Problem Customers

Bmgillum

Bmgillum

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In a separate thread about the most stressful part of knifemaking, three makers said that dealing with customers was theirs...

I’m curious...what are the things that difficult customers do that irritate/stress you the most?...I just want to see how many I am guilty of...

Cheers/bg
 
I'm not a knife maker, but if you read enough threads on here, both concerning custom and mass produced knives, you'll see exactly what shineyedges is talking about. It seems to me that there are simply some people that can never be pleased.
 
Been in business for a looooooong time and can commiserate.
Especially with the advent of those pesky interwebs.
Been in HVAC for well over 40 years. I love when a customer checked out a web site and wants to tell me what’s wrong.....AND how much it will cost to repair. Really??? Then why the ^#^} did you call me??
Fun times!
 
palonej said:
Been in business for a looooooong time and can commiserate.
Especially with the advent of those pesky interwebs.
Been in HVAC for well over 40 years. I love when a customer checked out a web site and wants to tell me what’s wrong.....AND how much it will cost to repair. Really??? Then why the ^#^} did you call me??
Fun times!
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40 years? Wow , I always thought you were younger than me for some reason. Must be your youthful banter :thumbsup:
 
^^ Haha that's the way to be.

Back to topic , I can't imagine having a whiny , nagging customer hound me day and night for a knife (or whatever product). I think some people think that they're the ONLY customer in the world and that they come before anything and everything else.
My hats off to the knife makers who constantly have to deal with such annoyances.
 
Not a knife maker, but a business owner and these are some of the top: Customers who assume they are more knowledgeable than you, if that's the case, do it yourself. Customers with vague initial requests at the beginning that turn into particular complaints at the end, we cannot read minds. Customers who do not accept our timeframe or have an unrealistic idea of it, telling us you need X done at Y time is okay if done beforehand as we can tell you if it's possible, telling us halfway through will just leave everyone angry (note: if we don't deliver on our estimated timeframe that's on us). Customers only focused on price, or who are trying to leverage competitors pricing against us (note:I don't blame them, everyone wants dollars to go far, still annoying) we are not our competitors, we are not the cheapest in town and there is a reason. Customers that are simply rude or thankless, we pride ourselves on being pleasant and professional, don't ass it up on your end.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Not a knife maker, but a business owner and these are some of the top: Customers who assume they are more knowledgeable than you, if that's the case, do it yourself. Customers with vague initial requests at the beginning that turn into particular complaints at the end, we cannot read minds. Customers who do not accept our timeframe or have an unrealistic idea of it, telling us you need X done at Y time is okay if done beforehand as we can tell you if it's possible, telling us halfway through will just leave everyone angry (note: if we don't deliver on our estimated timeframe that's on us). Customers only focused on price, or who are trying to leverage competitors pricing against us (note:I don't blame them, everyone wants dollars to go far, still annoying) we are not our competitors, we are not the cheapest in town and there is a reason. Customers that are simply rude or thankless, we pride ourselves on being pleasant and professional, don't ass it up on your end.
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You just described about half of my customers Richard!! They are the ones that get hit with very creative pricing!!
Joe
 
I don't make knives, I simply don't have the skill for it. But the kind of crap I could tell you guys about with problematic customers that have been encountered over the years. Some of what I've had to deal with as a repairman is stuff you just don't find in other occupations.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Not a knife maker, but a business owner and these are some of the top: Customers who assume they are more knowledgeable than you, if that's the case, do it yourself. Customers with vague initial requests at the beginning that turn into particular complaints at the end, we cannot read minds. Customers who do not accept our timeframe or have an unrealistic idea of it, telling us you need X done at Y time is okay if done beforehand as we can tell you if it's possible, telling us halfway through will just leave everyone angry (note: if we don't deliver on our estimated timeframe that's on us). Customers only focused on price, or who are trying to leverage competitors pricing against us (note:I don't blame them, everyone wants dollars to go far, still annoying) we are not our competitors, we are not the cheapest in town and there is a reason. Customers that are simply rude or thankless, we pride ourselves on being pleasant and professional, don't ass it up on your end.
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"Ass it up" , hahaha. That's great. I'm using that.
 
These are some of the reasons I chose a career where I don't deal with the public! Because sooner or later (probably sooner than later;))
I would end up telling someone where they could go and what they could do when they got there!:mad:
 
Oh, one last thing I forgot, when dealing with a small business with a good customer base you are dead wrong if you think the customer is always right. As a business owner I don't want every customer, I want good, repeat customers that are pleasant to deal with (and if this describes you, you are MUCH more likely to get a bit of special treatment), but I actively do not want bad clients and will happily fire them.
 
danbot said:
These are some of the reasons I chose a career where I don't deal with the public! Because sooner or later (probably sooner than later;))
I would end up telling someone where they could go and what they could do when they got there!:mad:
Click to expand...

This describes me...of the 42 years I worked only about one was dealing with the public...I watch how rude some of the folks around here to service providers and it just reaffirms that I would not have fared well at all dealing with the public...

Cheers/bg
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Oh, one last thing I forgot, when dealing with a small business with a good customer base you are dead wrong if you think the customer is always right. As a business owner I don't want every customer, I want good, repeat customers that are pleasant to deal with (and if this describes you, you are MUCH more likely to get a bit of special treatment), but I actively do not want bad clients and will happily fire them.
Click to expand...

Nail meet hammer. How true!
I have a bunch of customers that have been with me for 25 years........most of them start a phone conversation with, come by when you get a chance. They get treated very well.
Others will call at 1:00 in the morn for a small water leak in an unfinished basement demanding I come over immediately. If I did go, they’d bitch about the price.
Ugh
 
in my field similar to palonej's....we live by the fair, honest and reasonable customer is always right.

i also go by....if the uneducated in the field customer tries to engineer the job walk away.

i deal with many fools all day long but i realized many have zero money saved and zero credit so they get crazy cheap and love to try to figure out how to pass the bill back or push it somewhere else and their logic is crazy.

its changed from when i started. folks used to be polite, used to be patient and used to be happy when you got there.

now they want everything right now and quite nasty sometimes and dont want to pay their bills. they so love to threaten bad online google and such reviews as a weapon of give it to me for free or else. its quite a world we live in. good thing there are still many good folks out there....but every year there is more of the bad ones. i do believe its due to having zero budgeting for anything and no money and no credit. their own fault but this seems to be the crux of the problems. they wont admit it but it always seems to fall in line with this bad behavior.

so dont act like that and youre good.:)
 
I made knives for 5 years , I had a lot of enjoyable customers and I can only really remember one really annoying customer . Basically it went like this . All knife makers lie , He wouldn't even let me procure the steel for his projects . At the time I met this customer I was very green and I am sure he picked up on that but it was insulting that he would send me the steel . Both knives I made for him warped in the quench and required a lot of time straightening them . He would send me templates to and then he would change designs and would just try and micromanage everything .

I run a small contracting business and I have extensive customer service experience . At the end of the day he probably made me a better maker but I declined to work with him after the second one . If I was giving someone advice on how to deal with a knifemaker I would let them lay out the ground work for your project , Then give your input decide on a timeframe and price , Send a small deposit only ! I liked to get $50 bucks just so the person had something to loose if they bailed , That only happened a couple times but is still a crappy thing to do . Try very hard to stay with original concept and lastly don't bug the man until a week or so around deadline time to discuss final payment . When my skills improved I went to a build and sell policy and for me that was better . I just have seen so many bad threads because obligations were not met or a order was just rushed . Its really a two way street making a hand built items ... I enjoyed my time making knives and I still make them on the side but mostly one offs for myself and friends .
 
Not a knife maker but have dealt with the public or people quite often in my work through the years ...

I think if we would just shut down the power grid and shut of all running water to the home shut down computers and cell phones and leave it that way for 30 to 45 days ...

I think most customers and people that we had left after ... would be the type we used to get to deal with and work for ... and the "instantant gratification" crowd ... well I reckon they'd be few and far between.

Maybe that sounds harsh ... but I believe it would be true.
 
JJ_Colt45 said:
Not a knife maker but have dealt with the public or people quite often in my work through the years ...

I think if we would just shut down the power grid and shut of all running water to the home shut down computers and cell phones and leave it that way for 30 to 45 days ...

I think most customers and people that we had left after ... would be the type we used to get to deal with and work for ... and the "instantant gratification" crowd ... well I reckon they'd be few and far between.

Maybe that sounds harsh ... but I believe it would be true.
Click to expand...
Of course you'd kill a whole passle of people like me with various medical conditions, but small price there, eh, partner?
 
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