Customer relation advice s milne

ScottMP

As I hold all of you on this site in high esteem :), I would appreciate your advice on how to deal with this issiue.

We got a call from a new customer who we installed a gas HWH for last Dec. A cable guy stepped in soot in her basment and tracked it across her new rug.

The oil furnace had been replaced in the spring and new flue pipe installed. The oil co. looked and said it looked like it came out of the flue when we installed our new WH.

She would like me to pay and have it cleaned.

My opinion is the cable guy never took his boots off, it was a old cement and dirt floor with poor lighting. even if we did spill some soot this guy should NEVER have walked out of a basement into her house. I tell my guys to take of your shoes or use the booties we provide.

It just so happens I had taken a picture of the job because of the odd gas fitting ( Timmie said it was steel wool to filter out dirty gas ).

What do you all think. Should I say I am sorry and pay to clean her rug ?

Should I show her the photo and say we never really moved the flue enough to put a pile of soot on the floor ?

I want to do the right thing.

Scott

<A HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=237&Step=30">To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"</A>

ed wallace

soot

its the oil co that caused the problem not you

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

Jackchips

Tough call Scott.

It sures sounds like it's the cable companies problem. Have you tried calling and discussing it with them?
I would evaluate the following: Is she a good customer with the potential for more work, what is the cost to clean the rug, will she do you more harm than good if you do walk away. Would she or the cable company and maybe the heating company share the cost?

I'll be following with you how others would handle this.

Your to be commended for even trying to find a solution and not just walking away.

Good luck.

Frank_3

I know you're not asking me, a homeowner, but I'd say it's tough at this point to lay blame on you, more than one year after you did the job. Looking at the photo I'd guess that any soot you knocked out of the flue would have ended up on top of the old water heater or under the new one.

However, since there's you, the oil company, and the cable guy you might offer to pay 1/3 of the cost. Or consider paying 1/4 if you include the homeowner's share.

On the other hand, if you don't care about the possibility of follow-on work then don't offer to pay anything. After all it's been over a year and you can't take responsibility for a dirty floor forever.

ScottMP

I would think

That if we had a dirty flue you would see evidence of it on the tank ??

Scott

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

Jackchips

You asked

if you should pay and that is what I responded to. It appears that you don't need any more justifciation for walking than the picture and the fact the cable guy did the deed. It's the ramifications of just walking that I tryed to address.

Bill_14

We don't argue

when we get those types of calls. Something like this happens once or twice per year. In our town you can get the carpeting for an entire house cleaned for $200 to $300.

Think about it.

Bill

Chris_4

It looks

from the picture that you didn't spill the soot. However I agree that keeping a customer happy and returning to you for service is the important thing.

I would offer to pay 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of the carpet cleaning. Since this was a year ago, I wouldn't offer any more than that, someone had to walk through the area since you were there, and why didn't anything get tracked before??

Keeping a good customer is HARD work!!!!

good luck!!

Chris

John Abbott

Who is at fault?

When I was young it was important to me to always be right always to win.It didn't occur to me the cost of my victory.As I get older it is more important to me to be profitable.If I can save a profitable customer by paying for something tha wasn't my fault I do it.If it puts money in my pocket I take the blame.We should all be in business to make money if we have to write off some things along the way so be it, it is the bottom line that counts.I call it the cost of doing business or the cost of good will ,look at the big picture before you make a descison.
John

hot_rod

Handle it

how much are we talking. Even $100.00 would be worth her not bad mouthing your company.

Build frivilous (sp) stuff like this into your rate, it gonna happen again.

The blame game will get you no where, and only cause the customer to fume even more.

Put yourself in the customers shoes. What would you want to happen? take the high road, would be my advise.

hot rod

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

Wayco Wayne

Is the customer

worth keeping? It sounds to me she is just looking for someone to blame. Is she of sufficient integrity for you to honor her. Some customers should not be considered worth keeping. Customer pruning is sometimes necessary. I've never regretted leaving some customers behind. There haven't been many but the handful I have let go I have never regretted. (many of them were lawyers.) Always looking to get over on you and get something for nothing. if they don't respect you, you shouldn't let them steal your time and energy. If she is going to make trouble clean her carpets and then don't go back. So many people need you and your talents. You don't need to keep each and every customer. What sense does that make?

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

hot_rod

Let's see if I have this right.

You replaced their water heater a year ago.

Oil Co then came along & cleaned the furnace a few months later.

In yet another few months time, the cable guy comes along and tramples through soot lying somewhere in the mechanical room.

Somehow you get blamed! If that wasn't so crazy, it'd be funny. Why is it you are to blame? The cable company should do the right thing and pay for their mechanic's stupidity.

First thing I'd do is go to the property & inspect the area. I'll bet you'll find the soot did not come from around the water heater & even if it did, it's still the fault of whoever is stupid enough to waltz through the mechanical room & then over the carpet.

Then I'd take the time to explain to the HOs how our mechanics are trained to be clean regarding their work site. Take em to the basement & show them! If they're still hinting that it's your fault, then write em a check & then write em off - you don't need customers who will hold you responsible for others actions who are not in your employ.

Da noive!



To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

GJM

GJM

Unhappy customer

Appears she has received no satisfaction from oil co. or cable firm. You are the only party left, therefore her claim. She is probably bad-mouthing all three parties, but probably still dealing with the other two.
You have evidence to clear your company & agree with Hot Rod that a settlement of $100 is taking the high road. If you pay the whole cost, she will ultimately blame you 100%. Make sure to show her the picture, so she understands your position!

chuck shaw

what i did once,

Was hired the cleaning company myself, told them I didn't want them to clean the whole carpet, just the spot I was accused of causing. If the customer wanted any more of the carpet cleaned, it was between him and the homeowner. He understood where I was comming from. The customer wanted the whole carpet cleaned, he informed her of the arrangement. He charged her for the whole job, and thanked me for the referal. A few months later, I installed a faucet for him, for just the cost of the faucet.

One carpet washes the other

Chuck Shaw

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

hot_rod

The best response

I used was to ask "Mrs. Jones what would it take to make you happy regarding the carpet" Often times they ask for a lot less than you were willing to spend.

I can't imagine even debating the subject, and wasting even more of your time. Arrange to have a carpet cleaner show up at her convience and write it off. A small price to pay in the big scheme of things. Distance yourself from the **** that are too cheap or honest to take care of the problem. How much more time and energy is it worth to prove it probably wasn't your fault? and still end up with a pissed off customer!

Now if the place had burned down... a different approch may be needed

hot rod

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

hot_rod

Lemons into lemonaide...

I'd do a couple of things.

First, do an onsite investigation as recommended by others. Take your digital evidence along. Explain your company cleanliness policy to her and ask her if she has asked the cable company and the fuel company about theirs.

Then, offer to pay for the whole thing in exchange for the names, addresses and telephone numbers of 10 of her best friends that she will tell about the way you handled the situation.

Then call the 10 people and offer to provide them with the same degree of service which you had provided her with. Follow it up with a direct mailing. Take advantage of the situation. Turn lemons into lemonaide!!

We one had a customer who was leaving on vacation and asked that we perform a forcedairectomy on his home while he was away. The first day on the job, my guys notice a terrible odor coming from the garage, but didn't investigate it. They weren't working in the garage, just passing through it.

Two weeks later, when the HO returned, he called us up and said that we had some how caused the circuit breaker serving his freezer full of food in the garage to trip out and had ruined a freezer FULL of meat and other expensive frozen items. We told him that we didn't feel we were responsible, that we hadn't used any of the outlets in the garage and that we had noticed the ripe odor the first day on the job.

We sent a crew over to retreive his putrid freezer, took it to the land fill and emptied it, took it to the car wash and cleaned it as well as we could, took it back to his home and gave him a gift certificate for $500.00 to a local meat market. All in all it cost us less than $1,000.00 out of pocket, and he has since sent his mother-in law, brother-in-law and sister to us for work, ALL of which took our bids no questions asked.

A little good will goes a long way. Just make sure it goes your way and not against you.

ME

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

ScottMP

And thats why I asked the question

I think the high road is the choice here.

At first I would have put up my back and said call the cable guy. I did suggest that it was the cable guys fault, thats pretty obvious, She dos'nt seem to think so, thats one I don't get.

By the way, I did'nt make myself clear. We installed the HWH at the end of Nov. of 2002.

I think the bottom line here is that she can tell everybody how I blew off my responsiblity OR tell everyone what stand up guys we are. She is a teacher at the local High School, so there ie alot of talking that could go on here.

I will call tommorrow and ask her " What would you like to see happen ". I will bring along the photo and explain my company policy, and then pay for cleaning the carpet.

Thanks to all of you. This is why I come here.

Scott

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

Bill_14

Good decision Scott...

Try not to act like you are doing her a favor. Just tell her you are sorry she had to deal with this problem, smile and go on down the road. You will feel better and so will she.

Good things will happen.

Bill

Henry_4

The esteemable John Barba

once said to me, "Henry, if your customer likes what you
have done, he will tell 3 people, if he doesn't, he will tell ten".

Hardly fair, but life none the less. With each customer, if we believed ne plus ultra, it would not matter, however, we all know that everyone is connected, and hopefully, good breeds good. But don't I hate taking my lumps

Henry

hot_rod

timing is everything!

We had a similar experience with a commercial walk-in freezer & it cost us a bundle. Same deal - we had been working on site and they discovered the problem several days later. No way we were the root cause, but timing is everything.

Now, if they'd called me a year later and told me the cable guy tripped over the wiring we'd installed for the A/C equipment (assuming we had installed same correctly), causing the breaker to the freezer to trip and that it was now our responsibility to anti up the $$$$ to restock his walk-in box - uh-uh, no how, no way - that would be the cable guy's responsibility. And I wouldn't go bragging about that if I did because it gives customers a green light for open season on my company. That flat tire suddenly becomes my responsibility a year after we've been at the site? The boiler's gas valve quits a year after we worked on the thermostat & that's my fault? Where do you draw the line once you've set a precedent of bending over for outrageous claims?

I can see the relationship of responsibility in a short term situation fitting the described situation or if the equipment I'd installed was defective or otherwise generating the soot - even for long term extended warranty periods (we've performed warranty work on equipment after it's seen more than five years of use when it is apparent the product is junk - one case alone cost us well over 10G's & we ended up giving them a new boiler in the end). If the oil co was there six months after the gas water heater installation & did a thorough clean & tune - then I have no doubt where the soot came from. If the soot had been there as a result of this gas water heater installation - then where's the sooty foot prints from that installation? Seems to me they'd have created a nice impression that would remain there to this day. A big black circle of soot ground into the dirt or concrete surrounding the water heater.

I've done the same thing too ME & I use those people for references. Nothing speaks more clearly about your great customer service than one who's had a problem product/installation and received prompt attention making things right.

If one of your guys did the same thing, would you take care of the problem or try passing the buck? The cable guy's company is responsible in this case.


To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

Duncan_2

Communication vs. the blame game.

Right you are, about the attitude and spirit of handling the situation, Bill. Hard to do, but an absolute must!

This is a toughie. It sounded to me (after re-reading) that the furnace was replaced in the Spring, and the water heater was replaced after that -Summer-Fall-Winter-, which makes Scott's company the last one handling soot-related equipment. Makes him the logical target, in a way.

I considered Scott's water heater photo, which is good evidence it wasn't him, but not necessarily proof.

Whoever did the furnace install, they (kind of) seem to be off the hook 'cause there were no footprints after their install, but there were, after Scott's. That doesn't necessarily mean it's not the furnaces co.'s soot though.

What confuses me is the oil company's role in this. If it was the oil company that did the furnace install, and they pointed the finger at Scott, I'd be skeptical, know what I mean? It would appear they're pointing the finger at Scott to get themselves off the hook - they'd have something at stake.

But if the oil company is a 'disinterested third party', that's even tougher. I'd have to be a little skeptical regarding the expertise of an oil delivery driver. But he still has common sense. Did he see something the homeowner didn't? Then again... Is it likely the installer and oil company refer work to each other?

Anyway, it's fuzzy whose fault it is, and finger-pointing and the blame game is irrelevant, it's impossible to prove who did it. Other than the obvious - the cable guy.

Consider the outcome... If you pay the carpet cleaning bill, the furnace installers are off the hook. If they did it, they owe you one. That's not THE REASON to do it, but it's a possible outcome.

If they didn't do it, and you pay, you are a stand up guy who is more interested in the customer's satisfaction than anything else.

The waters are muddy. Could be the furnace dude's fault, could be the cable guy's fault, could be your fault.

But if you are the one who's paying, you are the only one who has the spine to make things right. If someone else is indeed responsible. This contrasts you from the other companies.

If it IS your fault, then you're simply doing the right thing.

The only problem I see is that, if you DO pay, that seems to be an admission of guilt, that it IS your fault.

I like Bill and hot rod's and others' approach that the goal is to make her happy, not lay blame. The object is to open channels of communication and establish some understanding, not prove who's right or wrong (I liked the post about 'needing to be right'). You are simply presenting your point of view, not admitting guilt, just exlaining why you think it wasn't your company.

After considering all this, I think I'd go down there with a good strong light and see what evidence you can find. But it's probably all cleaned up now, and you'll find nothing, right? Then show the homeowner the photograph, and explain why you think it wasn't your company, but with the lack of evidence at this point in time, it is simply POSSIBLE it could have been your company, and you want her to be happy with your work, whether you did it or not.

Had to giggle when I looked up GJM's domain and saw it was a cable company! I enjoyed the heck out of the wisdom and insights that came out of this thread. Outstanding!

MURPH'

NO EXTRA CHARGE MAAM.........

As we have instilled new precautions in the company that prevents this from happening in the future. First we make plaster castings of all of our current techs boots, and any future hires in the future. duplicate castings are kept on file at the pentagon in case problems arise at the local level. Insomuch the digital age we will document all carpet upon arrival and then again on departure, digital images will be recorded and stored on our databases and of course in Washington.



Furthermore the tech who done this will have his wages garnished for the next seventy-two months till our companies have been reimbursed for all cost incurred from this dastardly deed, and if there is any funds left over, we will invest in booties for all employees even if they work for the cable co.



Murph' (SOS)

Steve Ebels

Lots of good ideas here

I see this happened a while back and I'm curious as to how it turned out. What was the final outcome on this Scott?

A couple thoughts to follow up with. when we have completed an installation, the standing order is that we don't leave unless the area we worked is cleaner than when we came. This includes vac and mop work. We make sure the customer at least knows we did this and if at all possible, sees us doing the cleanup. This policy came to pass after an incident similar to yours Scotty. We then take the appropriate # of pics for documentation and ask the customer if everything is done to their satisfaction. If it's not then we work at it until it is. Works every time. You wouldn't believe the looks and comments we get from the Mrs. when she sees her basement floor getting mopped.

Earthfire

Can you say\" malpractice insurance\"

The insurance co. says its not your fault Doc. but its cheaper to pay them then fight them. Now the Doc's can't afford the insurance. You pay 6 months later and she tells everybody that your a pattsy and all the shmucks are coming to you .If your guy tracked it or didn't clean up take care of it. She's giving the boiler replacement to the oil company cause she has a service contract & she won't be in the market for a hot water heater for 6 to 8 years.DON'T DO THE CRIME IF YA CAN'T DO THE TIME. DON'T DO THE TIME IF YA DIDN'T DO THE CRIME. JustMHO