Now, I offerred her a complete refund (two and a half years after the job was done), but she refused and said she was going to hire an attorney, complain to her insurance company, etc.
If she did speak to an attorney, the attorney probably told her... oh... that a full refund is pretty much as good as you can ever do in any matter like this. So, after a couple more months, she called to say she now wanted the refund that she had previously rejected.
If the business were still kicking butt, I'd probably have just paid it, but frankly, this customer was such a pain in the rear, and was so unbelievably rude and unreasonable, I just wasn't in the mood. Told her that while reviewing her contract in anticipation of dealing with her attorney, that I discovered she was outside her warranty period and that we weren't going to do anything about a claim about a defect of workmanship that is brought to us over 2 years after the work was done.
(This really is true. In 8 years of business, we've never really had a situation like this. Certainly never over work we did 2 years prior. So, I had to be reminded of the warranty terms in our standard T&Cs.)
You hate to be this way. On the one hand, a businessperson needs to do all they can to keep customers happy. However, if this woman was already trashing us to her insurance company, she already removed any incentive we could ever have to give her what she wanted despite the fact that we were completely in the right.
The other reality is that a businessperson can't let every idiot with a bogus gripe take a pile of money out of the business. I heard a saying a long time ago, that I truly do believe: if you can't look a grown adult in the eye and tell them "no, you're wrong", then you can't possibly run a small business.
So, today, I get forwarded this e-mail by an employee:
We have a new employee working at our agency and her name is (customer).
(Customer) lives in (city) and when I was reviewing her home insurance policy
with her we got in a discussion regarding sewer back up. She explained
her experience with (my company) when she had a loss 2 years ago ( I
believe??). Her company,xxxx, paid out the max on the policy of
$10,000 and there was a problem with the contractors that fixed her tile
floor. The contractor had to come back a few times to fix the problem and
it would continue to occur.
According to (customer), she spoke with someone at your company and they told
her they would send her the $600 and she could hire someone else to finish
the work. When they looked up her records the person stated the job was
done so long ago that they were not responsible any longer. None of this
sounds right to me and I thought I would start with you to see if you
could research and see if there is more to the story that what I am being
told.
(some other guy) of (some other company) was in our office that same day and
stated to me that he believes in doing the work until it is finished
right. I would assume your company would do the same? Please do what you
can to let us know if you can still be of help to (customer). Thanks for
your time.
(insurance agent)
The best compliment our agency can receive is a referral.
Ask me for a LIFE INSURANCE quote today!
We have a new employee working at our agency and her name is (customer).
(Customer) lives in (city) and when I was reviewing her home insurance policy
with her we got in a discussion regarding sewer back up. She explained
her experience with (my company) when she had a loss 2 years ago ( I
believe??). Her company,xxxx, paid out the max on the policy of
$10,000 and there was a problem with the contractors that fixed her tile
floor. The contractor had to come back a few times to fix the problem and
it would continue to occur.
According to (customer), she spoke with someone at your company and they told
her they would send her the $600 and she could hire someone else to finish
the work. When they looked up her records the person stated the job was
done so long ago that they were not responsible any longer. None of this
sounds right to me and I thought I would start with you to see if you
could research and see if there is more to the story that what I am being
told.
(some other guy) of (some other company) was in our office that same day and
stated to me that he believes in doing the work until it is finished
right. I would assume your company would do the same? Please do what you
can to let us know if you can still be of help to (customer). Thanks for
your time.
(insurance agent)
The best compliment our agency can receive is a referral.
Ask me for a LIFE INSURANCE quote today!
To which I responded:
Greetings, (agent).
I hope this e-mail finds you well.
I hope this e-mail finds you well.
(employee) forwarded me your e-mail. Here are the details as best I remember them. I'm at home at the moment, so I'm working from memory, here.
The work we did for (customer) was late 2009. She had a water damage in her basement.
We dried the basement, but unfortunately, when we went to replace the press-and-stick tiles, they would not adhere due to abnormal moisture in her floor.
We left dehumidifiers and fans in her basement for about a week longer, without charge, but still could not get the floor dry enough that it could take the tile.
This was during the Winter, and we decided that our best course of action was to wait until warmer months when the basement floor might be drier. (The ground would thaw and any potential frozen water in her foundation drain that might be keeping water under her basement floor could then flow.)
We tried again, approximately six months later. After again drying her basement for several days (free of charge), we applied industrial adhesive and the tiles finally stuck.
(customer) called us more than two years after her tiles were put in place. There are reasons for time limits on warranties. In this case, we simply have no way of knowing what happened during the two years in-between, including the possibility that her basement may have flooded again. We simply don't know.
We had one of our employees examine the basement, and it still continued to exhibit a higher than normal degree of wetness (two and a half years after the water damage she called us for). We informed Ms. (customer) that her basement was abnormally wet, despite the presence of what appears to be a bee-dry or other similar system.
The wet condition is still present to this day. At that time (approximately March of this year), I offerred (customer) a refund of the amount we had charged. She rejected that offer and said that if we did not return and fix her basement, that she was going to contact an attorney and complain to her insurance company about us.
In preparation for litigation, we reviewed the terms of her contract with us, and yes, she was outside her warranty period. Not just by a matter of a few months, but she waited almost 2 years after she claims she saw a problem to inform us of it. The terms of her contract require her to inform us within 60 days of completion of work.
Given that she was so utterly unreasonable with us when we attempted to resolve this matter in her favor earlier, we simply were in no mood to be overly generous with her once she exhausted her other options and then came back to try and accept the offer she had previously rejected.
I would like to thank you for contacting us, though, as it has reminded me of a task that I've been ignoring. I still have my personal homeowner's policy with your agency, despite the fact that I can't remember the last time you referred a claim to us. I'm sure you have your reasons, and I'm sure they're valid. However, I am sure, as a businessperson, you can understand that our first loyalties must be to support those businesses that support us.
Please cancel my homeowner's policy effective June 30, 2012.
(Signed Me)
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