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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Weird customer service

46 replies

Petportraits · 29/10/2020 14:15

I needed my lead flashings replaced around my dorma windows. I contacted a lot of roofers and found a good one - I got a date which was 8 weeks away, as they were a good company with good reviews I decided to wait and go with them. All other roofers had similar availability but were not as well rated. A few days before the agreed date I got a phone call saying the work would start 4 days later than expected, I explained that was ok but I wouldn’t be happy if the work didn’t start on the newly agreed date. I was assured that the work would start 4 days after the date agreed (they made me sign work contracts prior with the initial date and lots of warnings about my right to cancel and my legal obligations to honour the contract). I said I was ok with one pushback but I am eager to get work done as I had been waiting 8 weeks and I was conscious of wet weather forecast. The water had been entering through a gap between the lead and the slate and tracking across the beam so I have brown water stains in my dining room. However, the day before the second date I got another phone call saying the work will start a week after the first initial date. I expressed I was not happy with this, we had agreed a date why has it been delayed twice and why assure me after the first reschedule that there would be no more rescheduling. I got a lot of excuses - they are working on an open roof etc. I explained that someone else’s roof wasn’t my concern, I am only interested in my job - I have water coming in through the gap. I explained I was told explicitly that it wouldn’t be delayed again and I asked how can I be sure they won’t push back a third time. I was told that I wouldn’t and this inconvenience would be reflected in the price. I never asked for a discount, the receptionist suggested this more than once. I asked her to clarify what she meant as she was just saying ‘sorry, this will be reflected.’ She couldn’t tell me how much discount but it was established there would be a discount. The work was carried out a week after the agreed date and 9 weeks after initial booking. I called up for a new invoice as the invoice I had was incorrect and had the wrong dates on it. I was told abruptly I would not get a discount. I hadn’t even mentioned the discount as I was pleased with the work and glad it was watertight. The way the receptionist told me made me really annoyed, I only asked for a reissued invoice and she said ‘we will not be a discount on the bill’ and kept talking over me telling me the delay was due to covid, she had worked there for thirteen years and in that time it is not their policy to discount . I stopped her to tell her I never even mentioned discount but since she brought it up why did her colleague (her supervisor) tell me it would be reflected. She said she doesn’t know and they would need to be clearer about the way they say things. I said I had been given the wrong information three times and they have a really bad attitude, almost accusing me of trying to get a discount when I hadn’t even said anything and it was them a week ago who told me about this ? Now thinking about it i’m a bit annoyed at the way she spoke to me and the misinformation given. Why offer something and then be really rude about it a week after? What should I say? She is a really annoying lady who interrupts and talks over me. When the person first answered phone I explained who I was and I needed an invoice - she must have passed me on to her and said that’s the lady wanting a discount or something to that effect and when she came on she immediately started a tirade about how there will be no money off. That ruffled my feathers as I hadn’t even called about that? What would you think about this? The roof engineers were amazing, it’s the receptionists that are so rude? The lady who said about the date being set back twice would be reflected is off for a few weeks. I asked her colleague why did she say that if it’s not commonplace to offer discounts. She said she did not know and the person is off for a few weeks but left a note on my invoice saying no discount? Seems like they got me to sign a work contract so I couldn’t pull out but they seem to get away with rearranging planned date twice and lying to customers?
Yabu - people say stuff they don’t mean, it doesn’t matter
Yanbu - unprofessional response

OP posts:
LolalovesLondon · 29/10/2020 15:09

The longer you have water coming in the more chance of rot and damp setting in

I would have asked them to put a temporary cover on at the start.

ZeroFuchsGiven · 29/10/2020 15:13

It sounds like wires were crossed when you rang up for a 'new' invoice, If someone called me asking for a 'new' invoice and stating it was incorrect I would possibly assume they were after a discount.

LolalovesLondon · 29/10/2020 15:14

Sorry if it sounds entitled but I don’t care about someone else’s job- i am looking at the drips coming through my ceiling and looking out at more rain pouring down. Maybe I should have said it was ok, I’ve waited 9 weeks so take your time?!

What have you done in the 9 weeks you have been waiting? Has it not rained?
TBH, the people who are having their job completed at the moment ( and no doubt delayed because of the same rain you have had) don’t care about your job either.

ZeroFuchsGiven · 29/10/2020 15:15

@UsernameN0Tavailable

I expressed I was not happy with this, we had agreed a date why has it been delayed twice and why assure me after the first reschedule that there would be no more rescheduling. I got a lot of excuses - they are working on an open roof etc. I explained that someone else’s roof wasn’t my concern, I am only interested in my job

From your first post this is the bit that came across as entitled. If you've then had another phone conversation where you've got your wires crossed about what she meant about 'reflected in the bill' and kept asking her to clarify what she meant then I can see why they weren't that friendly with you when you phoned about the invoice and presumed you were wangling for a discount.

Exactly this!
Petportraits · 29/10/2020 15:25

@LolalovesLondon

The longer you have water coming in the more chance of rot and damp setting in

I would have asked them to put a temporary cover on at the start.

It maybe wouldn’t have been possible as it was the lead flashing so awkward angle maybe? They never suggested it but I guess that would have been less stressful. To be honest they didn’t seem to care, they knew I had water coming in
OP posts:
Petportraits · 29/10/2020 15:33

@LolalovesLondon

Sorry if it sounds entitled but I don’t care about someone else’s job- i am looking at the drips coming through my ceiling and looking out at more rain pouring down. Maybe I should have said it was ok, I’ve waited 9 weeks so take your time?!

What have you done in the 9 weeks you have been waiting? Has it not rained?
TBH, the people who are having their job completed at the moment ( and no doubt delayed because of the same rain you have had) don’t care about your job either.

I put buckets under the drips and towels under the buckets and hoped 8 weeks would pass quickly. Getting an additional week added on was not ok. I was ok with one push back but when they called and said there would be another delay when they said there wouldn’t that made me wonder if there would be a third push back
OP posts:
Petportraits · 29/10/2020 15:33

So 6 people so far would be ok with the pushbacks and the promised discount that never appeared

OP posts:
Maddison12 · 29/10/2020 15:36

YANBU I wouldn't be happy with this at all, I know delays happen sometimes but they assured you it wouldn't happen again then it did.
Nobody should be offering discounts they can't follow through with.
I would be contacting manager/ owner, don't be fobbed off.

ZeroFuchsGiven · 29/10/2020 15:36

@Petportraits

So 6 people so far would be ok with the pushbacks and the promised discount that never appeared
So this was indeed about getting a discount?
Petportraits · 29/10/2020 15:36

@ZeroFuchsGiven

It sounds like wires were crossed when you rang up for a 'new' invoice, If someone called me asking for a 'new' invoice and stating it was incorrect I would possibly assume they were after a discount.
As explained it was for the dates. The work contract stipulates that payment needs to be made 7 days after work, the date in contract was original date. I had signed this. I wanted to pay a relevant invoice with correct dates as 7 days from the original invoice was the day the work started and I wasn’t paying on the day they started.
OP posts:
Petportraits · 29/10/2020 15:38

@Maddison12

YANBU I wouldn't be happy with this at all, I know delays happen sometimes but they assured you it wouldn't happen again then it did. Nobody should be offering discounts they can't follow through with. I would be contacting manager/ owner, don't be fobbed off.
Thank you! From some posts here I thought I was being unreasonable but I know if I behaved like this in my work there would be consequences
OP posts:
Petportraits · 29/10/2020 15:39

Nope please read about the contract stating I had seven days to pay from original date. I needed an invoice with the correct date

OP posts:
ZeroFuchsGiven · 29/10/2020 15:48

As explained it was for the dates. The work contract stipulates that payment needs to be made 7 days after work, the date in contract was original date. I had signed this. I wanted to pay a relevant invoice with correct dates as 7 days from the original invoice was the day the work started and I wasn’t paying on the day they started

So you received the invoice 7 days before the work was carried out?

edwinbear · 29/10/2020 15:57

YANBU OP, trades are notoriously unreliable. I've just had a dreadful experience with an electrician who failed to show when he said he'd quote and didn't let me know he wasn't coming, then said I'd have my quote in 2 days and got shirty when I chased it up after 5, asked him when he could start and now he's ignoring me. Presumably he's had more lucrative jobs come in but doesn't have the balls to tell me he no longer wants the work.

The entire industry have very poor professional standards, it's par for the course to be generally unreliable and mess customers about with excuse after excuse. I know of no other sector where this level of service would be considered acceptable, but, I just have to keep telling myself this is how trades operate to try and manage my own expectations.

Riv12345 · 29/10/2020 16:02

Is this quite a well known company by any chance??

Brefugee · 29/10/2020 16:03

if you ever have this kind of problem again you can try to get it in writing, from the beginning that delays over X days after the agreed start date will lead to a Y% reduction in the final bill.

What did you want to get changed on the invoice?

Petportraits · 29/10/2020 16:05

@ZeroFuchsGiven

As explained it was for the dates. The work contract stipulates that payment needs to be made 7 days after work, the date in contract was original date. I had signed this. I wanted to pay a relevant invoice with correct dates as 7 days from the original invoice was the day the work started and I wasn’t paying on the day they started

So you received the invoice 7 days before the work was carried out?

I received a work contract with the price and the VAt and had conditions that I couldn’t cancel within a certain time frame and I needed to pay within 7 days of date of work - which was wrong.
OP posts:
Petportraits · 29/10/2020 16:50

@Riv12345

Is this quite a well known company by any chance??
I don’t think so - it’s a Company based in a large scottish city
OP posts:
Petportraits · 29/10/2020 16:51

Thank you for all the replies. At the end of the day the work got done to a good standard and I had agreed to the price. I just thought her customer service was really odd and defensive. It’s like being offered a complimentary drink and then snatching it back off you and being insulted you would take it. (Not that I took the discount - they were just clear in telling me that this had been rescinded)

OP posts:
LolalovesLondon · 29/10/2020 18:20

It’s really frustrating and her defensive manner isn’t helpful. The best way they could have dealt with this sort of thing would have been to empathise with the customer, apologise and explain truthfully what has happened. Offer a discount if you can.
They need some training obviously.
They also shouldn’t promise a date they are not likely to keep.

nikkylou · 29/10/2020 18:33

Yanbu. I wouldn't have been massively upset about the delay... but I think I can be a bit...passive sometimes about these things. Or go full cutting of my nose to spite my face...and just cancelling.

Regarding the discount, possibly call back when the person is back in and confirm if you can get it. No harm in trying.

Petty me says to use the phrase 'don't worry, this will be reflected in my review' if they start arguing...

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