Bad Apple Friday (FFFC)
Apr 10, 2015 14:18:46 GMT -5
Post by SheilaTheTank on Apr 10, 2015 14:18:46 GMT -5
FFFC: I work for a high end service company. Most of our customers spend a minimum of $5,000 on their patio furniture and our services are priced accordingly. When I have an especially obnoxious/rude customer who tries to haggle or argue on price, I look up the value of their house on Zillow to see if they are just being cheap.
The service industry is one that is inherently open for negotiation in most cases, and many times people get completely jipped by not trying to negotiate a price down.
This just screams "I'm judging you based off of what I *think* I know about you," without actually knowing anything about them.
Just because someone lives in an expensive house, or even has expensive things, doesn't mean they're rich. You have no clue what their circumstance is.
ETA Crap I'm sorry Siggy Warning
We must remain competitive so we do not have much wiggle room unlike a retailer who actually sells the furniture. Most retailers will mark up the product at least 50-70%. Add in the cost of gas, tolls, vehicle cost and maintenance, office space, labor, utilities, and materials and we work on 15-20% margins.
So you're saying that we need to discount our prices because someone is whining that it costs to much to fix their furniture? If they wanted a discount they should have haggled more with the sales rep who sold them the furniture. When my guys are out in 90 degrees and 85% humidity all day in the summer to fix your $5,000 table, they should get paid accordingly. I may not know their circumstances but I'm sure as hell not going to put up with them bitching at my staff on the phone because they are too cheap to pay for our service. Sorry, but I'm going to judge the fuck out of those people.
ETA: extra sentence that didn't make sense.