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Shop had a great week last week, numbers-wise. Seemed like we were about to do even better on Saturday when I had a guy buy a laptop.
I was holding off posting this (for reasons that will become clear momentarily) but since he didn't show up at 10am when we opened today, I'll get this part up now.
Guy had come in about a week before. He noticed we had a laptop in the window the same model as his. His had gotten some damage on the plastic around the LCD but the LCD itself was fine.
He comes in Saturday. First he wants to get a price for getting the plastic replaced. Okay - it's about 4pm and we close at 5. I'm back in Tuesday, so I tell him I'll have the price for the part and replacement on Tuesday.
Guy decides he's going to buy our laptop anyway. I tell him I'll still give him a call Tuesday with the cost for fixing his other one.
So, awesome. We get 1 last laptop sale for the week, and I'm in a great mood.
I think you see where this is going.
45 minutes later I get this call:
LG = laptop guy
LG: Yeah, I was there a little while ago, I bought that laptop?
Moi: Yeah, what's up?
LG: Well I talked to a tech buddy of mine and he said he'd fix my laptop.
Moi: Okay, cool.
LG: What's your return policy?
Moi: My who to the what now?
LG: Well if he's going to fix the laptop I don't really need this one I bought.
First off - why didn't you talk to your tech buddy in the last week, before even coming in the shop? Unfortunately I didn't think to ask him that.
Moi: It's two weeks, you need your receipt (we keep it in Quickbooks anyway, but fuck him) and there's a 10% restocking fee. (about $42 in his case)
LG: But I've only had it for an hour!
Moi: Yes, and we still have to look it over when you bring it back, plus this was a credit card transaction which means they charge us a percentage for the sale and the refund. (okay - that last part might be bullshit - I honestly don't know - but he's still wasting my time and money)
LG: But it was an impulse buy!
Moi: Yes. Which is why you shouldn't make impulse buys. You could have asked me when you were here. Or if you paid with cash or check I could do the return, but you used a credit card. Which, as I said, is now costing me money if I have to do a refund.
LG: Can I come back now? I'm about ten minutes away.
Moi: You can try, but we close in 10 minutes and you're talking about parking in [trendy little town with god-awful parking on weekends] so I doubt you'd make it here in time. I'll be back in Tuesday morning.
He hems and haws a little more but finally decides to return Tuesday.
I haven't checked voice mail yet, but it's 10:35 now and he hasn't shown up yet.
All you had to do was:
a. Wait 2 days for my estimate. You showed me your laptop was in working condition so you were able to use it, you just couldn't close the lid. It's not like you had a term paper due and you had no working computer
b. You could have asked your "tech buddy" about it before even wasting a trip down here.
c. My business shouldn't be penalized because you can't control your impulses. If you come in, I have to waste my time and money doing a refund. Time I could be spending doing ANYTHING more productive to help my business.
My biz partner had a vibe that the guy was going to try to pull something, like switching parts, but I can't see how. It's his screen that's damaged. He can't swap screens with ours because it would obviously be his. And I have the serial numbers of both computers, so if his was overheating or acting up and he tried switching screens for that reason, I'd see the unit he was returning had his serial number. And I noticed the letter on one key on his keyboard was almost completely rubbed off. So that's something else I'd spot if he tried returning something of his instead of ours.
I don't think he's trying to pull something... I think he's just dumb.
Gotta check voicemail. Updates if they happen.
I was holding off posting this (for reasons that will become clear momentarily) but since he didn't show up at 10am when we opened today, I'll get this part up now.
Guy had come in about a week before. He noticed we had a laptop in the window the same model as his. His had gotten some damage on the plastic around the LCD but the LCD itself was fine.
He comes in Saturday. First he wants to get a price for getting the plastic replaced. Okay - it's about 4pm and we close at 5. I'm back in Tuesday, so I tell him I'll have the price for the part and replacement on Tuesday.
Guy decides he's going to buy our laptop anyway. I tell him I'll still give him a call Tuesday with the cost for fixing his other one.
So, awesome. We get 1 last laptop sale for the week, and I'm in a great mood.
I think you see where this is going.
45 minutes later I get this call:
LG = laptop guy
LG: Yeah, I was there a little while ago, I bought that laptop?
Moi: Yeah, what's up?
LG: Well I talked to a tech buddy of mine and he said he'd fix my laptop.
Moi: Okay, cool.
LG: What's your return policy?
Moi: My who to the what now?
LG: Well if he's going to fix the laptop I don't really need this one I bought.
First off - why didn't you talk to your tech buddy in the last week, before even coming in the shop? Unfortunately I didn't think to ask him that.
Moi: It's two weeks, you need your receipt (we keep it in Quickbooks anyway, but fuck him) and there's a 10% restocking fee. (about $42 in his case)
LG: But I've only had it for an hour!
Moi: Yes, and we still have to look it over when you bring it back, plus this was a credit card transaction which means they charge us a percentage for the sale and the refund. (okay - that last part might be bullshit - I honestly don't know - but he's still wasting my time and money)
LG: But it was an impulse buy!
Moi: Yes. Which is why you shouldn't make impulse buys. You could have asked me when you were here. Or if you paid with cash or check I could do the return, but you used a credit card. Which, as I said, is now costing me money if I have to do a refund.
LG: Can I come back now? I'm about ten minutes away.
Moi: You can try, but we close in 10 minutes and you're talking about parking in [trendy little town with god-awful parking on weekends] so I doubt you'd make it here in time. I'll be back in Tuesday morning.
He hems and haws a little more but finally decides to return Tuesday.
I haven't checked voice mail yet, but it's 10:35 now and he hasn't shown up yet.
All you had to do was:
a. Wait 2 days for my estimate. You showed me your laptop was in working condition so you were able to use it, you just couldn't close the lid. It's not like you had a term paper due and you had no working computer
b. You could have asked your "tech buddy" about it before even wasting a trip down here.
c. My business shouldn't be penalized because you can't control your impulses. If you come in, I have to waste my time and money doing a refund. Time I could be spending doing ANYTHING more productive to help my business.
My biz partner had a vibe that the guy was going to try to pull something, like switching parts, but I can't see how. It's his screen that's damaged. He can't swap screens with ours because it would obviously be his. And I have the serial numbers of both computers, so if his was overheating or acting up and he tried switching screens for that reason, I'd see the unit he was returning had his serial number. And I noticed the letter on one key on his keyboard was almost completely rubbed off. So that's something else I'd spot if he tried returning something of his instead of ours.
I don't think he's trying to pull something... I think he's just dumb.
Gotta check voicemail. Updates if they happen.
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