I have great customers.......rarely do I ever have a issue with any of them but I have gotten a few.....
I get an email from a gal wanting a tee shirt and proceeds to ask the 101 questions at me in several emails which is annoying to a point but I had no problem answering for her.
Then she asks in her next email "Could you send me a swatch of purple"
I immediately think to myself, WTF? She wants me to send a tee shirt sample?! Huh?!
To me, Swatch is a piece of cloth, not something on the internet and send is snail mail, not email.
So, feeling fed up that this is one of those AR customers and possibly someone who just wants attention I decide to cut it short and see if it was legit.
I write her:
'No, I am not cutting up one of my tees to send this.
Sorry I can not help you.
Thanks for the inquiries, I have given you all the info I can on this.
If you want to place an order, then please do so.
Thank you"
So then she replies:
"I wasn't asking you to cut up a shirt. I meant a swatch of color from the internet. "
That response would have been fine but then she says:
"I've ordered from you before, and was planning on doing so again, but I do not appreciate the attitude you treat your customers with."
This pissed me off. One because I do not take kindly to -anyone- assuming they have some privilege with me because they bought from me before nor making assumptions on my attitude and the fact that she uses a plural for 'customers' . To hold over my head that, oh my gosh, I won't be buying your $20.00 tee, is absurd at best in my book and then stating it is 'more customers' then just her?
I treat my customers with respect and only ask for that in return. Now me being pissed off at GM's recall of the instrument panel on my 2004 Avalanche, of which said part is indeed dead on my truck. But not qualifying for it because they have posted a 70,000 mile limit for the recall, my truck has 194,000 miles on it. Bunch o bull and I wrote GM 3 different letters concerning this issue, my loyalty with GM vehicles and to the fact that there limitations on the recall was causing me to break my loyalty with them, clearly stating this is not a -threat - but my serious disatisfaction with them and the fact it is a part they clearly admitted to having to replace.
So to this customer, I write:
" I have been more then helpful. Lack of clarity in your question is not my fault. If you ordered from me before then you are well aware of the quality of what I have. As for 'attitude' .... me thinks you are the one being rude at the moment. I do not take lightly customers that place judgment where it is not warranted and even more so do not take kindly to threats. I consider our business concluded."
Harsh, but in my book, the customer is -not- always right. I am not Walmart.
But then she writes again:
"Do tell me, what when did I ever threaten you? I said I wasn't going to order from you because of your attitude. Or maybe I should say lack of patience for your customers. I have never met someone so short tempered. Pardon me for being curious of the shade a shirt would be, I didn't know it would cause such a problem. "
Of course, now she is pissed that I do not want her business and has to act like this instead of recognizing the fault of mis communication on her part...... I seriously was not going to respond but I decided otherwise.....
"What is the issue?
I said our business is concluded.
If you need clarity, it is this simple. I do not do business with rude and belligerent customers and this is unwarranted. It was a communication cliche and if it was me, I would have acknowledged it and explained myself.... It is EMAIL and comunication generally is lacking via this form. 'Swatch' means a piece of cloth sample not something on the internet and you wanted me to 'send' it to you. My reaction is totally justified, lack of patience has nothing to do with this. Further more using a plural for 'customers' is suggesting what? I am quite confident of the opposite of this accusation.
"I've ordered from you before, and was planning on doing so again, but I do not appreciate the attitude you treat your customers with."
This is a threat to me......
So what is your issue and why are you taking it out on me?!
At this moment, you owe me an apology."
Probably should not have bothered but I can't help it. At this point I feel like I am dealing with a child, not an adult but then again, I should not have bothered to think she would even act close to any maturity in this issue.
Her response:
"How is this a threat? What am I threatening to do to you? If our 'business is concluded" please don't send me another email.
ps. swatch! http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thu...lor_swatch.jpg
I thought you would figure this out because sending a piece in the mail is silly."
Gee, must get the last word in even when they are wrong.... besides it was better to be an ass then to send me this link and be helpful in the first place. She must be a very demanding mean spirited little girl to act like this but even more so, I think I was right from the start. She is AR and wants attention. No worries, I have no desire to write back outside of just wanting to play coyote with her.... but I will hold my ' po fess nal' aires!
The thing is with me is this. As much as I love creating art and sharing it, I equally am grateful of the people who support and buy from me. But I have a line drawn and that is respect. The customer is not always right and I will not kiss anyones ass to make a buck. There is curtsy and then there is respect. I feel it is also a privilege that I am creating said art to inspire and add happiness to others and contributing to our society, making it available for people to have for themselves. Being an artist is -not- an ego trip for me. It is very much an obligation and commitment I feel I have to this life and to the greater whole. It is huge for me to deny someone my business and I feel am not losing anything but someone who does not deserve to have my creations.
I get an email from a gal wanting a tee shirt and proceeds to ask the 101 questions at me in several emails which is annoying to a point but I had no problem answering for her.
Then she asks in her next email "Could you send me a swatch of purple"
I immediately think to myself, WTF? She wants me to send a tee shirt sample?! Huh?!
To me, Swatch is a piece of cloth, not something on the internet and send is snail mail, not email.
So, feeling fed up that this is one of those AR customers and possibly someone who just wants attention I decide to cut it short and see if it was legit.
I write her:
'No, I am not cutting up one of my tees to send this.
Sorry I can not help you.
Thanks for the inquiries, I have given you all the info I can on this.
If you want to place an order, then please do so.
Thank you"
So then she replies:
"I wasn't asking you to cut up a shirt. I meant a swatch of color from the internet. "
That response would have been fine but then she says:
"I've ordered from you before, and was planning on doing so again, but I do not appreciate the attitude you treat your customers with."
This pissed me off. One because I do not take kindly to -anyone- assuming they have some privilege with me because they bought from me before nor making assumptions on my attitude and the fact that she uses a plural for 'customers' . To hold over my head that, oh my gosh, I won't be buying your $20.00 tee, is absurd at best in my book and then stating it is 'more customers' then just her?
I treat my customers with respect and only ask for that in return. Now me being pissed off at GM's recall of the instrument panel on my 2004 Avalanche, of which said part is indeed dead on my truck. But not qualifying for it because they have posted a 70,000 mile limit for the recall, my truck has 194,000 miles on it. Bunch o bull and I wrote GM 3 different letters concerning this issue, my loyalty with GM vehicles and to the fact that there limitations on the recall was causing me to break my loyalty with them, clearly stating this is not a -threat - but my serious disatisfaction with them and the fact it is a part they clearly admitted to having to replace.
So to this customer, I write:
" I have been more then helpful. Lack of clarity in your question is not my fault. If you ordered from me before then you are well aware of the quality of what I have. As for 'attitude' .... me thinks you are the one being rude at the moment. I do not take lightly customers that place judgment where it is not warranted and even more so do not take kindly to threats. I consider our business concluded."
Harsh, but in my book, the customer is -not- always right. I am not Walmart.
But then she writes again:
"Do tell me, what when did I ever threaten you? I said I wasn't going to order from you because of your attitude. Or maybe I should say lack of patience for your customers. I have never met someone so short tempered. Pardon me for being curious of the shade a shirt would be, I didn't know it would cause such a problem. "
Of course, now she is pissed that I do not want her business and has to act like this instead of recognizing the fault of mis communication on her part...... I seriously was not going to respond but I decided otherwise.....
"What is the issue?
I said our business is concluded.
If you need clarity, it is this simple. I do not do business with rude and belligerent customers and this is unwarranted. It was a communication cliche and if it was me, I would have acknowledged it and explained myself.... It is EMAIL and comunication generally is lacking via this form. 'Swatch' means a piece of cloth sample not something on the internet and you wanted me to 'send' it to you. My reaction is totally justified, lack of patience has nothing to do with this. Further more using a plural for 'customers' is suggesting what? I am quite confident of the opposite of this accusation.
"I've ordered from you before, and was planning on doing so again, but I do not appreciate the attitude you treat your customers with."
This is a threat to me......
So what is your issue and why are you taking it out on me?!
At this moment, you owe me an apology."
Probably should not have bothered but I can't help it. At this point I feel like I am dealing with a child, not an adult but then again, I should not have bothered to think she would even act close to any maturity in this issue.
Her response:
"How is this a threat? What am I threatening to do to you? If our 'business is concluded" please don't send me another email.
ps. swatch! http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thu...lor_swatch.jpg
I thought you would figure this out because sending a piece in the mail is silly."
Gee, must get the last word in even when they are wrong.... besides it was better to be an ass then to send me this link and be helpful in the first place. She must be a very demanding mean spirited little girl to act like this but even more so, I think I was right from the start. She is AR and wants attention. No worries, I have no desire to write back outside of just wanting to play coyote with her.... but I will hold my ' po fess nal' aires!
The thing is with me is this. As much as I love creating art and sharing it, I equally am grateful of the people who support and buy from me. But I have a line drawn and that is respect. The customer is not always right and I will not kiss anyones ass to make a buck. There is curtsy and then there is respect. I feel it is also a privilege that I am creating said art to inspire and add happiness to others and contributing to our society, making it available for people to have for themselves. Being an artist is -not- an ego trip for me. It is very much an obligation and commitment I feel I have to this life and to the greater whole. It is huge for me to deny someone my business and I feel am not losing anything but someone who does not deserve to have my creations.
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