How to handle a very rude customer! Need a rational talking to...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I know that in this country, people working in service industries usually bear with the rudeness. I have been impressed on numerous occasions by the extremely courteous responses to aggressive client behavior.

However, I'm French. In France, you might very well get booted from a shop or business for being a rude customer. Waiters and people in service industries can be very polite, but there are plenty who are not!

So do what you feel like doing, OP. If she's elderly, she might not know how to write an online review. Even if she does, you can respond in a dignified way and not lose much business. I believe there is a line in the sand - some rudeness you can tolerate if you can see a client is having a bad day or doesn't really mean it, and some is just beyond the pale and not to be tolerated. Only you can decide which one it was today.

OP here. In all honesty, she does not deserve service. If any of you had experienced the call, you would refuse to go. She was THAT bad. And, my main thing is not wanting to put my staff in a position where they have to take orders from such a vile woman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate to say it, because she sounds AWFUL, but you should provide the service. You have to be the professional. As painful as it might be inside, you should do your best to make her happy, because it is the professional thing to do. And...a woman like that will definitely shout it to the rooftops if she is unhappy.

This.

[Anonymous]

To be honest, as a small business owner, I think you're using Living Social wrong (or perhaps it's not a good marketing strategy for your business). Regardless of how you'd like things to work, the reality is that people buying those deals often don't read the fine print (in no small part because the sites aren't really good about highlighting the terms). So when you create a deal, it needs to be really straightforward and easy for a customer to use. After all, while from your perspective it's a great deal for them, from their perspective they're taking a risk by paying in advance for a service from an unknown vendor. It sounds like the deal you're offering may have too many conditions and complications for a good Living Social deal, and the consequence is that some people will get anxious/angry/agitated when they feel like they're being ripped off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To be honest, as a small business owner, I think you're using Living Social wrong (or perhaps it's not a good marketing strategy for your business). Regardless of how you'd like things to work, the reality is that people buying those deals often don't read the fine print (in no small part because the sites aren't really good about highlighting the terms). So when you create a deal, it needs to be really straightforward and easy for a customer to use. After all, while from your perspective it's a great deal for them, from their perspective they're taking a risk by paying in advance for a service from an unknown vendor. It sounds like the deal you're offering may have too many conditions and complications for a good Living Social deal, and the consequence is that some people will get anxious/angry/agitated when they feel like they're being ripped off.

OP here. I'm not using it wrong. Our terms are very straightforward (strict guidelines does not make things more complicated).

For ex: Our deal has VERY clear service area restrictions. It never fails that customers outside of our service area will buy the voucher and then get pissed when they can't use it.

Customers should ALWAYS call a company to get all of the details BEFORE buying. Oftentimes, they do the reverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be honest, as a small business owner, I think you're using Living Social wrong (or perhaps it's not a good marketing strategy for your business). Regardless of how you'd like things to work, the reality is that people buying those deals often don't read the fine print (in no small part because the sites aren't really good about highlighting the terms). So when you create a deal, it needs to be really straightforward and easy for a customer to use. After all, while from your perspective it's a great deal for them, from their perspective they're taking a risk by paying in advance for a service from an unknown vendor. It sounds like the deal you're offering may have too many conditions and complications for a good Living Social deal, and the consequence is that some people will get anxious/angry/agitated when they feel like they're being ripped off.

OP here. I'm not using it wrong. Our terms are very straightforward (strict guidelines does not make things more complicated).

For ex: Our deal has VERY clear service area restrictions. It never fails that customers outside of our service area will buy the voucher and then get pissed when they can't use it.

Customers should ALWAYS call a company to get all of the details BEFORE buying. Oftentimes, they do the reverse.

And my point is that regardless of what you believe customers *should* do, you *know* they will do the opposite, and good business strategy is to work with the prospective customer base you have, not the one you wish you had. Yes, there are some things that you can't really do anything about (like a reasonable service area restriction; if you're a house cleaning company based out of Fairfax, it's not reasonable for someone to expect you to drive to Richmond), but if the terms start getting too complex as to when you can schedule what kind of service, you may be making the deal far too complicated for a good Living Social deal. That doesn't mean you need to create a different deal, but it does mean that you may be right to be leaning toward eliminating Living Social as a marketing avenue for your business. From your original post, it sounded like the deal wasn't sufficiently straightforward or easy to use, but perhaps the desire for anonymity forced you to make things sound more opaque than they actually are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be honest, as a small business owner, I think you're using Living Social wrong (or perhaps it's not a good marketing strategy for your business). Regardless of how you'd like things to work, the reality is that people buying those deals often don't read the fine print (in no small part because the sites aren't really good about highlighting the terms). So when you create a deal, it needs to be really straightforward and easy for a customer to use. After all, while from your perspective it's a great deal for them, from their perspective they're taking a risk by paying in advance for a service from an unknown vendor. It sounds like the deal you're offering may have too many conditions and complications for a good Living Social deal, and the consequence is that some people will get anxious/angry/agitated when they feel like they're being ripped off.

OP here. I'm not using it wrong. Our terms are very straightforward (strict guidelines does not make things more complicated).

For ex: Our deal has VERY clear service area restrictions. It never fails that customers outside of our service area will buy the voucher and then get pissed when they can't use it.

Customers should ALWAYS call a company to get all of the details BEFORE buying. Oftentimes, they do the reverse.

And my point is that regardless of what you believe customers *should* do, you *know* they will do the opposite, and good business strategy is to work with the prospective customer base you have, not the one you wish you had. Yes, there are some things that you can't really do anything about (like a reasonable service area restriction; if you're a house cleaning company based out of Fairfax, it's not reasonable for someone to expect you to drive to Richmond), but if the terms start getting too complex as to when you can schedule what kind of service, you may be making the deal far too complicated for a good Living Social deal. That doesn't mean you need to create a different deal, but it does mean that you may be right to be leaning toward eliminating Living Social as a marketing avenue for your business. From your original post, it sounded like the deal wasn't sufficiently straightforward or easy to use, but perhaps the desire for anonymity forced you to make things sound more opaque than they actually are.

The need for anonymity is definitely a factor but, I understand your point. I use Living Social sparingly but when issues like this come up (rare but a headache, nonetheless), it makes me reevaluate using them. As it stands, I've suspended the program. Thanks for your response; it's very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Sequence of events: Person buys coupon for service, calls to schedule service. After a long and nasty conversation, Person and OP agree to service X on date Y. And after the conversation, OP wants to cancel.

This makes no sense and would be extremely unprofessional. Either decline from the outset or do what you agreed to do. Why cancel now? There is no good reason to do so.

[doodlebug]

PArt of me wants you to cancel it and let her deal with living social.

But part of me remembers an interview I did with a small business owner (dressmaker) when I was in college. She said if a woman is happy with your service, she'll tell three friends. If she's unhappy, she'll tell ten.

I think most of us know that the majority of yelp reviews occur when someone is either angry (and some people get angry more often than others) or when they've been wowed. Only you can decide whether the problem will become worse or just go away if you cancel the deal and whether you can live with whatever consequences (if any) come from it.

[Anonymous]

OP, I am given the impression that Living Social and other discount vouchers are used by people who would not otherwise afford the service. Meaning that the mentality is that the customer is getting a bargain - and therefor feels taking advantage is somehow warranted. Don't ask me why, but I have noticed this behavior often (owner of the cheapest house on the street thinking they own the neighborhood, etc.)

The behavior is fascinating, and I am sure there is a study (or many) relating to it. Or, you can chalk it up to simple entitlement. I don't think if I were were in a service industry, I myself could offer Living Social deals for my services for this reason. I think you are getting into something that you would not otherwise choose.

[Anonymous]

Business owner here.

Everyone that does not own a business always says "the customer is always right" and that is a pretty good rule to live by. Always remember golden rule #2

THey don't all need to be your customer. Let the nasty ones be someone else's customer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Customer is always right. If this gets under your skin, you aren't cut out for what you are doing. Sorry - probably not the answer you wanted.

+ 1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the business name? Want to know to avoid you! You shouldn't post a date if you are not going to stick to it.

Dates are requests not confirmations. That is indicated on the website. New dates are within a day or two of original requests. Moving dates is rare and only happens when a customer fails to notice a restriction (service area, type of homes served, etc). Changing her date was a result of her error.

You need to change your system. Either handle reservations via phone only or get a computer system that works.

She bought the coupon. You need to honor it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Customer is always right. If this gets under your skin, you aren't cut out for what you are doing. Sorry - probably not the answer you wanted.

Wrong. The customer is usually wrong. They've just been conditioned to believe they're always right. And anyone who has ever had a customer service job knows this. That's why when I see a customer in the wrong being an a-hole to a worker, I speak up and call them out on their BS, because I know the worker is forbidden from standing up to the customer.

OP, I think you do the service and risk the possible negative Yelp review. At least you can reply to the negative review with your side of things. FWIW, I still consider a business with a few bad reviews that have owner's or worker's who have addressed the bad reviews. I feel more confident in that company vs. one that never addresses the bad reviews. Now, if your company is only rated 1 or 1.5 star,s you may have more issues than just this one customer...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Customer is always right. If this gets under your skin, you aren't cut out for what you are doing. Sorry - probably not the answer you wanted.

Wrong. The customer is usually wrong.

I don't think you understand what the expression means. It means that a business owner needs to have the perspective that if a product or service is not meeting the expectations of a customer, then they should be taking steps to remedy that. It's why high end restaurants will cook another meal for a customer who didn't like the first one, why Nordstrom will take back just about anything, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Customer is always right. If this gets under your skin, you aren't cut out for what you are doing. Sorry - probably not the answer you wanted.

I disagree. Why is the customer always right? They consume your services but that's all. Will you do anything for $? Demean yourself? Such b*tchy behavior as described should be called out and punished. I am not a serviceworker btw.