Repair service, or the lack of it.

[Brian Mervau]

Several times lately I have been reminded that service business's are not manned by <br />people that have service in mind. It seems that some have their own agendas and schedules<br />and if that doesn't fit with customers then they are no longer "customers". I grew up in my dad's <br />small town grocery store in a little town in Michigan. I was thought that you must do what ever it <br />took to give people what they wanted, no mater what. We would put up and deliver special orders, <br />fill jugs of vinegar in the back room, replace busted windows, special order "stuff" that would <br />be delivered by GreyHound buss then store it for them until they could pick it up. <br />Make a long story short my dad taught me what the work ethic means and how to make people <br />want to come back and get more of what ever it is I was selling, or offering in life. To bad other dads <br />didn't do as good a job. Last winter my wife bought me an electric anchor for my fishing boat. <br />I was a gift I wanted and appreciated but I think she was tired of pulling the rope whenever she <br />went along. Anyway it was a great gift and it made me happy. I went into R & S Boats in Rome City, Indiana <br />to make an appointment for the "simple installation" or so the box said. I was told that it would be <br />a month before they could get to it which didn’t seem unreasonable as it was spring, so I made the <br />schedule and wrote it on my calendar. On the appointed day, a Friday, I left work early so I would <br />be sure to get my boat to R & S on time and I could park it where they wanted it. I didn't realize it<br /> but I had a flat tire on my trailer and had to deal with that first. <br /> When I got to R & S I was met by an overly busy "service" person and when I told him my name he <br />started into a tirade about how he didn’t want to install an electric device in an old boat and he just<br />knew it would take to long and he couldn't tie up his people like that. I said that I sure wished that<br />I was told that when I make that appointment or that I would have been given a call. He mumbled <br />something under his breath and I left with my ego bruised and my feelings hurt. <br />He blamed the "girl" that made that date and said she should have known he didn't do that.<br />If you go into that store you will see that they sell the same unit on their shelf. I might add that last <br />summer I had work done on my "old" boat and they were more than happy to take my money then. <br /> My whole point is why can't we treat each other the way my dad did. To bad not enough of us <br />listened. And to bad insensitive people have jobs that deal with our lives and passions. And to some <br />of us to sit in a boat on a beautiful morning listening to the loons and maybe catch a fish or two is <br />truly a passion. To bad my wife has to still work the rope! <br /><br />Brian Mervau<br />0060e 405s<br />LaGrange, In 46761<br />219-463-7987<br />emervau@kuntrynet.com

 

[krosemond]

Re: Repair service, or the lack of it.

Brian,<br />Service for altruistic purposes doesn't exist in the free enterprise system. However, those of us who view good service as a business objective get our own self serving outcome, return customers. I don't think you will ever use that shop again, and you will most likely tell everyone you know not to use them. Eventually, he will not have any customers.<br /><br />The closest thing I have seen to altruism is the guys on this board who help us fix our boats who really have no chance of financial gain for doing so. Aside from the fact that I am sure that they learn a lot from each other during these posts that helps them service their real customers better.