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Don't kill the messenger

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  • Don't kill the messenger

    One of our main furniture dealers just reached a major milestone - 10,000 consecutive jobs without getting a single one right. Literally every job I do for them is screwed up, sometimes minor, sometimes major, but always something wrong. This time around is no different, I am missing a few bases required to build tables; my best guess is they missed a skid on our shipment.

    So of course I apologize and explain things to the customer, and he is understandably pissed, but he wants to know how my company could let this happen. Uh buddy, we have no control over what they ship us, they ship us 10 skids, we count 10 skids, we have to assume that the skids are accurate. Well don't you check the skids. No, we do not; on top of nobody paying for the time to do that, we would have to unpackage all the skids and open every box, then it would all have to be repackaged when we bring it to the site. We fully rely on the supplier to get their shipment correct. Well he doesn't think that is a very good way for us to conduct our business.

    Okay, whatever, he was upset, he doesn't understand the logistics going on, no big deal. Now we are in the recovery phase. I explain to him how I have contacted my office and the supplier to advise them of the problem, and that I have requested an update on the delivery of the required parts asap. And I tell him that this is everything in my power that I can do. Well that's not good enough, he needs me to tell him why the parts weren't shipped, and he needs to know when they are going to get here; and he needs that answer RIGHT NOW! Okay, didn't I just finish telling you that I have done everything within my power. I know I give off the vibe of a competent guy, but I am just a minion, I can scream and yell until I am blue in the face and nobody will care. I advise him that he will have to contact the dealer himself if he doesn't like the effort I have put in. He huffs off to do so.

    We finish everything up, minus the stuff we can't do and now I have the pleasure of requesting a sign off. I have written up all the missing parts on my deficiency list, all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed, it clearly states that these parts were not received, but he doesn't want to sign off because he thinks he should only sign for a complete order. Okay, you need to sign for what you received today, the deficiency list clearly shows that you did not get these other items. He gives it another once over and reluctantly signs.

    Horray, I can go home now. Nope, he's got to put me through the wringer once more. Saying how we should check the skids prior to booking these jobs. Yes, thank you sir, I will pass that suggestion on to my office. And he needs an answer on when the parts will get here; they tore apart the office in anticipation of this job, now those people have no desk to work at. Okay, I saw you have some extra desks downstairs, we will gladly put those in place for you on a temporary basis. Now suddenly those people who have nowhere to work will be okay for a week or two, he just needs to know if the product will get here by then. I certainly hope so, but I cannot give that answer, I have absolutely no way of knowing. Finally that message made it's way into his head, or he just accepted that I'm not changing my answer, but he finally set me free.
    D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.
    Quoth = Crossbow "EvilHomer, Irv, Gravekeeper, and Seraph: the Four Horsemen of the Dumbpocalypse."

  • #2
    That's some record ...

    And he's obviously one of those idiots who thinks that if he repeats his demands often enough and loud enough, by some miracle, he will get an answer that pleases him.

    Surprise!
    Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
    ~ Mr Hero

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    • #3
      Ha

      I remember years ago when the memory chip shortage took place. We received 200 computers to install in a school. Since we were just the install techs, we just unpacked the machines, wired them up and made sure they booted okay. No-one told how much memory was to suppose to be in the machines. We were usually only told that is we had to upgrade them. What we did not know was all the machine had half the memory that was ordered. The manufacturer did not have enough DIMMs so shipped the machine with enough memory to work and test them. The salesman at work only told us this after we had install everything, and the manufacturer was going to ship out the extra memory and pay for the labour of installing them later.

      So we tell the head of the IT department that the machine will run Windows fine and any basic programs, but if there are any problem they should go away when we later install the full memory. The guy went wild.

      But here is the thing, the extra memory was not even made yet, and it would have to come from Korea, no yelling was going to make that faster.

      Comment


      • #4
        Quoth earl colby pottinger View Post
        But here is the thing, the extra memory was not even made yet, and it would have to come from Korea, no yelling was going to make that faster.
        This was a case where yelling could make things go faster, the product is sitting somewhere, someone just needs to get up and find it. But yelling at the lowest level minion you can find because he is the face you can actually see is not going to accomplish anything. Number 1, as I told him, I have already done everything within my power, any further efforts on my part will be futile and will lead to reprimands for me. He needs to work his way up the chain of command if he isn't happy with the best answer that I can give him. and of course number 2, I simply don't give a fuck.
        D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.
        Quoth = Crossbow "EvilHomer, Irv, Gravekeeper, and Seraph: the Four Horsemen of the Dumbpocalypse."

        Comment


        • #5
          Nope

          Quoth evilhomer View Post
          This was a case where yelling could make things go faster, the product is sitting somewhere, someone just needs to get up and find it.
          Nope, the factories were damaged in Japan (Sorry my mistake when I said Korea).

          See: https://www.google.com/search?q=memo...+by+earthquake

          No factories, no memory. You can't get what can't be made.

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          • #6
            Psshhhh! Just get some from the famous "back room"!!
            “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.
            One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world.
            The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers

            Comment


            • #7
              Quoth earl colby pottinger View Post
              Nope, the factories were damaged in Japan (Sorry my mistake when I said Korea).

              See: https://www.google.com/search?q=memo...+by+earthquake

              No factories, no memory. You can't get what can't be made.
              Sorry, I was talking about my case.

              I do always find it hilarious though when people think that yelling and screaming are going to magically make things appear.
              D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.
              Quoth = Crossbow "EvilHomer, Irv, Gravekeeper, and Seraph: the Four Horsemen of the Dumbpocalypse."

              Comment


              • #8
                I remember when our pocch-chasing department got a quote for a jellybean (dirt common) dual op amp integrated circuit for...
                56 weeks! (more than a year)


                The market was malstructured. A customer would place orders for a few thousand of a device to 3 or so manufacturers and a couple of distributers (who would do the same) and then accept the from whoever delivered first. Ordered to delivered ratios were often greater than ten. I.E.: "We've got industry-wide orders for the second quarter of '73 for 45 million 558s."
                Later that year: "Second quarter deliveries of 3.7 million units filled all requirements with a slight surplus sold at a discount."
                I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
                Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
                Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

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