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Old 02-17-2005, 06:24 PM   #1 (permalink)
 
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I have this guy that has been tanning at the salon since March of 2004.. He is one of those people that come in and tell you their life story everytime they come in and will talk to you for 30minutes if you let him.. We were always letting him have free upgrades to bigger beds and just went over the top for him b/c he spent so much money at the salon. Well today I get a phone call from one of my girls saying he just called up there cussing at them. His daughter came up there for a spray tan appt, in which she did NOT make. We only do them by appt. and he knew this b/c this was going to be her 3rd one. We already had appts. for tonight and then he wanted his daughter to get it done in the morning. NOT going to happen, since I only have ONE employee working in the mornings. He called back up there after his daughter left and went CRAZY!!!! He was cussing at my girls for approximately 20minutes saying how our work schedule sucks and that he never wants to see any of us again and that whoever runs this place has NO clue what their doing... blah blah blah.. The girls call me and ask me to come up there and of course I jump up and go up there to find out what in the world is going on. I tried to call him 3 times and got his answering machine all 3 times and left 1 message. I'm furious! If he was that mad he should have dealt with me or my owner. I called my owner and told him everything and he was like this guy is NEVER coming back and give him his money back! I was just totally shocked by this situation and never had someone be this angry. I understand people have bad days, but take that to the gym and chill out..
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Old 02-17-2005, 06:36 PM   #2 (permalink)
 
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Get in touch with the guy, explain exactly what happened as you saw it and not how the daughter explained it. Explain to him ONE MORE TIME that spray tans are by appt only and she simply did not have an appt. Then tell him you greatly appreciate his business but if he is going to call employees on the phone and harass them by cussing that you do not want him in the salon again. He will either apologize or not come in again. Some people get crazy over nothing then when they are told that the daughter is to blame they more than apologize. Imagine flowers being sent to your salon or gift certificates for your employees because this guy realized how crazy he was.
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Old 02-17-2005, 10:28 PM   #3 (permalink)
 
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Well I did get in touch with him again later tonight..and oh geez things did NOT go very well.. He went off at me like crazy!! Every other word out of his mouth was "F***" this and "F***" that..He made me cry, but I did not let him know that.. Oh well I did my best to try and fix the situation and I got cussed out.. Oh well.. He is NO longer welcome and my boss is writing him out a check tomorrow for the remainder tanning months and spray tans for his daughter..My boss called him, but of course he did not answer the phone and left him a message saying that he was not welcome and that he needs to leave his employees alone.. Oh well it's all done with
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Old 02-18-2005, 01:30 AM   #4 (permalink)
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I am a Technical Support manager in my day job. I tell all my employees, the moment you start getting abused, the phone call is over. I told them it's their call whether they are courteous enough to tell them the profanity is not tolerated, or just hang up. In one case the guy had been dumb enough to give his name and company at the beginning of the call, before making a physical threat. I had his bosses’ boss on the phone in less than 30 minutes to make sure this was never to be repeated (the benefit of also being over the warranty repairs too...you have all their info).
My point is this...no customer is worth getting abuse. In my opionion, I think your owner was generous to give the money back.

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Old 02-18-2005, 06:34 AM   #5 (permalink)
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Lauren there is one thing in the story i like. Your owner is backing you up not showing you up. Some owners are so concered with losing a dollar they would have acted in a different manner. A manner in which would have made you and your crew look bad. Kudos to the owner.
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Old 02-20-2005, 08:32 PM   #6 (permalink)
 
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definetly agree with top250...some owners go to far for customers, not saying you shouldnt give it your all, but harrassment is alil much.
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Old 02-20-2005, 09:01 PM   #7 (permalink)
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No excuse for being cursed at, however, reacting to it takes poise and a bit of play acting at times. Might want to have a prepared scenario ready with your employees if this kind of thing ever happens again. It's your job to take the situation down, use3 a little conflict resolution techniques and get the level of confrontration down to zero during which you gain the upper hand and remain in full control. I used to watch my Dad (6'3") stare down idiots and have them eating out of his hand in a few moments. I'm only 5'2" but I can usually take a bad situation into either a peeing match faster than I know what to do about or I can calm it down to a laughable situation in which the other person feels embarassed that they brought the subject up. Isn't that the description of the term "grace under fire" ??? It wouldn't hurt to take a few courses in confrontation management and learn or teach how to resolve conflicts so that your employees are empowered. It's more than just being worried about customer service, it's about learning a few of life's little tricks that has served me very well over my lifetime.
I do have one comment to make .... throw the first punch was his philosophy, but if you know you are getting ready to be verbally peeed on, have plenty of TP ready.
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Old 02-21-2005, 02:13 PM   #8 (permalink)
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The customer is always right? Who said that?
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Old 02-21-2005, 02:34 PM   #9 (permalink)
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hey Chopper I might be one of your customers and I am always right of course..hehe

Lauren, I am happy to see that the owner backed you as he did, some cutomers just are not worth the headache as this guy certainly was not.
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Old 02-22-2005, 10:01 AM   #10 (permalink)
 
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You may want to see about attending a a conflict management seminar. If you go to www.seminarinformation.com, you may find one in your area. It may or may not have made a difference with your customer from h*** but may work with others.

Also, be careful that your staff is not unwittingly escalating situations like this. Some coaching may be needed to avoid turning unhappy customers into out-of-control ex-customers. Remember, you got in during the middle. However, you and the owner were absolutely right to let the customer know he was no longer welcome. Verbal abuse of staff just can't be tolerated.
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