Refrigerator (and customer) from hell

As a few of you on the board know, I do some appliance repair. Last
September, I fixed a refrigerator about an hour drive from me.

Last week at 5:30 I got a page from the same fellow, it had warmed up
again. He's got three kids and a wife, and he's in a hurry to get it
fixed. I'm trying my best to get to a church meeting, and they don't
let people in late. So, I'm talking on the cell phone while I'm
driving to the temple, and hurrying up the walkway and steps.

He wants to know what's the problem. Against my judgement, I diagnosed
the fridge over the phone. The next day, Friday, he called. I got the
price of the part. He wasn't sure if it was in warranty, so he'd call
me back. He did, I was out to lunch with a friend, and had left the
card home with the model number and part number. I called the parts
house, and they had already thrown away the slip with the part number.
So, I called him back and got the model number, again. Called the
parts house again, and and ordered a part. Not in stock. they can
ship it across the state. Be at my place UPS on Monday or I can pick
it up at the parts house on Tuesday. Ship it.

Monday I'm out, and I go install the part. Turns out to be the wrong
one. I'll admit that was my screw up. I shoulda done the diagnostic.
Figure out what was the bad part. My bad. So, I called him back. We
compromised on I wrote him a store credit for a pile of money, and I'm
now losing serious money on the job. And he's got me for the next
couple jobs.

Saturday at 8:30 PM, and I'm home about to go to bed for church
tomrorrow. So, his wife calls. The water line behind the ice maker has
been leaking since Tuesday, and they have company and family coming
tomorrow for thier daughter's confirmation. She wants it fixed.

I load what I can in the truck, and head for the hardware store. Shuck
out bucks to buy a water hook up kit, and get back to the road. Pager
goes off, and so I call. She's on the phone again. Said her husband is
at the (other) hardware store, and he says they will take care of it,
and cancell. By this time I'm about 45 minutes of my evening tied up
on the job, and I'm about 20 miles from home. She closes the
conversation with "I hope on the next refrigerator you repair, you are
more careful, this has been a big inconvenience for us". Right, lady,
you're the one calling me Saturday at 8:30 and you complain about
inconvenience?

I guess there are customers from Hell, and then there are customers
from SuperHell.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
news
As a few of you on the board know, I do some appliance repair. Last
September, I fixed a refrigerator about an hour drive from me.


Relax. Remember this is pretty much the nature of the business you are in.
When appliances break, their owners are inconvenienced and frustrated. So
they will not be at their best.

If something from last September is still upsetting you, maybe you should
find another line of work.



Jo

Jo Firey wrote:
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
news
As a few of you on the board know, I do some appliance repair. Last
September, I fixed a refrigerator about an hour drive from me.

Relax. Remember this is pretty much the nature of the business you are in.
When appliances break, their owners are inconvenienced and frustrated. So
they will not be at their best.

If something from last September is still upsetting you, maybe you should
find another line of work.
Jo

I think you misread his post. My take on it is that the original repair
from September lasted until now, almost May. That's seven months before
the 'frig started unfrigging.

Now back to the OP - How long is the warranty on your work? Were they
implying that the original repair did not take? Or what?

Sometimes it is difficult to be assertive, especially if you are in a
small town. One indignant customer will tell ten others is what I used
to hear. This unhappy customer will tell more people than a happy
customer will tell others.

Taking calls on a Saturday evening is really nice of you, maybe too
nice. I don't know your situation but I assume you're in business for
yourself. But the leak, could that be your fault? Again, it was seven
months since the last repair. If you're too nice, they might be
assuming you are too nice because you feel guilty instead of realizing
that you're trying to build up your business with these obnoxious
people.

When my 'frig went on the blink, too cold, the opposite of this
problem, the 'frig person and I diagnosed it over the phone as a bad
temp sensor and priced it out. But then he said, you know what, if it's
working right if you have it almost turned off, see what happens. That
was almost two years ago - knock on my wooden head. A real nice fellow,
like you.

Could it be going to religious services is making you too nice? A
healthy dose of skepticism and agnosticism might "repair" the
situation. I always get in trouble bringing up religion, but I can't
help it, everyone else brings up theirs. I just put in a looong day,
working Saturday night too with so-so customers and I need to be more
assertive also. It's hard to find the right mix.

wrote:
Jo Firey wrote:
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
news
As a few of you on the board know, I do some appliance repair. Last
September, I fixed a refrigerator about an hour drive from me.

Relax. Remember this is pretty much the nature of the business you are in.
When appliances break, their owners are inconvenienced and frustrated. So
they will not be at their best.

If something from last September is still upsetting you, maybe you should
find another line of work.
Jo

I think you misread his post. My take on it is that the original repair
from September lasted until now, almost May. That's seven months before
the 'frig started unfrigging.

Now back to the OP - How long is the warranty on your work? Were they
implying that the original repair did not take? Or what?

Sometimes it is difficult to be assertive, especially if you are in a
small town. One indignant customer will tell ten others is what I used
to hear. This unhappy customer will tell more people than a happy
customer will tell others.

Taking calls on a Saturday evening is really nice of you, maybe too
nice. I don't know your situation but I assume you're in business for
yourself. But the leak, could that be your fault? Again, it was seven
months since the last repair. If you're too nice, they might be
assuming you are too nice because you feel guilty instead of realizing
that you're trying to build up your business with these obnoxious
people.

When my 'frig went on the blink, too cold, the opposite of this
problem, the 'frig person and I diagnosed it over the phone as a bad
temp sensor and priced it out. But then he said, you know what, if it's
working right if you have it almost turned off, see what happens. That
was almost two years ago - knock on my wooden head. A real nice fellow,
like you.

Could it be going to religious services is making you too nice? A
healthy dose of skepticism and agnosticism might "repair" the
situation. I always get in trouble bringing up religion, but I can't
help it, everyone else brings up theirs. I just put in a looong day,
working Saturday night too with so-so customers and I need to be more
assertive also. It's hard to find the right mix.

I was the Customer from H*ll Saturday. DH bought me a gift certificate
for my birhtday. He paid sales tax when he bought it. Which I thought
was weird. Then they charged me sales tax on the items I bought with
the certificate. The clerk, who was the owner, was either playing dumb,
or she did not understand why this was not fair. She never would back
down.
I finally told her if she needed the money that bad, she could have it.
This *was* an overcharge, or was it just me?

Sherry

wrote in message
oups.com...

wrote:
Jo Firey wrote:
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
news As a few of you on the board know, I do some appliance repair. Last
September, I fixed a refrigerator about an hour drive from me.

Relax. Remember this is pretty much the nature of the business you are
in.
When appliances break, their owners are inconvenienced and frustrated.
So
they will not be at their best.

If something from last September is still upsetting you, maybe you
should
find another line of work.
Jo

I think you misread his post. My take on it is that the original repair
from September lasted until now, almost May. That's seven months before
the 'frig started unfrigging.

Now back to the OP - How long is the warranty on your work? Were they
implying that the original repair did not take? Or what?

Sometimes it is difficult to be assertive, especially if you are in a
small town. One indignant customer will tell ten others is what I used
to hear. This unhappy customer will tell more people than a happy
customer will tell others.

Taking calls on a Saturday evening is really nice of you, maybe too
nice. I don't know your situation but I assume you're in business for
yourself. But the leak, could that be your fault? Again, it was seven
months since the last repair. If you're too nice, they might be
assuming you are too nice because you feel guilty instead of realizing
that you're trying to build up your business with these obnoxious
people.

When my 'frig went on the blink, too cold, the opposite of this
problem, the 'frig person and I diagnosed it over the phone as a bad
temp sensor and priced it out. But then he said, you know what, if it's
working right if you have it almost turned off, see what happens. That
was almost two years ago - knock on my wooden head. A real nice fellow,
like you.

Could it be going to religious services is making you too nice? A
healthy dose of skepticism and agnosticism might "repair" the
situation. I always get in trouble bringing up religion, but I can't
help it, everyone else brings up theirs. I just put in a looong day,
working Saturday night too with so-so customers and I need to be more
assertive also. It's hard to find the right mix.

I was the Customer from H*ll Saturday. DH bought me a gift certificate
for my birhtday. He paid sales tax when he bought it. Which I thought
was weird. Then they charged me sales tax on the items I bought with
the certificate. The clerk, who was the owner, was either playing dumb,
or she did not understand why this was not fair. She never would back
down.
I finally told her if she needed the money that bad, she could have it.
This *was* an overcharge, or was it just me?

Sherry

No, they should not be charging tax on a gift certificate. They are
essentially cash, although much less convenient.

Double sales tax doesn't sound right, to me.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

wrote in message
oups.com...

wrote:
Jo Firey wrote:
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in
message
news
As a few of you on the board know, I do some appliance repair.
Last
September, I fixed a refrigerator about an hour drive from me.

Relax. Remember this is pretty much the nature of the business
you are in.
When appliances break, their owners are inconvenienced and
frustrated. So
they will not be at their best.

If something from last September is still upsetting you, maybe you
should
find another line of work.
Jo

I think you misread his post. My take on it is that the original
repair
from September lasted until now, almost May. That's seven months
before
the 'frig started unfrigging.

Now back to the OP - How long is the warranty on your work? Were
they
implying that the original repair did not take? Or what?

Sometimes it is difficult to be assertive, especially if you are in
a
small town. One indignant customer will tell ten others is what I
used
to hear. This unhappy customer will tell more people than a happy
customer will tell others.

Taking calls on a Saturday evening is really nice of you, maybe too
nice. I don't know your situation but I assume you're in business
for
yourself. But the leak, could that be your fault? Again, it was
seven
months since the last repair. If you're too nice, they might be
assuming you are too nice because you feel guilty instead of
realizing
that you're trying to build up your business with these obnoxious
people.

When my 'frig went on the blink, too cold, the opposite of this
problem, the 'frig person and I diagnosed it over the phone as a bad
temp sensor and priced it out. But then he said, you know what, if
it's
working right if you have it almost turned off, see what happens.
That
was almost two years ago - knock on my wooden head. A real nice
fellow,
like you.

Could it be going to religious services is making you too nice? A
healthy dose of skepticism and agnosticism might "repair" the
situation. I always get in trouble bringing up religion, but I can't
help it, everyone else brings up theirs. I just put in a looong day,
working Saturday night too with so-so customers and I need to be
more
assertive also. It's hard to find the right mix.

I was the Customer from H*ll Saturday. DH bought me a gift certificate
for my birhtday. He paid sales tax when he bought it. Which I thought
was weird. Then they charged me sales tax on the items I bought with
the certificate. The clerk, who was the owner, was either playing
dumb,
or she did not understand why this was not fair. She never would back
down.
I finally told her if she needed the money that bad, she could have
it.
This *was* an overcharge, or was it just me?

Sherry

September isn't upsetting me. Saturday at 8"30 PM complaining about
something that has been leaking since Tuesday is what upsets me.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Jo Firey" wrote in message
. com...

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
news
As a few of you on the board know, I do some appliance repair. Last
September, I fixed a refrigerator about an hour drive from me.


Relax. Remember this is pretty much the nature of the business you
are in.
When appliances break, their owners are inconvenienced and frustrated.
So
they will not be at their best.

If something from last September is still upsetting you, maybe you
should
find another line of work.



Jo

wrote in message
oups.com...

I think you misread his post. My take on it is that the original
repair
from September lasted until now, almost May. That's seven months
before
the 'frig started unfrigging.

Now back to the OP - How long is the warranty on your work? Were they
implying that the original repair did not take? Or what?
CY:I don't have any formal warranty. Most parts places give a year on
parts. They didn't imply anything, just wanted it fixed.

Sometimes it is difficult to be assertive, especially if you are in a
small town. One indignant customer will tell ten others is what I used
to hear. This unhappy customer will tell more people than a happy
customer will tell others.
CY: That's abotu what I figure.

Taking calls on a Saturday evening is really nice of you, maybe too
nice. I don't know your situation but I assume you're in business for
yourself.
CY: Yep, calls on Saturday is nice. Yes, I'm a one man business.

But the leak, could that be your fault?
CY: Yes, it could. Happened right near to where I was working.

Again, it was seven
months since the last repair. If you're too nice, they might be
assuming you are too nice because you feel guilty instead of realizing
that you're trying to build up your business with these obnoxious
people.
CY: True, I want lots of obnoxious and jerky customers. Hmm. I didn't
say that.

When my 'frig went on the blink, too cold, the opposite of this
problem, the 'frig person and I diagnosed it over the phone as a bad
temp sensor and priced it out. But then he said, you know what, if
it's
working right if you have it almost turned off, see what happens.
That
was almost two years ago - knock on my wooden head. A real nice
fellow,
like you.
CY: Yes, sounds like he "fixed" it over the phone.

Could it be going to religious services is making you too nice? A
healthy dose of skepticism and agnosticism might "repair" the
situation. I always get in trouble bringing up religion, but I can't
help it, everyone else brings up theirs. I just put in a looong day,
working Saturday night too with so-so customers and I need to be more
assertive also. It's hard to find the right mix.
CY: Maybe that's it. Could be I just have to get a bit more hard
nosed. Though, these two (married couple) have pushed the usual
sympathy buttons. Three kids, and the one has some friends over for
her confirmation tomorrow, that kind of thing. I guess I could read it
back. After all, it's Saturday night, and I have a bunch of people
expecting me to be in church tomorrow.