”, but say a minimum of 2 weeks as they are outsourced. he did not come back in, then we go into lock-down.
four months later, comes in to see us. demands a fast turnaround on 3D stainless letters or he will walk.
so i tell him to walk, as it is impossible, my supplier is 10-14 days and that’s if they are even open.
then returns next day, ok ill go ahead with the 14 days wait, but i want a discount!
i said “we haven’t even given you the correct price yet as you only asked for a ballpark figure” rants and raves and said he can get a better price elsewhere anyway.
one week later, the sign is up! flat letters stuck flat to the surface of the old sign covered in vinyl. 😏🤣now all the above would have been bad enough any time of the year, but while most the country is still in lockdown and people in queues a mile long outside B&Q, yet he still expects us to jump through hoops!
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Am glad it’s not just me then. 😂 we are closing on the 1st for a week and half for delivery of our embroidery machine and mounters mate applicator bench. Am already counting down the minutes to disconnecting the phone.
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I have no experience with embroidery, but I am sure you will love being able to flood coat vinyl and lay up signs with ease using your mounters-mate. If it is Omar that is setting it up for you, say hello for me… nice guy!
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Hi Chris, exactly the same here. It is very stressful trying to stay on top of it all. It’s like the starting gun has been fired and people are just push push push
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So glad am not the only one.
Just about to go fit a customer who at 10 past 9 last night was making alterations to his proof and called the office this morning at 8am wanting to know why I had not replied. Lad on the phone told him “Chris doesn’t work 24 hours a day, it’s 8am and he’s actually out fitting for another customer already” 🙄
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I deliberately avoid responding to any phonecalls or emails outwith my normal working hours. I don’t want them to think I’m available 24/7. But to be fair, it’s only the @ssholes that send these outwith normal hours anyway..
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We’re a bit the other way… work coming in, but customers dragging their feet.
We’re very much like Phil, our office phones switch off outside our office hours asking them to call back during office hours, and I don’t get email notifications on my phone, I can still check them if I wish. I don’t ever give customers my mobile number.
Evenings & weekends are my time… the customers who expect 24hr service, tend to be a pain in the ass.
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on Monday night just there, which is a holday here, I had a customer text my mobile at 11:30pm to ask, “did i get my email he sent me at 10:30pm?”
I never give my mobile out, but he got it from a mate a few weeks ago.
it was almost as if, you haven’t replied to the 10:30pm email yet, so ill get it by text now!needless to say, I didn’t respond at that point. but anyone that knows me, i dont go to bed before 3am so I replied with just “yes” around 2:30am. I hope he had it sat next to his pillow!
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I used to do exactly that when people text or called my mobile late at night, best is to get up at 6am and call them back then, apologising for calling so early but their request must have been urgent for them to be texting my personal mobile at midnight!!!
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4pm and: ‘But I need it TOMMORROW morning at 9am!!!!!’
‘Yes, Sir/Madam thats no problem, but its +100% to your quote for super-duper overnight turnaround (I have to pay staff to work overnight, I’m sure you understand)’
‘Oh…. 3 day turnaround is fine then.’
Works every time, or if they ‘really’ want it, someone’s getting double time
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Yea we are normally +30% for anything I consider and unreasonable rush. Had the boys on £100 and hour once and me £200 an hour. It was a good 6 hours and all paid up front.
If the attitudes continue though am kicking it up to +60%. Seems to be everywhere. Had a mate who sells hot tubs in today. He had a woman stood in the showroom going mental wanting to look at hot tubs but they had sold even the display models. “But the sign says showroom so where are they” apparently it went on for a good 10 minutes and had to show her the entire building before she stormed out in a rage.
Lockdown has done some strange things.
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Lock-down? she needs locked-up!
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Yes. Since I started to take work back on (shop is still closed, everything is just drop-off and pickup) everybody seems to want everything yesterday.
Contacted by a potential customer Thursday afternoon approx 4pm.
Cust “I need a sign, 8ft x 8ft. How much”?
Me “I don’t even know what you want on the sign. Is it cut vinyl or printed with lamination”?
Cust “Yes”
Very long pause as customer stares at me.
Cust “Well”?
Me “Well what”?
Cust “How much”?
Me “I don’t even know what you want on the sign. Is it cut vinyl or printed with lamination”?
Cust “I want a sign with vinyl letters on it”
Me “Okay, without knowing exactly what you want, the price would be about £xx for a basic sign”
Cust “Okay, I’ll send you the details later”I then receive an email at around midnight asking for coloured board with a massive price list/menu. Cust comes back in around 2pm the following day (Friday).
Cust “So, can you do this”?
Me “Yes, but the boards are more expensive and there is a huge amount of lettering to design/arrange/apply, so it will take a bit of time and the price will be £xx+”
Cust “Whoah, that’s more expensive than you quoted me before”.
Me “That wasn’t a quote, that was an estimate because I didn’t know what you wanted. You wanted more and so the price went up”
Cust “Can I get a discount then”?
Me “Yes, of course. On your next order”
Cust “Hmm… okay then, go ahead. Can I get it by Sunday”?
Me “Really”??Now this is a typical sort of conversation that a lot of us have had. But it seems that since the Covid outbreak, nearly all of my conversations with new customers are like this.
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YES 😂 this. Exactly this. X100 a week.
Had a lad enquire about a pickup sign writing yesterday and I told him that we are closing on Friday for new machines and refurbished and won’t be opening back up till 13th, if he’s happy to wait then I can pop him on the list.
He was happy. Asked if he get a proof before we did it. Told him yes, soon as we can we will get one over but won’t be this week.
Called this afternoon. General small talk and then Yano this awkward silences you get for 5 seconds or more.. and then BANG “where’s ma proof”…
it is what it is. Maybe I’ve just reached grumpy man status.
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