A Crusty Tries To Push A Supervisor Around, Gets Handled

Greeting everyone from the Great North Woods of Wisconny! It's snowing and the temperature is dropping. We hit our high today of 25F at 7am. Fun fun fun!

LSofNW and I think I have a situation? I'm honestly not sure if I do or not. Like a lot of businesses, we belong to the BBB, Better Business Bureau.We arean A+ thank you! However, I received a complaint this morning that I'm just not sure about. The best part is the resolution they want: an apology from the boss.

There is no dispute on the price, I even get complimented in the complaint (because I'm awesome). There is no issue with the product or installer, he even got compliments in the complaint (because he is awesome). The issue is really between the boss and the hubby.

Please let me take this time to preface the situation. It's the end of July, we have someone who wants a bay window and some new siding. Great! That is just what we do and we do it well. Installation time takes place in October; 10/25/12 - 11/07/12 to be exact. During installation, customer calls and wants to have us look at their patio door - we do that too! When the boss went over the hubby was drunk..... and here is where our issues start.

This is not just a good ol' Wisconsin drunk, he is an alcoholic. Shitfaced by 3pm (because what else are you to do when you retire) and raring to fight with anyone. I'm not sure if I've ever explained about my boss but he is not to be messed with. He takes no shit and will say what is on his mind. So, when boss goes for patio doorappt, customer starts by putting down the boss, stating we overcharged them, telling us that he could have done the job by himself, etc. Boss tries to get through appt with wifey while she is trying to get hubby to shut the hell up; to no avail. Finally, the boss excuses himself stating that he can come back at a better time and leaves.

The next day when the bay window is set for installation, was where the "real" troubles started. Said bay window comes with an unfinished seat - the entire area of the seat is maybe 3 square feet. Customer instantly pitched a major fit when they saw it. We heard everything in the book: we promised we would do it, we never mentioned it, we offered to have the factory do it. None of this is true. In fact, on the customers contract, directly above where they sign, it states in 14pt. bold Times New Roman that we do not do any staining or painting. On this particular contract, the salesman even starred it when they were signing. This is our inter-office signal that they did in fact review the paint/stain clause with the customer. This type of situation is exactly why we starting doing this and has saved our butts before. Customer will not be sated! We must stain it and stain it now or she is not paying. Again, bossman really hates to be pushed and he counters with if you don't pay, we'll exercise our lien rights.

This is the only legal option that contractor's have to use. We cannot stop the work because that shows bad intent. You can wait, then go to court, because that can take up to 60 days and costs $85 to file and $45 to serve. So, contractors have a clause on their contracts talking about WI lien laws, this is your initial notice. We simply file 1 piece of paper with the courthouse and then the lien is on file. Then, both sides have 30 days to come to an agreement. Well, customer stained the seat, with the installer's help, and the installer collected the balance (and earned a $100 reward for doing so) when he was done. The project was complete and the customer never had to deal with the boss again. Or so I thought.

Then, we received the BBB complaint this morning. No dispute on the price, no dispute on the product, no real dispute at all. Wifey is unhappy with the boss and wants an apology. Here is my problem: IT'S BEEN 3 MONTHS!!!! 3 months and they are still stewing? I treated them extremely well, the installer treated them above & beyond well, but because my boss stood up for himself and called your hubby a name (drunk asshole), we owe you an apology. Good luck with that because he was a drunk asshole. The thing is, my boss does apologize, whenever he has been in the wrong, he has always taken responsibility and apologized - if it was to me, then I get chocolate too and maybe a cake or a grape slushy from DQ! MMMMM grape slushy.

My answer to the BBB was to the way of the high road and I did not mention the customer or her hubby at all. I simply stated this job has been complete since November and there is no dispute over the product. Account has been paid and I also attached the original contract with the customer's signature next to the starred No Stain clause. Should I force the boss to apologize? He will if I make him.

Now, said lady is going to go on all over the internet to tarnish our name. She actually put, "Others to be aware of the type of owner runs this business and how he treats his customers."I looked into one of those online reputation saver places and it's $500 a month! We'll see how it goes but I am ready to get out of the service industry. We've been looking into different franchises to get back into retail - and now you know how nuts I must be for even thinking about it!

On a side note - thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions about the tax credit situation. And for the person who wrote the paragraphs, yeah, I copied all of that. It was great and I used it well!

--Little Slave in the Big Northwoods

Comments

[The Last Archimedean]

I think the only person who needs to be apologizing is the woman's husband, for being a drunk arsehole. And the woman needs to stop trying to damage your reputation. Threaten to sue her for slander if she posts anything negative. Your company did nothing wrong.

[Call Center Slave1]

We Apologize that you were upset about the circumstances that unfolded during the installation

is that subtle enough or should i retake the BS class...lol

[The Worst]

Personally, I don't think Boss has anything to apologize for. That lady is a wackadoodle. The only possible benefit could be her taking down whatever she posted online, but who knows if she'll even take the time to do that.

[LSinNW]

Call Center Slave1 - that is great! I wrote it down.

[Skittles]

Why not give the BBB the whole run down. It would help them to understand the full nature of the situation and decide if the complaint had merrit. As far as the stuff they are posting online look into the libel laws, it may be worth going after them if it seems to be affecting the business.