Going the wrong direction, Customer Service
I have been hoping my left side lower back pain was going to start feeling better as I need to be able to endure hours of tree trimming on Saturday. This typically is one of the more exhausting annual chores I take on after all. Well instead it seems the needle has moved towards the worsening side of the meter. This morning even with a dosage of Advil in me every step with my left leg on the long walk from the parking garage to the office sent a jolt of pain down that region of my back. Right now it is impossible to walk without a limp. It’s so bad that I am considering not even going to the gym in the hope that doing very little for the next two days allows me to do a lot on Saturday.
I am lucky in my job that I don’t have to deal much with customers as generally speaking, they can be a major pain in the ass. However with the birth of the 3D printed parts store I do have to deal with customers and their problems. More than once I have had people that I have gotten delivery confirmations for tell me they never got the package. Instead of taking the hard line stance and presenting them with a “too bad so sad” answer I have replaced the stands at my expense. Likewise I have had some parts break, likely from abuse, but again I have replaced them on my dime. It aggravates me at first but usually once that passes I come to the hope that putting the good will out there will come back to help me in the future via positive word of mouth.
Almost a month ago I was contacted by some guy in France. Right away I got a bad vibe about him. He refused to send me emails in English, requiring me to translate. One of his earliest emails asked if I could give him a discount for some reason. Sending stands overseas is a big pain in the ass for me and the last thing I was going to do was discount it further. When I told him no discount he whined a bit but then eventually said he wanted to get two stands via another three or four annoying emails. I just knew this guy was a dick based on the communication. I had considered just stopping response to him so he would go away but I did eventually agree to make a custom store item that would allow him to buy the stands.
He was unhappy with the $22.80 it cost to ship them to France but I charge customers what USPS charges me, not my problem. Then he wanted me to tell him what other fees or taxes France would charge for the package. Again, not my problem, I don’t control import taxes. So when he finally places the order he sends me three emails to verify I got the order, despite him immediately being sent an order confirmation from the store. He then wants to know when they will arrive. I told him that is why the tracking information email was sent to him. At this point I just couldn’t stand this guy, I was relieved when his package was dropped off in the mail, good riddance.
So yesterday I get another email from the guy saying the package arrived. He sent me a picture of the parts that he claimed were inside. The 8 bolts that are in their own little plastic bag were not in the picture. He claimed they were missing. I immediately was suspicious as I am certain the bolts were inside when the package was sealed. I disassemble the stands at my desk before packing so all parts are accounted for. I asked him for a picture of the package and asked him if it looked like it had been tampered with. He never sent me the picture. What I did receive was a dispute from Paypal, saying the customer received goods not as described along with a request for a $12 credit, that son of a bitch…
So I email the guy again asking why he filed the dispute. He said because I shorted him eight screws and he also said he didn’t like the packaging of the stands. I had the urge swell up in my neck to reach through the screen and throttle this idiot. Unless somebody opened the package, removed the bolts, and then sealed it back up, this guy was outright lying and using the lie to get that discount he asked for at the very beginning. I considered being a dick and ignoring his Paypal request until the deadline at the end of the month. I instead thought better of it. $12 wasn’t worth the aggravation so I refunded the money, closed the case, and blocked the guys email address so I never have to communicate with him again. Vive la France! Idiot.