My husband and I run our own furniture removals company. Most of our customers are wonderful, and from all walks of life.
This week though we've been getting a batch of crazy.
General Crazy: People who ring up for same day/ next day moves and then completely flip when they are told we're booked solid.
I don't mind the late bookers because they help fill up cancellations and gaps, but I do mind when they flip their shit because we can't fit them in.
They either plead "It's only a few things", argue "why not?" or ask for a recommendation [we don't do referrals after being burnt]. They also have a habit of swearing, or getting really upset: I HAVE TO MOVE TODAY, WHY WON'T YOU HELP ME!
One even demanded we come within the next hour to help them move their furniture around the house so they could paint. I was called an unhelpful bitch for saying no.
Special Crazy:
Surprisingly enough, we understand that moving can be stressful. This one customer had a complete break with reality.
Starts by leaving her crappy ikea bed together, and looking at the driver like he was nuts when he told her to pull it apart. Had she actually asked nicely, he would have done it for them as a favour [we don't do it for reals because of liability issues]. Instead she got all angry about not being told this over the phone, and what kind of company are we that we don't do disassembly?
Next she ran out of tape when trying to secure her cupboards for loading - they were also cheap ikea ones, and were on the verge of falling apart. She lost it in another room and was cussing her head off about these "fucking cupboards and fucking removalists". When the offsider went to check on what was happening, she clammed up.
She argued that we damaged her goods. The damage that was already on her items when we got there.
She turned to her friend and said "all removalists are assholes".
Walked up to the truck, looked at a cupboard and said "I don't know if that's mine..." and walked away before they could ask her about it.
She argued about the charges, all of which were emailed 2 weeks prior.
She never sent in her load list, then freaked out when we told her how long it would take, and that she couldn't put her disgusting dog house in the truck. I told her if she had sent through her load list when she was asked, this would have all been sorted.
She then went full hysterical when it came time to pay. Called the drivers names, wanted the cupboard returned for free and denied ever commenting on it at the truck. Denied swearing up a storm about the cupboard, denied calling them assholes.
Yelled at me for a total of 20 minutes about damages and the crew being mean. In the end I knocked off $80 just to get some money out of her. Otherwise the police would have been called, we would have been late to the next customer AND we'd have to pay $75 just to lodge a claim in small claims court and maybe get the money 6mths later.
Then she arranged for a friend to complain to me and demand the owners details to complain. Did the whole "How dare you not believe me, I am the customer, I am always right!"
I didn't tell her that the reason I believe the staff over her is because the driver is my husband of 10+ years, and the owner. I did tell her that we wanted to drive away when we saw she wasn't ready, but didn't out of courtesy.
Her friend tried to explain away the customer's issues by saying that she was "stressed out by her baby and family, and that I should be more receptive to what was happening in her life."
I lost it and ranted about stress, pointing out that I work 12hrs a day, 7 days a week, study full-time external at uni, have 2 close friends fighting cancer and I'm raising my family. That her stress was NO EXCUSE for swearing and insulting my staff, threatening not to pay and just being a complete bitch.
Hilarious thing? We were recommended by THREE of her friends because of our excellent service.
Second Crazy:
A Prison psychologist who walked around with a kitchen knife and rang me saying she was scared for her safety and that the crew [inc my husband!] wanted to rape her. WTF doesn't even cover it.
TL;DR - being a removalist is never boring, for all the wrong reasons.
This week though we've been getting a batch of crazy.
General Crazy: People who ring up for same day/ next day moves and then completely flip when they are told we're booked solid.
I don't mind the late bookers because they help fill up cancellations and gaps, but I do mind when they flip their shit because we can't fit them in.
They either plead "It's only a few things", argue "why not?" or ask for a recommendation [we don't do referrals after being burnt]. They also have a habit of swearing, or getting really upset: I HAVE TO MOVE TODAY, WHY WON'T YOU HELP ME!
One even demanded we come within the next hour to help them move their furniture around the house so they could paint. I was called an unhelpful bitch for saying no.
Special Crazy:
Surprisingly enough, we understand that moving can be stressful. This one customer had a complete break with reality.
Starts by leaving her crappy ikea bed together, and looking at the driver like he was nuts when he told her to pull it apart. Had she actually asked nicely, he would have done it for them as a favour [we don't do it for reals because of liability issues]. Instead she got all angry about not being told this over the phone, and what kind of company are we that we don't do disassembly?
Next she ran out of tape when trying to secure her cupboards for loading - they were also cheap ikea ones, and were on the verge of falling apart. She lost it in another room and was cussing her head off about these "fucking cupboards and fucking removalists". When the offsider went to check on what was happening, she clammed up.
She argued that we damaged her goods. The damage that was already on her items when we got there.
She turned to her friend and said "all removalists are assholes".
Walked up to the truck, looked at a cupboard and said "I don't know if that's mine..." and walked away before they could ask her about it.
She argued about the charges, all of which were emailed 2 weeks prior.
She never sent in her load list, then freaked out when we told her how long it would take, and that she couldn't put her disgusting dog house in the truck. I told her if she had sent through her load list when she was asked, this would have all been sorted.
She then went full hysterical when it came time to pay. Called the drivers names, wanted the cupboard returned for free and denied ever commenting on it at the truck. Denied swearing up a storm about the cupboard, denied calling them assholes.
Yelled at me for a total of 20 minutes about damages and the crew being mean. In the end I knocked off $80 just to get some money out of her. Otherwise the police would have been called, we would have been late to the next customer AND we'd have to pay $75 just to lodge a claim in small claims court and maybe get the money 6mths later.
Then she arranged for a friend to complain to me and demand the owners details to complain. Did the whole "How dare you not believe me, I am the customer, I am always right!"
I didn't tell her that the reason I believe the staff over her is because the driver is my husband of 10+ years, and the owner. I did tell her that we wanted to drive away when we saw she wasn't ready, but didn't out of courtesy.
Her friend tried to explain away the customer's issues by saying that she was "stressed out by her baby and family, and that I should be more receptive to what was happening in her life."
I lost it and ranted about stress, pointing out that I work 12hrs a day, 7 days a week, study full-time external at uni, have 2 close friends fighting cancer and I'm raising my family. That her stress was NO EXCUSE for swearing and insulting my staff, threatening not to pay and just being a complete bitch.
Hilarious thing? We were recommended by THREE of her friends because of our excellent service.
Second Crazy:
A Prison psychologist who walked around with a kitchen knife and rang me saying she was scared for her safety and that the crew [inc my husband!] wanted to rape her. WTF doesn't even cover it.
TL;DR - being a removalist is never boring, for all the wrong reasons.
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