ANOTHER STUPID CUSTOMER CALL

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

OK, yesterday a guy calls and asks if i have a wheel for his car, gives me size, make, model & year. So i look it up
in my computer and describe to him what i believe the wheel to be, he wasn't sure had to check and call me back.
Well he calls me back and says it is 6 spoke not the 5, i look it up again can't find what he is saying so i ask is it the
original wheel he then says no which he new the whole time but didn't bother to tell me. I ask what it is from he doesn't know, i ask can i get a photo, he can't send one. He then asks if i have anything to fit his car i tell him we have a steel wheel. Now here comes another stupid thing, the guy asks do i ever get out to where he is, i ask him where is that, then he says over the bridge. Well in LONG ISLAND, so named because it is an island there are 3 bridges. He never said the county or town even after i asked him. This is the stupid i deal with everyday.

What some of you may not get is he gives me car info including wheel diameter and width but doesn't tell me it is not
a factory wheel. How the heck does this guy think i am going to match it without the RIGHT information?!

[wyliec]

OK, yesterday a guy calls and asks if i have a wheel for his car, gives me size, make, model & year. So i look it up
in my computer and describe to him what i believe the wheel to be, he wasn't sure had to check and call me back.
Well he calls me back and says it is 6 spoke not the 5, i look it up again can't find what he is saying so i ask is it the
original wheel he then says no which he new the whole time but didn't bother to tell me. I ask what it is from he doesn't know, i ask can i get a photo, he can't send one. He then asks if i have anything to fit his car i tell him we have a steel wheel. Now here comes another stupid thing, the guy asks do i ever get out to where he is, i ask him where is that, then he says over the bridge. Well in LONG ISLAND, so named because it is an island there are 3 bridges. He never said the county or town even after i asked him. This is the stupid i deal with everyday.

What some of you may not get is he gives me car info including wheel diameter and width but doesn't tell me it is not
a factory wheel. How the heck does this guy think i am going to match it without the RIGHT information?!

I thought you were da wheel man. Sorry, I got that confused with the best rim job.

[ofdave]

and he probably can't make change either, without using the cash register

[Chupaca]

They add spice to life... you could write a book with all these little fun facts of dealing with Joe public....

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

it's just those kind of people slow me down from getting other work done and i am very serious when i say these
are people who drive and may actually have a license, how scary is that.

[ThreeWheels]

[cptjam]

Must be one of those immigrant, atheist, liberal, welfare-taking, anti-gun peace-niks that plague the planet.

Where did that come from? Yikes!

[UtahPete]

Where did that come from? Yikes!

Sorry, it was meant to be tongue-in-cheek.

[TicketBait]

OK, yesterday a guy calls and asks if i have a wheel for his car, gives me size, make, model & year. So i look it up
in my computer and describe to him what i believe the wheel to be, he wasn't sure had to check and call me back.
Well he calls me back and says it is 6 spoke not the 5, i look it up again can't find what he is saying so i ask is it the
original wheel he then says no which he new the whole time but didn't bother to tell me. I ask what it is from he doesn't know, i ask can i get a photo, he can't send one. He then asks if i have anything to fit his car i tell him we have a steel wheel. Now here comes another stupid thing, the guy asks do i ever get out to where he is, i ask him where is that, then he says over the bridge. Well in LONG ISLAND, so named because it is an island there are 3 bridges. He never said the county or town even after i asked him. This is the stupid i deal with everyday.

What some of you may not get is he gives me car info including wheel diameter and width but doesn't tell me it is not
a factory wheel. How the heck does this guy think i am going to match it without the RIGHT information?!

Imagine if everyone asked for the wheel from the stock car they were driving,
The company wouldn't need you, just "Siri" or "Alexa", (unfortunately we are not to far from that)
maybe next time ask more questions and don't assume like a robot would.

There are always two sides to a story, but I really was amused how you explained the dialogue between both of you

[BajaRon]

Don't even get me started on this subject. I've got a huge number of these. But here are 2.

I used to list a lot of motorcycle riding apparel on eBay. Jacket, pants, helmets, etc. In those days there wasn't any reference to the actual item that the customer was inquiring about like there is now. Keep in mind that my listings have a great deal of information on each item including, at a minimum, pictures of the front and back.

Customer 1: What Color is this jacket?

Me: I list a number of jackets. Can you tell me which one?

Customer 1: The Red One!

Shortly after this conversation I get another jacket question from a completely different customer.

Customer 2: What is this jacket made of?

Me: I list a number of jackets. Can you tell me which one?

Customer 2: The leather one!

These were serious questions in their minds. And no, I don't remember if either of them purchased the item.

Just part of it folks. But these people drive, work and probably vote.

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

Imagine if everyone asked for the wheel from the stock car they were driving,
The company wouldn't need you, just "Siri" or "Alexa", (unfortunately we are not to far from that)
maybe next time ask more questions and don't assume like a robot would.

There are always two sides to a story, but I really was amused how you explained the dialogue between both of you

It was the way he gave me all the info i thought he knew what he was talking about, it was my mistake to assume.
ok bob, tell us why we should never assume.

[vided]

Ever get a call saying "there's a kapluck kapluck thud" sound at 35 mph.
can you fix it?

[ARtraveler]

What happened to: the customer is always right? And, without customers you would not have a business?

I was in retail for over 30 years. I had a day or two like that myself. But towards the end of the game, I tried to make all of them happy. When someone came through the door angry, I did my best to make sure they had a smile on their face when they left. I turned it into a game where when they were happy--I won.

Can I reiterate an amusing story about customer service?

We had visitors from the lower 48. We were showing them some of the sights. We headed down to the Kenai Peninsula and by the time we got to Moose Pass we decided to stop for some lunch. The restaurant I liked was closed for remodeling. That left only one other. It is necessary that I mention these folks were from Lake Minnetonka in the Minneapolis suberbs (as in lots of money). She a stockbroker and he an entrepreneur.

The restaurant was an old house turned into a restaurant. The cat had no problem walking through the room at will. The homemade BBQ sign was what drew us. The restaurant was empty except for us. As the four of us entered, the lone service person (the owner) was heard uttering: O, F _ _ _ !, customers. The look on the stockbroker was absolutely priceless. No menus either. They had two or three "plates of the day". Turns out the food was good, and the experience was truly Alaskan. When the other restaurant re-opened they were gone in a flash.

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

first off the customer is not always right and usually doesn't even know what they are talking about, this is a fact. i
have to talk to them for a minute or 2 to even understand what they are saying. it is usually a daily occurrence that
they walk in the wrong store. i daily have people ask for a wheel lock when they mean a wheel lock key.
if the customer were always right i would have to do the wrong service or sell them the wrong item.

[BajaRon]

first off the customer is not always right and usually doesn't even know what they are talking about, this is a fact. i
have to talk to them for a minute or 2 to even understand what they are saying. it is usually a daily occurrence that
they walk in the wrong store. i daily have people ask for a wheel lock when they mean a wheel lock key.
if the customer were always right i would have to do the wrong service or sell them the wrong item.

I know some people (customer or not) can get to you. But you have to let it go.

Life is all about the plenty of good people you meet. When you focus on them, the rest fade into the distance.

It's all good!

[jcaburto]

The customer IS always right. Even if they're not, that's how we are supposed to make them feel in the end so that we make sure they come back.
I've encountered lots of servers and business owners who make it a confrontation from the get go and so those are the places I just don't come back to.
My motto as a customer service rep is "treat others the way you'd like to be treated". It has saved me lots of frustrations and close my day feeling good about myself.
My own boss calls customers stupid after they hang up, I have taken calls from people complaining about the way my boss treated them.
I'm not trying to lecture any one. Just my two cents.

[IGETAROUND]

Don't even get me started on this subject. I've got a huge number of these. But here are 2.

I used to list a lot of motorcycle riding apparel on eBay. Jacket, pants, helmets, etc. In those days there wasn't any reference to the actual item that the customer was inquiring about like there is now. Keep in mind that my listings have a great deal of information on each item including, at a minimum, pictures of the front and back.

Customer 1: What Color is this jacket?

Me: I list a number of jackets. Can you tell me which one?

Customer 1: The Red One!

Shortly after this conversation I get another jacket question from a completely different customer.

Customer 2: What is this jacket made of?

Me: I list a number of jackets. Can you tell me which one?

Customer 2: The leather one!

These were serious questions in their minds. And no, I don't remember if either of them purchased the item.

Just part of it folks. But these people drive, work and probably vote.

And of course Ron none of us on this forum are ever like the above individuals with inane questions; RIGHT

[canamjhb]

Many years ago when I first moved to Arid-Zone-A I had a blonde girlfriend. Not to sound too offensive, but she was blonde from ear to ear. One night she went to visit a friend. Got lost on the way home so she called me. Her; "How do I get home" Me; "where are you" Her; "I don't know". Me; "can you see any street signs or landmarks". Her; "No, I just don't know where I am". Me; "It's hard for me to tell you how to get home from where you are when I don't know where you are". Her; "never mind" Click. After two more phone calls she finally found her way home. Sheeesh Hope she got better.......

[BajaRon]

And of course Ron none of us on this forum are ever like the above individuals with inane questions; RIGHT

You are absolutely correct! I never get a 'Stupid' question from a Spyder owner!!!

But seriously. The best time to ask is BEFORE you buy. Guessing rarely gets you where you want to go.

I don't expect the average Spyder owner to know everything. I've been doing this a long time and I certainly don't know it all.

Some have asked about spark plug wires for their 1330. Some don't know which transmission filter they have, or how a sway bar works. I learned these things from someone else. And I'm glad they took the time to educate me.

I'm not here to make anyone feel foolish. I'm here to help anyone interested in understanding their machine better. I want them to know more when they hang up than they did when they called. And so do they. A community helps each other. I never want someone to hang up wishing that they had never called.

If I can help. I'm glad to do it.

[ARtraveler]

You are absolutely correct! I never get a 'Stupid' question from a Spyder owner!!!

But seriously. The best time to ask is BEFORE you buy. Guessing rarely gets you where you want to go.

I don't expect the average Spyder owner to know everything. I've been doing this a long time and I certainly don't know it all.

Some have asked about spark plug wires for their 1330. Some don't know which transmission filter they have, or how a sway bar works. I learned these things from someone else. And I'm glad they took the time to educate me.

I'm not here to make anyone feel foolish. I'm here to help anyone interested in understanding their machine better. I want them to know more when they hang up than they did when they called. And so do they. A community helps each other. I never want someone to hang up wishing that they had never called.

If I can help. I'm glad to do it.

You for sure have the right "customer service" attitude. It's not always going to turn out right--but when the business owner goes out of his way to make the customer happy--IMO--that is what it is all about.

Sometimes it even costs us an extra buck or two--but someone going out the door angry can do untold damage to the business. They usually tell about 10 others and embellish the story well in their favor. That is the kind of negative reports that are very hard to undo.

Serving customers is an art--IMO.

[Netminder]

I work in desktop support in IT for the Canadian gov't. A lot of my younger co-workers complain that clients do not have a clue. Me I learned this stuff later in life and was not born with a mouse in my hand, and try to make the clients feel that they have learned something after I have shown them a solution. I find client services is greatly lacking these days, most times I would rather deal online as I find it better there. There is a reason we are in our professions and should be happy to provide our knowledge to the clients, so they come away with a good feeling. No they are not always right, but at least we can make them feel like they have been treated well. JMHO.

[ofdave]

And of course Ron none of us on this forum are ever like the above individuals with inane questions; RIGHT

and better yet, none of us on this forum ever have inane answers either, right?

[Bob Denman]

These calls always make for the best dinner table stories!

[JKMSPYDER]

Hearing stories like this makes me proud that we have site sponsors like Lamont, Spyderpops, Reggie at TricLed, BajaRon and many others. I am a rudimentary Spyder mechanic and have called various sponsors from time to time to ask questions about what product I need or how to install it. I have always been treated courteously and have never been made to feel stupid. All the sponsors I have dealt with have been top notch. I have even called Joe Meyer at Squared Away with questions about my Spyder that had nothing to do with alignment. He was always helpful and never acted like I was bothering him. I wish all retailers were like our sponsors.😁😁👍👍

[Bob Denman]

Amen, and Halleluiah!