Warranties and
Reputations
I'm Gill Thomas Founder
and President of CA&I of Atlanta and Charlotte. I am
getting through the business of my day and it's not so
much furniture assembly yet more so the client services
focus I'm relating to. CA&I is primarily a service based
company that provides on-site assembly and installation
of furniture, general merchandise and specialty products
that require partial or full assembly. On most days we
get the job done without even a whisper from our clients
and I take it from time to time that we have done a
great job and the client is totally satisfied with every
aspect of our services.
From time to time there
are the clients whose reasonable expectation of service
has been exceptional and I get the call that the
technician was timely, communicated well when answering
questions, pointed out potential problems that would
impede his or hers progress and offered suggestions to
help remedy the situation, performed the assembly with
masterly expertise, stacked the waste neatly and above
all respected the clients premises and turned in the
check within the required 2 day turnaround. To that end
our warranty worked into the mutual favor of the client
who feels good about the service and fees, the
technician who got the job done without complications
and fulfilled his obligations to the client and the
company and then there's the company who closes out
another great job and get a potential repeat client.
A beautiful day indeed!
Then there's the situation when the client’s reasonable
expectation is totally obliterated by the company and
now the real test of the warranty comes into play. I am
going to let the UAN membership of independent company
owners see just what happens and just what happened in
regard to the warranty issue all of us face.
The question I had to
ask myself and I have answered it a number of years ago
is simply this, "Am I going to honor my word or not?"...
I always answer that question the way you are about to
read in the email correspondence between one of my
clients and myself about a service call one of my
technicians took on and utterly failed to meet even the
basic element of expectations. Please take note and ask
yourself and your team what does the warranty mean to
you and them as individuals and the answers vary and
that's why it is your business to have a policy in play
that you can back up without question or fail....enjoy!
I have copied and pasted the entire text communications
between myself and our client.
The initial complaint
came to me as follows:
Dear Mr. Thomas,
I am
writing to bring up an unpleasant experience we have
with your installation job done at our condo yesterday.
Your technician, Michael, came to put up the curtain
rods on Wednesday. After spending quite some time here
he realized that the drill he brought could not do the
job. I was kind to let your technician to come back the
next day to do the job. Michael told me he would come
back at 7.30am to drill the holes and put up the rod,
*it would only take 30mins*. I specifically told him I
had to leave the condo at 8.20-8.25am to send my
daughter to school. He did not show up at 7.30am. At
about 8am, I spoke to him; he told me he would be here
in 20mins time. I told him it was not possible since we
have to leave the home at about 8.20am. He asked what
time would I come home, I told him I would be home from
11-12noon. When I reached home at 11am I called him and
he said he would come in 20mins time. He came and after
putting up one ceiling mount in one room, he said he
needed to move his car and re-parked in front of the
building. I would have asked him to park in the deck if
the whole installation would take more than 30mins. It
was about 12noon. Almost half an hour and he still did
not come back.
I was so late to pick up my daughter from school. I
called him and he said to call him once I got back home
and he would come back. At about 2pm Michael came back
after I called him to let him know. When asked, he
explained to me that a piece of concrete went inside his
eye so he was actually in a restroom when I called him.
I gave him the benefit of the doubt. So the actual
drilling started and work was being done. An hour or
more later Michael left, I hired some cleaners to clean
up the place since my husband was flying home that night
and he is very sensitive to dust. Not to mention my 5
year old is just as sensitive. Today we tried to put up
the curtains, only then we realized the installation was
not done properly. My husband is now very mad at me for
being too trusting and not paying attention to the work
done. There are a few things below we want to highlight
to you:
1) 2 ceiling mounts (Kvartal) were loose and not
securely drilled all the way to the ceiling,
2) many of the ceiling mounts were in crooked positions
3) Some items which I thought were of no use (end caps
and allen-key), only being told by my husband we
actually need them. Michael has taken them
away with him without telling me I should really keep
them.
4) We have 3 extra packets of the ceiling mount. When
Michael dropped one of the small screws when he tried to
drill the last mount on the ceiling, I said he could
open one of the 3 extras. After he left, I found 3
packets of ceiling mount were opened. I did not even
suspect anything until my husband pointed out all the
small screws were missing. The whole
installation job was done in such an unprofessional
manner. We are very disappointed with your service and
demand for either a re-work on this installation or a
full refund. If you chose to re-work this installation,
Michael is not welcome back. I would appreciate if you
could personally finish the job If this issue is not
resolve to our satisfactory, we will report this to all
media I have access to, including IKEA Atlanta and the
Better Business Bureau. That being said, I have full
confident that you will resolve this effectively and
efficiently.
Thank you,
Theresa
After thinking it all over the warranty has to be
applied and I stood by CA&I and it cost us!
On Sat, Jan 24, 2009 at 10:45 AM, I wrote:
Dear Mrs. Ho,
I am
returning your check in the amount of $162.00 for the
failed service performance our technician Michael
Crigler. I understand as a consumer and services
provider. I apologize deeply and hope that you will
forgive his inept and unprofessional manner. I deeply am
sorry and offer your money back. CA&I as a company can
say that anytime we have had such a situation I have
always done the right thing to resolve the issues and as
per your request I am returning your fees. I feel that
having any of our staff revisit the site might be a bit
trying for us all with expectations heightened and
anxiousness abounding. Again please accept my personal
apology and Michael has been placed on administrative
leave for 30-days without pay as a result of our inquiry
in to his poor and unsatisfactory performance.
Sincerely,
Gill
Thomas for CA&I
The response from my
email was:
Dear Mr. Thomas,
I
received the voided check last night. I am going to send
out another check to you. Please let me know the exact
amount (my husband who is out of town has mentioned you
would like to give us a discount, thank you) and the
address I should send the check to. We appreciate the
way you do business. Jan, my neighbor whom had the honor
to have you and your son at her place before, said you
are a good and honest person which I completely agree.
Despite our bad experience last week which made my
husband really crossed at me at first, we would still
recommend your service to anyone who wants any
installation job done. My husband is happy that Michael
came back and fixed all the problems. I in no way want
to see anyone lose a pay or even a job due to any
installation job not done correctly. I look forward to
your providing me with the needed info.
Thank you :)
Theresa
Now we have the building of
what’s known as a reputable business practice and here
is the payoff for CA&I!
Dear Mr. Thomas,
Thank you for providing me the info. I have written a
check of $100 and will be sending out first thing in the
morning. Once again, thank you for standing behind the
work. You have been great.
Thanks!
Theresa.
It pays to have a
warranty you can stick by because in the end the only
looser in the client services industry is the service
provider... you have to earn your reputation!
Sincerely,
Gill Thomas
CA&I
