Another, "How would you handle this...."

[stuart]

Got a call this AM that a customer with a 10 X 14 gazebo had the roof blow off in 70 MPH winds….

I grabbed one of my managers, ladders, some tools and rushed out. The customer has had the spa and Gazebo for 3 months, at the time of delivery they where told to anchor the gazebo to their concrete pad (and noted on the signed contract) but when we got there the first thing we noticed was the gazebo was not anchored and askew on the pad.

After inspection we found several issues;
First, my guys did not put extra screws that we always tell them to put in and in fact left some important screws out and even put a roof panel on wrong however, none of the area where the screws where left out came apart or failed.

Second, the gazebo had been moving around in the wind without anchors or supports and would have probably been fine had the customer anchored it down.

In addition to all of this the original startup kit was setting beside the spa unopened and all of the chemicals untouched. The water in the spa was nasty! Alkaline and PH were both exceptionally low, water smelled horrible, it was foamy and low on water.

The customer was not there so we filled the spa, balanced the water and hit it with a heavy dose of chlorine. We then fixed the gazebo, added extra screws ordered new doors and left a diagram for additional support and how to anchor it.

I feel good about what we did and reprimanded my set up crew that left the screws out (actually fired the crew lead 3 week ago and now he works for the Cal dealer) but question whether the customer should share in the cost of parts and labor. I doubt that we will charge them no matter how bad I want to simply because I think we could have secured it better.

My question is “How would You have handled the situation? If you were the dealer would you have acted in the same way we did or would you have done something else?

BTW, there are still some minor scuffs, scratches and areas that need putty. I’m not inclined at this point to go spend another 2 to 3 hours at no charge to take care of this but will if we have to. My hope is that the customer will take some responsibility and at least do these things….

[newtotubbing]

Not a dealer, but have to ask, if they never added chems to the spa, I am going to assume that they really don't/didn't use it.  I am also going to assume that they could care less about taking care of expensive things they purchase.

If I was that negligent person, knowing that I didn't anchor that gazebo down, knowingthat I haven't taken the time to properly care for my spa, I would'nt be at all surprised to get a bill from you.  In fact, you should charge them for fixing their water too.  But that's me, I'm kinda of a 'take responsibility for your actions/lack of action kind of guy'.  You also said that the screws that were not installed would not have caused this problem, so in my book you are covered.  You did go back and fix that problem, but it was not the cause of the roof blowing off.  They probably wouldn't know that either!

I think it is noble what you did and are doing, but I have to really wonder if they will appreciate what you have just done for them.

Jonathan

[iggythewetcat]

Gee Stuart I’m just a lowly consumer vis a vie spas, but I do work in business. IMHO I think you did a very good job at making a bad situation right. You could have quibbled but you looked at the big picture. I’ve always felt that people that focus on the “long dollar” ultimately do better. I purchased a HS Jetsetter a few months ago. It ain’t big, but it did cost big bucks. I recently realized (with the help of this forum) that my electrician hadn’t moved the three jumpers on the control panel that is part of the 230 conversion. I asked my dealer (rhetorically) if that might be considered a warr issue. Of course he said it wasn’t. I knew it wouldn’t be, I just hoped he would volunteer to fix this small thing that I was hesitant to fool with. His response was, “it’s silly for me to charge you $75 for something you can do yourself.” He’s right, I did do it myself but I would have really appreciated it if he had gone the extra mile (almost literally—he’s about 4 miles away) to help me. I’ve found that my expectation for service is so low these days that people like you stick out like a sore thumb.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Question.... why didn't you initially anchor the gazebo?

The "shortcuts" your crew took sounds like had no effect on the "mishap".

So... what to do? Well, I like to work with what we call the squeal factor. Start talking to the customer about it, explain the situation to them, see what they willing to fess up to, hopefully without embarrassing them. Then work from there..... from my experience...... you grit your teeth, and eat the ENTIRE thing  

As an example. Had a customer that ordered a cover. The shipping company screwed up and as they explained it, they mis-routed the cover. mis-routed mean it went across the country and back. This has happened to us maybe 4 times before. Of the 4, 3 of the covers were damaged... no big deal, the customer refuses delivery, we file an insurance claim with the shipper and generally get a new cover out to the customer in 2 days. So we call the customer and explain it all to him. We tell him about the pervious mis-routed covers and VERY CLEARLY explain he need to CAREFULLY inspect the cover BEFORE signing the delivery receipt. He's ok with all of this and completely understands..... We even call his local freight terminal, and explain things to the dock manager.... you'd think we're all set to go huh?

Well............ the shipping company shows up with the cover, the guy asks the driver if it's in good condition, driver says "I guess so", guy signs for the cover and asks the driver to put it in his truck... SIGHT UNSEEN... Now mind you, signing the delivery receipt is a binding contract that you're accepting the delivery "as is unless noted"...... it says so right below where you sign...... we even told the guy about this...

A few hours later the guy hops in his truck and drives home..... doesn't bother to look at the cover, or the box it was in till the next morning..... care to guess what he sees the next morning? I can tell you this, if you didn't know it was a spa cover you wouldn't know WHAT the heck it was...... sooooooooo, what would YOU do in this situation???

and oh by the way, this is a saga that really did continue..... on and on...... I'll check back before I write chapter 2

[stuart]

We won't assume the responsibility of anchoring the gazebo as we don't want to assume the liability of having their concrete crack or even the chance that the anchors fail. We are not experts there and don't assume to be.

We will advise a customer as to how to anchor a gazebo but there are way to many variables at stake for us to do it. I look at it like the electrical wiring; we will not hook anything to their house!

I'm more than likely going to do just what you said but will have the customer sign something accepting responsibility for anchoring the gazebo down.

[Tman122]

Does the guy have a pile of money? It sounds like it after hearing about the chems and the fact that he just don't give a rip. I see future business. After the warranty period of both the spa and gazebo and whatever else you can sell him by taking care of him.

[wetone]

Would have done the same thing.
Unfortunately it can happen were instructions are provided to a client and they don't follow through. If we get a call for an issue outside of warranty the tech will go out and investigate, the client is informed that it's not covered by warranty but... as a courtesy we will take of the issue once, any future calls for non warranty and/or maintenance related issues will be billed.

This has worked well since we started this policy, the clients are happy and continue to refer there friend to us

Happy New Year everybody

[Chas]

I would:

Learn.

[stuart]

I would:

Learn.

I have often said that there are three kinds of days in this industry;

Money making days, Learning days and days that you hopefully accomplish both....

If it was a day you lost money then make it a learning day! In fact, you can make every day a learning day if you choose to!

[Lori]

I think you did the right thing!  And some of the suggestions you have gotten will help keep this at a minimum!

You are doing a great job Stuart!

[rocket]

Stuart,
We are like mindedwen it comes to customer service.

I would have done the same thing.

I would suggest that you create a bill with what you did and what it have cost if the customer were going to pay so they know just what you did,what the cost would have been and so you get credit for going the exra mile when many others wouldn't,

[stuart]

Stuart,
We are like mindedwen it comes to customer service.

I would have done the same thing.

I would suggest that you create a bill with what you did and what it have cost if the customer were going to pay so they know just what you did,what the cost would have been and so you get credit for going the exra mile when many others wouldn't,

Now that's a Great idea rocket!

Thanks!

[CaliforniaDave]

Stuart, coming from a customers view - are you located near Riverside CA? If so, let me know and you are my dealer! Including all the people I talk to!

You did right. But I do think you missed something. Looks like they won't take care of the water for what ever reason. Do you have a service that can do it for them? Or know of someone that will? If that person is willing to spend that amount of money (spa and gazebo) and not take care of them, then they have money to spend on having someone keep it up for them.

My current dealer has a person that comes out to our house to sell us our chemicals, and checks the water at that time for us. I know she will come when I call, but the idea that she could stop by and check on the tub every month or so would give her a chance to sell us something else (such as the jets I replaced) and make sure our spa is at the best when other people see it.

Just a thought....

[empolgation]

Riverside? you should contact Mendocino101... he'll treat you right

[stuart]

Riverside? you should contact Mendocino101... he'll treat you right

He's right, Mendo and I stay in pretty constant contact since he decided to set up a Marquis Dealership. I would say that he would handle most situations about like we do....