Sometimes we get a reminder to show us what customer service is all about. (or not about, as the case may be…) Yesterday I had one of those reminders.
I have a couple of watches where I wanted to switch the bands from one to the other. Same size watches, same manufacturer – should be an easy task, right?
I stopped by the local “fine jeweler” yesterday to see if he could do it for me. (Howard & Blum is next door to The Java Grounds – a great coffee cafe near my house.) The conversation went something like this:
CB: Can you switch these two watches’ bands for me?
H&B: Maybe.
CB: What do you mean, maybe?
H&B: I won’t know until I take them off & look at them. It’ll cost $12.
CB: Wait – I have to pay the full price, even if you don’t switch them? (at this point I’m just fishing; who knows what he’s going to say, right?)
H&B: Takes me the same amount of work. You don’t work for free, do you?
CB: laughs. Sometimes. – I’m a Realtor. I work my butt off & give everybody my best effort, all the time, and I only get paid if or when a transaction successfully closes escrow. So I only get paid for successful results.H&B: Pauses and looks at me for a minute with disdain. Then pushes the watch back across the counter at me and grimaces before muttering “fix it yourself” and walking away.
Thanks, Howard & Blum. I needed that little reminder of How NOT to Win Friends and Influence People.
Your stunned and shaking his head Realtor,
Chris Butterworth
