Last Saturday afternoon about 30 minutes from closing time one of my staff comes to me about this customer on the phone whose brand new Toshiba laptop isn't working. Apparently he had just bought this laptop, it wasn't working, and demanded a refund. All major refunds need to be approved by a manager, so they wanted me to talk to him. I pick up the call...
Me: Good Afternoon ****, this is ****
SC: You the manager there?
Me: Yes
SC: Right, I bought a brand new Toshiba laptop from you, and I've just started setting it up, it's not working, so I want a refund.
Me: Ok, what's the problem with it?
SC: [yelling] I just bleeping told you, It's not working, so I'll tell you what's going to happen. I live in **** [a town about 3 hours away], I'm leaving now for **** so I'll be there about 7:30, and when I get there, you are going to give me a cash refund.
Me: I'm sorry sir, but the store closes at 5.
SC: I bleeping know you close at 5. But I just told you I will be there at 7:30 and you will give me the refund when I get there. That means you are going to stay back and give me my refund. got it?
Me: No, I'm sorry sir, but I can't do that, the store closes at 5PM, and it is actually locked by security guards. I don't have a key, so I couldn't stay back even if I wanted to.
SC: Well bleeping take the cash home with you and I'll meet you at your house.
Me: [starting to get angry at his demands] That is absolutely not going to happen, you will have to visit the store during normal opening hours.
SC: No, I am going to **** tonight, and you are bleeping well going to give me my refund tonight or there will be trouble, got it?
Me: Ok, that sounded like a threat. Don't threaten me, or this will become a police matter. You will need to visit the store during normal operating hours. That is the end of the story, and if you want to argue with me further on this I will simply terminate this call.
SC: [pauses - maybe starting to realise I'm not going to bow to his demands] So if I come in tomorrow morning, I will see you and you will give me my cash refund?
Me: Well, I'm not actually working tomorrow, but if I can get a few details I'll be able to leave a message for the duty manager tomorrow, to let him know I've authorised it. If I can start with the purchase date please.
SC: I told you it's bleeping brand new, I only started setting it up today.
Me: [As it happened I already had today's PC sales report on my terminal, none were for this customer's town so I had a fair bet it wasn't bought today] Ok, but what day did you actually purchase it?
SC: I just bleeping well told you I only started setting it up today.
Me: Ok, so you bought it this morning? yesterday?
SC: No, in October but that's irrelevant I only started setting it up today.
Me: Oh, well that changes things a bit. The warranty terms are that we can only return a computer within 14 days of purchase, outside that period it has to go for warranty repair.
SC: Thats not bleeping good enough, I buy a new computer and I expect it to work.
Me: Sir, it's 4 months old, if you called me about this 4 months ago I could give you the refund, but it is now within the repair warranty period. We can't give a refund on such an old machine. What's the actual problem with it, because it may be a very quick repair?
SC: It comes up with an error message that Vista isn't installed correctly and then it reboots, and it keeps doing that.
I recognise this immediately. It is a common problem with Toshiba laptops if the first power on is done on battery only. The battery goes flat half way through the inititial configuration, resulting in the described fault when it is turned back on.
Me: Ahh, ok, that's quite an easy one, it's because the first time you turned it on, you didn't have it plugged into power.
SC: No, of course not, it's a laptop, it's supposed to run off batteries.
Me: Yes it is, but the battery has to be fully charged first. When you unpacked it, there was a big piece of paper with red writing stuck to the lid of the laptop warning of this.
SC mumbles something about not reading it. I should add that it simply says "WARNING you must have the computer connected to mains power before turning it on for the first time" - this is the only text on an A4 piece of paper, so you get an idea of the size of it.
Me: Well the good news is, the problem is very easy to fix, you'll be able to do it yourself, and I can easily talk you through it.
SC: I don't understand computers, so it's no good talking to me about it, I'll bring it in and get a refund.
Me: Well we can't give you a refund as I've already explained, but all you have to do is ...
SC: No, I'll bring it in and get a refund.
Me: It's as easy as...
*beep* - he hung up on me.
Anyway, expecting that he'd be in the next day, I wrote a note to Sunday's duty manager to expect him. I hadn't given it a further thought until this morning, I asked the DM what had happened, and was told he was a no-show. My sudden thought on the matter must have been some sort of ESP, because in less than a minute I get paged to the front of the store. It's SC, demanding his refund.
I went up and he started hurling abuse at me that the law says I have to give him a refund because the computer was faulty. I stood my ground and told him that because the computer was 4 months old, I couldn't give him a refund, and even if it was 1 day old, because the problem wasn't a fault with the machine, it wasn't grounds for a refund anyway. But I'd be more than happy to fix it on the spot for him, because as I tried to explain over the phone it was an extremely simple fix.
He tried to argue the point a little more, but I stood my ground. Ultimately he begrudgingly agreed, I guess because I didn't really give him another option. Put it on the bench, and told him that as I tried to explain on Saturday, it was as simple as pressing and holding the 0 key when the power button is pressed, and the computer will then automatically start its inbuilt recovery process. I told him that was all that was needed to fix it, it will now take about 20 minutes to run and the problem would be all solved, simple as that. I suggested that if he has other business to do in town, that he do it and come back 20 minutes later. So off he went.
All solved? You'd think so, but not with SC. He comes back a bit over an hour later, to pick up the computer. No problems, show it to him working, pack it up, there you are sir. Then he comes up with the following gem.
SC: I had to travel 3 hours here, and now 3 hours return, which cost me $120 in petrol, plus my time, so I want $200 cash in compensation for my trouble, and I'm not leaving here until I get it.
Me: I'm sorry, but I'm not going to pay any compensation. Your computer is ready to go, is there anything else I can help you with?
SC: You bleep bleep have to pay compensation. Your faulty equipment has cost me $200, so you are bleeping well going to compensate me for my expenses, and if you try to get out of it, there'll be trouble.
Me: [absolutely seeing red, I unfortunately lost my cool, stood over him pointing my finger in his face, and let him have it both barrels]. Ok, firstly the problem did not occur because of any fault in the machine, it was simply because you refused to read a very simple instruction. Secondly, I tried to give you the solution over the phone, but you wouldn't hear of it. You hung up on me when I tried to help you. As you saw, it is as simple as holding down 2 buttons and the computer fixes itself. You hung up on me while I was trying to tell you that. If you didn't hang up, you would have been able to fix it yourself, at home, on Saturday when you called. But instead you chose to hangup. There is only one person to blame for you having to make a special trip down here, and that is you. Not me, not the equipment, You and you alone. I would suggest that next time you purchase something, that you read the instructions. I would suggest that next time you have a problem with something, and someone tries to help you over the phone, that you listen instead of hanging up. Instead of paying you compensation, I should be billing you for the work done to your computer, and for wasting my time. So lets call it even. Goodbye.
Didn't give him a chance to respond, just turned and walked away. The other staff said he looked pretty deflated, when he silently picked up his computer and walked out of the shop - didn't even do it in a huff. Hopefully I hit a nerve and SC will be a decent customer in the future. I can dream can't I?
Me: Good Afternoon ****, this is ****
SC: You the manager there?
Me: Yes
SC: Right, I bought a brand new Toshiba laptop from you, and I've just started setting it up, it's not working, so I want a refund.
Me: Ok, what's the problem with it?
SC: [yelling] I just bleeping told you, It's not working, so I'll tell you what's going to happen. I live in **** [a town about 3 hours away], I'm leaving now for **** so I'll be there about 7:30, and when I get there, you are going to give me a cash refund.
Me: I'm sorry sir, but the store closes at 5.
SC: I bleeping know you close at 5. But I just told you I will be there at 7:30 and you will give me the refund when I get there. That means you are going to stay back and give me my refund. got it?
Me: No, I'm sorry sir, but I can't do that, the store closes at 5PM, and it is actually locked by security guards. I don't have a key, so I couldn't stay back even if I wanted to.
SC: Well bleeping take the cash home with you and I'll meet you at your house.
Me: [starting to get angry at his demands] That is absolutely not going to happen, you will have to visit the store during normal opening hours.
SC: No, I am going to **** tonight, and you are bleeping well going to give me my refund tonight or there will be trouble, got it?
Me: Ok, that sounded like a threat. Don't threaten me, or this will become a police matter. You will need to visit the store during normal operating hours. That is the end of the story, and if you want to argue with me further on this I will simply terminate this call.
SC: [pauses - maybe starting to realise I'm not going to bow to his demands] So if I come in tomorrow morning, I will see you and you will give me my cash refund?
Me: Well, I'm not actually working tomorrow, but if I can get a few details I'll be able to leave a message for the duty manager tomorrow, to let him know I've authorised it. If I can start with the purchase date please.
SC: I told you it's bleeping brand new, I only started setting it up today.
Me: [As it happened I already had today's PC sales report on my terminal, none were for this customer's town so I had a fair bet it wasn't bought today] Ok, but what day did you actually purchase it?
SC: I just bleeping well told you I only started setting it up today.
Me: Ok, so you bought it this morning? yesterday?
SC: No, in October but that's irrelevant I only started setting it up today.
Me: Oh, well that changes things a bit. The warranty terms are that we can only return a computer within 14 days of purchase, outside that period it has to go for warranty repair.
SC: Thats not bleeping good enough, I buy a new computer and I expect it to work.
Me: Sir, it's 4 months old, if you called me about this 4 months ago I could give you the refund, but it is now within the repair warranty period. We can't give a refund on such an old machine. What's the actual problem with it, because it may be a very quick repair?
SC: It comes up with an error message that Vista isn't installed correctly and then it reboots, and it keeps doing that.
I recognise this immediately. It is a common problem with Toshiba laptops if the first power on is done on battery only. The battery goes flat half way through the inititial configuration, resulting in the described fault when it is turned back on.
Me: Ahh, ok, that's quite an easy one, it's because the first time you turned it on, you didn't have it plugged into power.
SC: No, of course not, it's a laptop, it's supposed to run off batteries.
Me: Yes it is, but the battery has to be fully charged first. When you unpacked it, there was a big piece of paper with red writing stuck to the lid of the laptop warning of this.
SC mumbles something about not reading it. I should add that it simply says "WARNING you must have the computer connected to mains power before turning it on for the first time" - this is the only text on an A4 piece of paper, so you get an idea of the size of it.
Me: Well the good news is, the problem is very easy to fix, you'll be able to do it yourself, and I can easily talk you through it.
SC: I don't understand computers, so it's no good talking to me about it, I'll bring it in and get a refund.
Me: Well we can't give you a refund as I've already explained, but all you have to do is ...
SC: No, I'll bring it in and get a refund.
Me: It's as easy as...
*beep* - he hung up on me.
Anyway, expecting that he'd be in the next day, I wrote a note to Sunday's duty manager to expect him. I hadn't given it a further thought until this morning, I asked the DM what had happened, and was told he was a no-show. My sudden thought on the matter must have been some sort of ESP, because in less than a minute I get paged to the front of the store. It's SC, demanding his refund.
I went up and he started hurling abuse at me that the law says I have to give him a refund because the computer was faulty. I stood my ground and told him that because the computer was 4 months old, I couldn't give him a refund, and even if it was 1 day old, because the problem wasn't a fault with the machine, it wasn't grounds for a refund anyway. But I'd be more than happy to fix it on the spot for him, because as I tried to explain over the phone it was an extremely simple fix.
He tried to argue the point a little more, but I stood my ground. Ultimately he begrudgingly agreed, I guess because I didn't really give him another option. Put it on the bench, and told him that as I tried to explain on Saturday, it was as simple as pressing and holding the 0 key when the power button is pressed, and the computer will then automatically start its inbuilt recovery process. I told him that was all that was needed to fix it, it will now take about 20 minutes to run and the problem would be all solved, simple as that. I suggested that if he has other business to do in town, that he do it and come back 20 minutes later. So off he went.
All solved? You'd think so, but not with SC. He comes back a bit over an hour later, to pick up the computer. No problems, show it to him working, pack it up, there you are sir. Then he comes up with the following gem.
SC: I had to travel 3 hours here, and now 3 hours return, which cost me $120 in petrol, plus my time, so I want $200 cash in compensation for my trouble, and I'm not leaving here until I get it.
Me: I'm sorry, but I'm not going to pay any compensation. Your computer is ready to go, is there anything else I can help you with?
SC: You bleep bleep have to pay compensation. Your faulty equipment has cost me $200, so you are bleeping well going to compensate me for my expenses, and if you try to get out of it, there'll be trouble.
Me: [absolutely seeing red, I unfortunately lost my cool, stood over him pointing my finger in his face, and let him have it both barrels]. Ok, firstly the problem did not occur because of any fault in the machine, it was simply because you refused to read a very simple instruction. Secondly, I tried to give you the solution over the phone, but you wouldn't hear of it. You hung up on me when I tried to help you. As you saw, it is as simple as holding down 2 buttons and the computer fixes itself. You hung up on me while I was trying to tell you that. If you didn't hang up, you would have been able to fix it yourself, at home, on Saturday when you called. But instead you chose to hangup. There is only one person to blame for you having to make a special trip down here, and that is you. Not me, not the equipment, You and you alone. I would suggest that next time you purchase something, that you read the instructions. I would suggest that next time you have a problem with something, and someone tries to help you over the phone, that you listen instead of hanging up. Instead of paying you compensation, I should be billing you for the work done to your computer, and for wasting my time. So lets call it even. Goodbye.
Didn't give him a chance to respond, just turned and walked away. The other staff said he looked pretty deflated, when he silently picked up his computer and walked out of the shop - didn't even do it in a huff. Hopefully I hit a nerve and SC will be a decent customer in the future. I can dream can't I?
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