Dealing with unhappy customers

Lazerrus

Lazerrus

I LUV CURLY MAPLE!!!!!
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Ok so I am getting ready to start cue building myself and have a question for all you cue makers out there. I am currently a retail manager so I know what it's like to deal with upset customers in that type of business what about cue building. Surely some of you have had customers not be 100% satisfied with your work. Let's see some short stories without naming names about these kind of situations and how you dealt with them. For example a customer didn't like the finish on his cue and wants a refund.
 
Lazerrus said:
Ok so I am getting ready to start cue building myself and have a question for all you cue makers out there. I am currently a retail manager so I know what it's like to deal with upset customers in that type of business what about cue building. Surely some of you have had customers not be 100% satisfied with your work. Let's see some short stories without naming names about these kind of situations and how you dealt with them. For example a customer didn't like the finish on his cue and wants a refund.
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Just treat people as you would want to be treated.
Be fair and honest in your dealings.

Dont think people will beat a path to your door to buy one of your cues.
It takes a long time to build up a reputation.
 
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Lazerrus said:
Ok so I am getting ready to start cue building myself and have a question for all you cue makers out there. I am currently a retail manager so I know what it's like to deal with upset customers in that type of business what about cue building. Surely some of you have had customers not be 100% satisfied with your work. Let's see some short stories without naming names about these kind of situations and how you dealt with them. For example a customer didn't like the finish on his cue and wants a refund.
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First and most of all you have to be honest with the client and yourself! No matter how bad it makes you look.

Second, no matter how long you are in the business you can not make everyone happy. So just treat them with respect and 99.9 % of the time you will get respect back. That .01% No one can make happy!

Third, There isnt a lot of money building cues, so you really need to think about this and make sure this is something you really love before you get into building cues. You may consider just doing repair work for a while to see if this is for you!
 
Most generally when a customer is not happy, it's justifiable. It's almost always my fault. I screw up pretty often. All you can do is treat them the way you'd like to be treated if you were in that situation. It seems every step forward means two steps back, but it's not so. As has been said, it takes time to build a reputation. Be consistent & it'll happen.
 
Don't try to be everyones best friend. BE PROFESIONAL. Treat it like a business & be honest in your dealings. If you do this, they will treat YOU with respect...JER
 
Maybe a bit off topic here but, where I live theres alot of unemployed pool players. They have a Moori lifestyle and a Elkmaster budget. Always looking for a deal or credit. I've been ripped off large a couple of times lately, my fault for being trusting and not being able to say no. Most of these folks wouldn't be allowed to come over to the house, if they ask me to do work for them, I just politely tell them that I'm booked for well over a month.
These people would find something to complain about even if the work was free.
So, if you run into the give me a deal, I'll pay you next time I see you people, remember, if they have money to play pool and drink beer, they have money to pay you before their cue leaves the shop.
Everyone else, I treat well and do the best job I can for them as its my rep.
Do the same job for a customer that you'd do for yourself and if you don't have time to do it right the first time, where are you going to find the time to do it right the second time.
So far I haven't had any complaints re my workmanship and getting a bit more business each week. It feels good to have a good rep in the repair biz.
Even the other repairman saw some of my work and he told me that if I keep it up, I won't have any problems.
Kinda helps that the Deluxe does most of the hard stuff and I take credit for it.
 
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If you are married and if you dealt with a unhappy wife like have, customers will be a breeze.:D
 
just take everything on a case by case basis. you can never make EVERYONE happy. matter of fact some ppl are impossible to please. make everyone as happy as possible. if you have a customer that is notorious for troublemaking just refuse work. wash your hands of him. we have a few local guys like that here. i wont do work for them. ive seen a certin customer send tips back multiple times bc he didnt like how it plays. he also sent a leather wrap back a few times bc he didnt like how it looked after he picked it. so this guy i wont shape his tip. find someone else. he always asks me for cues too and i respectfully decline
 
So, if you were to shape his tip for him and he ran a couple of bad games, it would most likely be your fault and you ruined his tip and owe him another.
Right!
 
Don't promise and under deliver, always over deliver.

When a customer ask for a very nice BEM like the cue you sold/made to someone(which you posted), don't say you have a much better one you've been turning and it will take only 2 months more. Then after over 1 year, you deliver a crappy BEM cue and is long overdue.
 
All very good. Dave I really like what you said also. This is one of those things that I don't think a lot of people think about until it happens to them. What about a customer that says there is something wrong with a cue that you know wasn't but there now is and it is obviously the cue owners fault but he is trying to blame you for it. I've seen threads on here where the cue builder is blamed for poor construction yet to me it s obviously cue abuse. That's what scares me.
 
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Lazerrus said:
All very good. Dave I really like what you said also. This is one of those things that I don't think a lot of people think about until it happens to them. What about a customer that says there is something wrong with a cue that you know wasn't but there now is and it is obviously the cue owners fault but he is trying to blame you for it. I've seen threads on here where the cue builder is blamed for poor construction yet to me it s obviously cue abuse. That's what scares me.
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Stand behind your work and you should be good to go. There will be some customers that cause you headaches, but you'll figure those out quickly. It helps to be able to play a little also. I "fixed" a "bad" tip job in about 5 minutes by showing a guy a flaw in his mechanics. He went from not being able to draw his ball, to drawing it the length of the table in no time.
 
Always think before you promise, be respectful, deliver on time whenever possible, a LITTLE EXTRA HERE AND THERE WORKS. And remember you're dealing with some that know how to hustle 24 hrs a day. Learn how to say NO respectfully, and act professional even if you're not there yet.

Mario
 
I've always guaranteed 100% satisfaction. I guess I've just been lucky, and haven't really run into any really bad customers.
I've been taken advantage of a few times (like blue hog said - not over my guarantee) - but that's a whole 'nother story. :rolleyes:
 
On a side note. The guy ripped me for a cue. It was a week before last Christmas and he was to bring the money to the pool hall and pay me or leave it with one of the girls. He moved out of town instead. I talked to the hall owner last night and he told me that the player most likely will be back for the Spring Breakout Tourney. The hall owner told me that if he shows, he will pay for the cue or won't be allowed to register for the tournament.
 
Lazerrus said:
Ok so I am getting ready to start cue building myself and have a question for all you cue makers out there. I am currently a retail manager so I know what it's like to deal with upset customers in that type of business what about cue building. Surely some of you have had customers not be 100% satisfied with your work. Let's see some short stories without naming names about these kind of situations and how you dealt with them. For example a customer didn't like the finish on his cue and wants a refund.
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Hopefully you will do the best job you can every time. Sometimes people just look to complain and sometimes it is your fault. Just be honest and do the best you can, thats all you can do. Here is a tip though and I bet others will agree. If the customer gives clues right from the beginning they are a problem customer, don't deal with them. Some people can be kind of nut's sometimes and who needs the aggravation.
 
I hav a guy that don't seem to know what he wants. Nice guy to talk to but all over the place when asked what the problem is. Orriginally he asked if rosewood butt sleave was darker that forarm, I agreed , yes a little darker. After he received the cue, He complained handle was to large in diametor. We went back and forthwith him saying he had 2 cues that were just perfect, I said COOL!! measure them . After he measured them I asked him to measure the cue he bought from me . Mine was right in between there other cues, I asked what am I to do now, it's between the two you said was perfect. Now he says well it sycological I guess , the butt sleave is to dark. He has returned the cue, and I vasilating on wheather to cut cue apart, or just return his money. Don't know if he'll ever be happy??/ Thanks Jim
 
Jim Baxter said:
I hav a guy that don't seem to know what he wants. Nice guy to talk to but all over the place when asked what the problem is. Orriginally he asked if rosewood butt sleave was darker that forarm, I agreed , yes a little darker. After he received the cue, He complained handle was to large in diametor. We went back and forthwith him saying he had 2 cues that were just perfect, I said COOL!! measure them . After he measured them I asked him to measure the cue he bought from me . Mine was right in between there other cues, I asked what am I to do now, it's between the two you said was perfect. Now he says well it sycological I guess , the butt sleave is to dark. He has returned the cue, and I vasilating on wheather to cut cue apart, or just return his money. Don't know if he'll ever be happy??/ Thanks Jim
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There is no doubt in my mind that I would return the money and find a new home for the cue. Life is way to short to have to be aggravated by someones physic.

Dick
 
macguy said:
Hopefully you will do the best job you can every time. Sometimes people just look to complain and sometimes it is your fault. Just be honest and do the best you can, thats all you can do. Here is a tip though and I bet others will agree. If the customer gives clues right from the beginning they are a problem customer, don't deal with them. Some people can be kind of nut's sometimes and who needs the aggravation.
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I whole heartedly agree. I turn down building for approximately 25% of customers request. I just don't need money bad enough for the aggravation.

Dick
 
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