Why Don’t Businesses Want My Money?

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 8:11 - By The David

Posted in category customer service, home improvement, recession

I recently had a surprising experience with customer service. Or pre-customer service, as it were.

As you may know from previous posts, I have a problem with drainage on my property, and have made it a priority to fix. I have water flowing towards the house in a few places, and that could cause problems with my basement walls and foundation.

To fix it, I decided to put in additional drainage in three spots, as well as a small retaining wall to make sure I fix the problem the first time. Because of the importance of drainage (and the difficulty I had in putting in a previous retaining wall), I decided to hire someone to do this project.

I used the yellow pages to find contractors in the surrounding area that specialize in the type of work I need. I called 10 people, and asked to setup a time for an in-person interview. Even though I contacted the businesses and basically said: “I’m looking to spend several thousand dollars. Will you help me?”, only 5 called me back.

Of those 5, only one person showed up on time. The rest showed one hour late, two hours late, five hours late (showing up at 5:30 on a Friday night without calling first), and a day late (although they did at least call before showing up on Saturday).

After an in-person inspection, four of the companies promised a written estimate as soon as possible. One expected me to pay him $5000 without so much as a written estimate or statement of work. No thanks.

And even though it’s been two business days (four days altogether), I still only have one estimate. It’s no surprise that it’s from the lone company that showed up on time.

Simply put, I’m amazed with the lack of professionalism.

We’re in a recession, right? Shouldn’t businesses be trying harder for my business? I thought I’d be an ideal customer: someone with an urgent need to have thousands of dollars of work done, and wants to pay for it in cash. Maybe I’m just weird to expect customer service to improve when the market is more competitive and demand for work is down.

I had hoped that companies would act like they are eager for my business. At the very least, I expected them to return my calls, show up on time, and follow through on their word in a prompt manner.

I know that not all businesses are not like this, and the ones that practice good customer service are the ones that will survive the recession. As for me, I’ll be “voting with my dollars”, and going with the only company that showed up on time and gave me an estimate when they said they would.

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Tags: customer service, home improvement, yardwork

Patrice@SeekWisdom

I'm a little amazed at how many people think you should understand or accept the lack of professionalism from these guys. Even if the bottom line isn't what they'd desire, am I wrong for believing that in this economy, some money is better than no money?

I've had my fair share of subcontractor woes over the last several months. My hubby and I rehabbed a 4 unit building in New Orleans and went through 4 electricians and 3 plumbers. Despite the referrals and on time original appointments, many still turned out to be bums! I understand your surpise and frustration. Check out my blog entry on a similiar topic: http://seekwisdomfindwealth.blogspot.com/2009/0....

Good Luck with the project!

Kevin Cesarz

I am amazed, as well. Busy? Expand. If you hang out a shingle and do not jump to provide the 'entry point' connection, why bother. At the very least, say, "I'm swamped, but I recommend this contractor." I was at a Starbucks the other day and was amused at the smug, robotic greetings and lack of genuine customer service. Isn't this company dying to improve their bottom line? How about a basic business model of giving free coffee to vets or older people to at least gain a set of humans to exchange greetings and wisecracks with. I know, I'm stretching here to connect social media to live human interaction. Maybe businesses got so used to the volume of sales that they lost the conversation skills that are so critical now to complete a sale.

The David

I really don't mind people not calling me back, but the people that did can at least show basic courtesy.

It's like you said...sometimes even someone just smiling and asking how your day is going can make a big difference, especially when it's someone's first introduction to your business.

Joe B

David,

Keep calling contractors, get references from ones that seem professional, if they seem offended by that keep looking. Drainage is no joke, don't hire a hack.

Like amy said the contractor will be lucky to make any money on a $5000 job. To you it's a big chunk of change, to the contractor it may not be worth the run around necessary to make it happen.

Many contractors are bad at business. The margins in the residential market can be great, but for the most part you get undercut my unlicensed hacks or the HO will have their brother in law come and help them once they get the estimate of what it will cost for a professional company to do it.

I owned a landscaping company for 2 years and my business model collapsed. I provided great service, we had someone answer the phone almost all the time during business hours, showed up for every appointment on time or called and rescheduled with plenty of time in advance, but all that stuff costs money. Maybe not hard cash, but opportunity cost. After barely making any money for two years, we determined what prices we needed to charge to make things worthwhile and all our customers who had loved us, disappeared.

Well you live and you learn.

The David

I plan on asking for references after I get all the estimates back.

I've found out firsthand how much of a problem drainage can be, so that's why I'm not doing it myself. I want to make sure this gets fixed.

I've also seen the undercutters first hand. One contractor was someone not much older (or knowledgeable) than myself, and his bid was less than half of what the others have been. I won't even consider him.

That's interesting that the margin is so low on redisential work... I had no idea that it was so difficult.

DivorcedDadFrugalDad

David, Have you considered a houseboat to solve your problem? Just kidding . . .

Contractors are hit or miss. I ran a home improvement business as a sideline several years ago and I found I got plenty of repeat business and referrals because people liked that I did things:

Showed up on time
Did what I said I would do
I was honest

Seems like common sense-- doesn't it?

The David

I know you were kidding, but I think a houseboat would be a blast. It's just not in the cards yet.

It does seem like common sense. The guy that showed up on time started out as an immediate favorite, especially after he suggested solutions that channeled water away from the house instead of trying to catch it.

If he does keep his word, and do what he says, I probably will use him again. We've got a laundry list of projects for the next 5 years. It would probably add up to a good chunk of cash.

amy

In the construction/landscaping business, a single job for about $5,000 has very little profit margin, and drainage issues have a high potential for future/warranty problems. Their livelihood depends on larger companies with multiple, ongoing jobs for them and individuals will always be pushed down to the bottom of their priorities. Not to say that these "late" companies won't do a good job or get the job done eventually, but they will alway care more about the problems and schedules of their larger clients. They have to.

The David

That makes sense that businesses will take care of their regular/larger clients first. It would be foolish not to.

However, if they were that busy, they should have just suggested a different time.

Adam @ Checkbook Diaries

Although I do agree that they should at least respond, I'm wondering if they are in fact swamped. With the economy the way that it is and the housing market the way that it is, it sounds like many people that would be moving to a nicer place are staying put and improving their current residence. If that is the case in your area, it would mean an increase in available work for local trades. The other thing that I can think of is that maybe their profit margin is lower on jobs with more expensive materials like retaining wall block?

As a minimum courtesy, they should get back to you and tell you if they are overbooked. At least that would leave a good first impression in your mind for next time.

The David

I know that places could be swamped, so I don't really mind places not calling me back at all. Maybe they're busy, maybe they don't do drainage. That I don't have a problem with. Many of these places don't have a receptionist, so it's actually the owner spending his time calling back.

I was more surprised with how the places that did call me back acted. In my mind showing up on time is one of the biggest things you can do for a first impression.

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