Customer - delighted and disgruntled?

Create a Post
S

sabre

Grumbler
Joined
Mar 9, 2004
Posts
15
Location
New London, MN
We had an interesting incident this morning. A customer came in to pick up two small pieces - 4x6 photo cards by a local photographer that we framed for $36.00 each. She had previously done 3 other identical pieces, that she had picked up and paid for. She liked them so much she requested these additional 2.
Now get this - When she picked up the two pieces today and paid for them, she complained about the price and said she would never come back again!
It was certainly no surprise how much they cost. They were identical to the previous pieces. We showed here the cost breakdown and how it was exactly what she paid before and how we even gave a discount on the mats. We also explained that our prices are very competitive and she was welcome to price compare with other places.
My wife and I are both still stunned by this...
faintthud.gif
 
She was probably having a bad day for some other reason, and you were the first person to cross her path. If she does follow through on her pledge (which I doubt), she will go somewhere else once and find out their quality is not as good, the people are no fun to deal with, and the prices were no less than yours- then she'll be back.
:cool: Rick
I know an incident like that can take the wind out of your sails, but don't be discouraged or lose sleep over it.
 
"Post full moon syndrome".

We had a waitress with 'attitude' this morning. Our entire table wanted to leave her a Midol for her tip.

This too shall pass!! We just gotta "pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start all over again"!
beer.gif
 
As framers, we tend to take these incidents WAY too personally. I always did.

After spending fifteen months taking 50-100 calls each day about health insurance, I'm finally developing a very thick skin. That would have served me well in dealing with the occasional testy framing customer.
 
Originally posted by Sherry Lee:
"Post full moon syndrome".
Click to expand...
Funny you should mention the moon...I wasn't going to say anything, but...well. Some of todays threads have been kind of curious today. Its made me think of the full moon syndrome quite a bit.

Is it my imagination????

 
How old was this lady? Maybe she is entering into the early stages of dimentia and didn't remember how much she paid. Had a client once that was easily in her 80s. She was a person of wealth. She brought in a nice little 19th century pastoral canvas to be reframed. She went with a $1600.00 Louis XV frame to replace her old beat up frame. She came in and picked it up when it was done and said how wonderful it looked. The next day she calls us up and informs us that she has canceled payment on her check and accused us of just rubbing some gold on her old frame and giving it back to her. We could do nothing to disued her of this notion. We finaly took the frame back and sent her on her way. The frame is still hanging in the back of the shop like an albatros.
 
Originally posted by Sherry Lee:
Nope!! Having been an Emergency Room RN, I can absolutely validate "Full Moon Syndrome"! It would make a GREAT book! :eek:
Click to expand...
I'm sorry , Sherry Lee gets honerable mention...you can't debunk an Emergency RN Nurse....hah!!!!

Thers is were we all chant.."go Sherry..go Sherry"
 
Sabre,

I'm wondering why your customer had a sudden change of opinion about the price you charged - she was happy with it previously.

$36 is dirt cheap for a custom frame of any size, as the labor is practically the same for a 4x6-inch frame as it is for a 24x36-inch frame.

I would call your customer and ask why she suddenly was dissatisfied?

My guess is that one of your competitors fed her a line, or she compared the price to a ready-made that she saw in a Target or Walmart. Explain that you don't want to lose her as a customer, but by all means ask why?

The info will be useful even if she never comes back and it will show you care about retaining her business so she'll be less likely to badmouth you.
 
Sabre, I would only send her a thank you note. I wouldn't get into the "why" she was dissatisfied. Obviously she was being unreasonable. No reason to give her another opportunity to sing the same song. But, in the ty note, I'd say something like "Your selection of custom framing for your cards was lovely. I know you'll enjoy the grouping for many, many years." (That sorta cuts to the chase on $36 each spread over the rest of her life).
 
FramerDave,

"Researchers" can take numbers, facts and theories to make outcomes very convincing. I suspect that is why we have so many "GREAT" drugs on the market now that are eventually pulled.

All I can tell you is.....I don't know of an obstetrical, mental health or emergency room staff member that doesn't believe in the "Full Moon Syndrome" - and if it's not due to the full moon, then what might it be??? It is certainly not the 'heads or tails' phenomenon that Cecil presents.....you can trust me or not on that one! I wonder if Cecil ever had any experience on the front lines.......and if so, for what period of time.
 
It's not only medical personell who kow about this. Bartenders also see it during a full moon. Many times when I worked at a bar, we would look at each other and comment on how weird it is in the bar that nite. Sure enough, we'd go outside and there was a full moon.

So debunk all you want, we know what we know!
 
Saturday's Wall Street Journal had an article about science exploring the roots of happiness.

A professor of psychology and neuroscience at Stanford said of a study he did that "People get more satisfaction and happiness from the anticipation of a purchase than from taking ownership of the item itself."

It sounds like your customer took that to the extreme in this case!


nuts.gif


I wonder if it might also explain why we have 8 items in the back room that have been waiting for the customers to pick up for over a year.
 
There are a few reasons that "we know what we know."

One is something called confirmation bias. Everyone has heard of the full moon effect, and I'm sure ER personnell, EMT's, etc. were all told about it as rookies. So you expect it to happen, and when something weird does happen during a full moon, it confirms what you expect. But we tend to forget about all the weird things that don't happen during a full moon, and the slow times that happen to fall during a full moon.

There's also communal reinforcement. Thousands of years of lunar mythology tells us that the moon has some mysterious effect on us, and it's become part of our common belief. So of course we have culture telling us that it's true, and people repaeat tales without ever questioning them.

But the thing is, many studies have found no meaningful correlation of suicides, homocides, violent behaviour, etc. during full moons as opposed to other times of the month.

I don't know about you, but I'll take the word of a rational study over anecdotal evidence or an appeal to authority any day.
 
Originally posted by Steph:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Sherry Lee:
[qb] "Post full moon syndrome".
Click to expand...
Funny you should mention the moon...I wasn't going to say anything, but...well. Some of todays threads have been kind of curious today. Its made me think of the full moon syndrome quite a bit.

Is it my imagination????
</font>[/QUOTE]My first job with the telco was as a long distance operator in the days of the manual cord boards and switchboards. Full moon nights were most of our second least popular nights to work. The least favorite was Welfare Wednesday!

Boy are there stories coming from that job.....I was a cruel cruel boy!

James
 
Originally posted by FramerDave:
There are a few reasons that "we know what we know."

One is something called confirmation bias. Everyone has heard of the full moon effect, and I'm sure ER personnell, EMT's, etc. were all told about it as rookies. So you expect it to happen, and when something weird does happen during a full moon, it confirms what you expect. But we tend to forget about all the weird things that don't happen during a full moon, and the slow times that happen to fall during a full moon.

There's also communal reinforcement. Thousands of years of lunar mythology tells us that the moon has some mysterious effect on us, and it's become part of our common belief. So of course we have culture telling us that it's true, and people repaeat tales without ever questioning them.

But the thing is, many studies have found no meaningful correlation of suicides, homocides, violent behaviour, etc. during full moons as opposed to other times of the month.

I don't know about you, but I'll take the word of a rational study over anecdotal evidence or an appeal to authority any day.
Click to expand...
I'll take it as something fun and harmless. I also remember that if other people believe it, it may affect their interactions with others, no matter how unfounded in science it is.

James
 
This sounds like a severe case of "buyer's remorse". She liked it at the time but, as Paul Cascio suggested, something changed her mind. Maybe it was her hubby, or a neighbor, or a comment on TV. Who knows? Even she, herself, might not be able to identify the inspiration for her change of attitude.

Buyer's remorse is not necessarily about the price, but it is always about the customer's perception of the frame design interaction. I guess she made her decision to buy the design on what turned out to be weak justification, at least in her mind.

That's why it is so important for frame designers to help customers have a hand in the design process. I want every customer to "own" the frame design and understand everything about it, including the price.

On the other hand, if a customer says she wants to rely heavily on the designer's "expertise", it could be that she's hoping the designer would guess what she likes. If that didn't happen, maybe she decided -- temporarily -- that the designer knew best.

If she had gone away from the design table with a complete understanding of how and why the design and the price are what they are, and if she had felt a sense of personal ownership of the decisions, then she probably would have been armed with enough information and emotional attachment to defend her original decisions against negative influences.
 
I had a customer come in today and tell me that she 'hates coming in here' but since we do such a good job that she keeps coming back. She said that she hates paying for framing but that she needs it. She just wanted to 'let me know how much it pains her to come in'

How miserable do you have to be? I mean seriously...YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET THAT FRAMED...No, really, you don't. I appreciate your business and I will be friendly to you and courteous, but coming in harbouring a terrible mood and being rude to me isn't going to help your day any and will only ruin mine.

If it's that painful, why tell me? Is it necessary for you to be hateful to every person you cross?

This is the third time I have dealt with this woman and each time she's been more gruff and rude.
 
Belinda, in a perfect world, you could tell her what you REALLY think! Wouldn't it make you feel great to tell her that you understand how she feels? Cause you hate to see her coming in, but you sure do love hearing the cash register ring. LOL
 
What if you were honest and told her "I hate it when you come in here too, but I like having the money you bring."... just a thought.
 
Full Moon:
has anyone ever considered the fact that it is just lighter outside. nothing more than that..Last centruy when I was in my early 20's I worked for the criminally insane on a mental health ward at a state prison. Worked somthing like 10 + years their.
We saw it all and the weirdest of it all seem to take place on full moon nights. The only conclusion we could come to was it was lighter outside their windows at night. Durring the daytime nothing seemed different, just at night.
About the only thing the moon takes charge of around here is the tides..I live on the ocean. My mood doesn't change a bit from one moon to another.
 
Another good reason for deposits on orders. If she came in and only had to fork over $ 36.00 to receive the work, she may have thought differently and forgotten the deposit she already paid.

I agree that $ 36.00 for any custom frame job is not at all unreasonable. Material costs are negligable, but didn't it take at least an hour to reciever her work, write up the order, do the framing and have her pick up the work and ring it through the register? At $ 60.00 an hour shop time you definately didn't over charge...not to mention the grief you had to endure.

Dave Makielski
 
Create a Post
Back
Top