enjoy my pain..

[Mikey P]

dear mike - we have been attempting to overlook the scars you (and tony- ultimately) left, but it's very difficult when everyone asks "what happened here?". had the scars been there before or had they been due to something other than' professional floor care', we would have to abide the situation, but of course that's not the case. we admire you for finally admitting that your many skills didn't stretch to terrazzo, even tho' you spent ?5 days attempting to clean it: it went through a couple of stages of un-acceptability, to which we all agreed; you--to your credit--brought in someone you thought could help; he,too, tried his best--and for the most part succeeded within his limitations --unfortunately leaving behind some very visible blemishes. because the damage is just so 'in-your-face', we've decided to cover it with a carpet to stop the endless questions. i write to ask you what is basically an ethical question; " are you willing to fund the acquisition of an 8x10 carpet?" regards, pamela ps in reviewing your web-site, i note you invite the cleaning of terrazzo floor. time for an edit!

dear pamela-let me remind you that i adamantly encouraged you to polish the floor rather than apply a topical sealer to it.i made it very clear that a topical finish would scratch, have dust in it and potentially yellow with age (as your old finish had) and would need to be stripped and reapplied periodically. i showed you how perfect the polished area i tested came out and yet you insisted to go with the topical at a lower cost i might add. please don't forget i stripped, cleaned and sealed the guest bed room at no charge. i recall you saying many times on the day of the estimate that you did not want a "perfect" floor.i'm curious if your visitors are also asking about all the imperfections in the floor that were present before we got involved? the few marks the tony and i could not get out couldn't possibly be showing up more than those dings and chips.considering the amount of time i spent doing something i tried to talk you out of doing. I have applied topical sealers more times that I can count but rarely on a perfectly flat floor with a beautiful ocean view tossing light right down on it, I tired my best but failed. so i called and payed for tony, who has applied enough topical finishes to cover the stat of texas twice in to try his best. it is not like painting a car or house with a spray gun a mop of some sort has to be used we tried different mops and gave it many tries in that area. the same imperfections exist all over the houe but wiht the window there the 'scars" only show up there.ultimately i think that if you were happy enough with the job that your house cleaner did you should never have let me start the work. but i will help find you a killer deal on a 8 x 10 carpet.or I can get you tony's number for you two to talk about running a high speed propane bunisher over that area.( it will melt and level the finish to some degree) but as you've seen with these types of floors/lighting situations when you fix one issue you create another.if you're stuck on the rug idea let me know what you had in mind and i'll try and find you a deal. or we can come back, strip all that damn wax off and polish it like it should have been.
then you'll be telling me that i am a terrazzo connoisseur.....lol!

 

[Askal]

Bottom line: Your offer was generous but they want what they want. If you don't satisfy them they will spread ill will about your company. I recently ran into this with a customer who is a high profile local county administrator. Totally different circumstances but the same unreasonable expectations. I refunded 50% of their charges and they were happy and now are a cheerleader for us. As I see it: It costs us 48.00 to acquire a new customer, I refund 200.00 and they will likely send us work for years to come. Win win. I usually say "What will it take to make you feel that you have been treated fairly/" It is less than you would think and then you have a cheerleader. It's not marketing science, it's just nice. People do business with people not businesses.

Al

 

[amazingcleansc]

customers. If they see milk dripping from a teat, they will squeeze it until they get blood out.

 

[Askal]

No customers =no money
Happy customers= lots of money

 

[dealtimeman]

i think al's on to something!

 

[dgargan]

Been there and it sucks. I learned that when something doesn't look right from the start or a customer is wanting something that goes against your recommendation on a service you need to write it out on the work order and have her sign it. Then there is no he said/she said or I told you so's.
CYA!

 

[Mike Draper]

We cant make everyone happy. Even though we try, sometimes we just have to apologize (even though we did nothing wrong) and move on.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I've been there. A couple of times a whole house of nasty sisel. Told them I couldn't make it look good, only "sanitary". They begged me to try.

You know the rest of the story...

 

[ACE]

No Pictures ?

When it comes down to it especially on a bigger projects, that money back guarantee if not 100% satisfied is much harder to do then put on a website. It’s real easy to take criticisms personally when you are doing the work.

 

[harryhides]

You cannot reason with an emotion and you will overlook low lighting conditions at your peril.

The longer I was in this biz the easier it got to just say "no".

 

[John Olson]

By putting the wax on the floor you own it. By doing what they asked you are saying it is "ok" to do even though you told them not to.Stick to your guns next time.The customer isn't always right.

 

[Nate The Great]

Know when to hold em, know when to fold em. Like Tony, it's easy for me to turndown the job and not let there problem become my problem. I'd stick to my guns like John said. Sorry Al, I understand where you're coming from, but if someone is the way they are, I'd rather not chance having anymore customers like them. That whole birds of a feather, flock together comes to mind. I'd help them find a killer deal on the rug, but make them pay for it or at least split the cost. If I were you, I'd kickmyownass for giving the cheaper option.

 

[alazo1]

This crap has happened a few times to me on hard surfaces. I think no matter how much you explain or write it down people are just thinking they'll get like-new. Makes me think of offering a good, better and best option, maybe it helps the customer understand. Mikey handled it like the pro that he is.

Albert

 

[Brian R]

I had to listen to a customer complain today about being a few hours late. (felt like she was complaining for a few hours) She had a $25.00 off coupon and wanted 6 rooms done for $75.00 for her inconvenience. ugh.

Sometimes you have to just let them go before you get in. I gave the job to another cleaner becuse no matter what, she wasn't going to be happy with us.

My dead retarded brother said one time. "People complain because they love to hear themselves bitch."
Fricken genius.

Edit" Remember to add a really bad stutter to that quote.

Carry on.

 

[Larry Cobb]

First of all some of your references are questionable ....

who has applied enough topical finishes to cover the stat of texas twice

Our state is bigger than that little california.

Second ....,
there are plenty of customers who would accept the job you presented.
You gave her an honest opinion and she accepted the offer.

It didn't work out.

Buy the 8 x 10 and just move on.

Larry

 

[jeff powell]

Buy her a beautiful 8x10 olifin POS.