Borderline harassing phone calls, what's your take?

S

stilez

New member
This has happened to me on numerous occasions, but once more last night, so I figured I'd see if it's common.





As I'm sure with many mobile detailers, your cell phone is your work phone/personal phone. Liz always hounds me at night if it's ringing off the hook (she has a valid point). Some nights it's nothing, sometimes its 5-6 calls. Anyway, I always have a general rule of thumb when calling people:





-Call once and leave it at that. If you want to leave a message, do it, if not, your number (if not blocked) is on the caller ID...The person will call you back if they desire, when they desire.



-Call twice or more in a few minute span, EMERGENCY.







Maybe it's just conditioning over the years, but any multiple, same number calls I've recieved have always been something of urgent importance.





Back to last night... I have my voicemail setup so that you *know* it's a personal phone, yet this customer kept calling, no message. After the 4th call within 30 minutes, I picked up and was rather short with them. At first, I was pleasant, but once I caught the mentality that they were just replicating the call in efforts to reach me on the phone out of basically, IMPATIENCE, I got quick and tried my best to get off the phone in a quick fashion.



I ended up referring the client out as they were out of my area.







Anyone deal with similar situations? What is your take?
 
I've had that happen too. If you don't call someone back instantly, they just keep on calling. I wish I could afford a personal secretary but I can't. I do list my cellphone number in my message on my business line and my web address to help with that. However, if I am buffing or vacuuming, I probably won't hear my cell phone.



Not much you can do about it unless you can have an answering service to take care of those 2% of people who can't wait 30 minutes for someone to get back to them.
 
I have one customer that sends me text messages all the time... I mean Ive done 2 cars for him and he'll send 5-10 texts during the time it takes to finish the car. Its usually "Hows it going?"... "Gonna be show ready?"... "Cant wait to get it back!". I dont know if he leads a boring life or if hes just really excited about the detail but I dont have free texts on my phone acct and I burn 30 minutes reading and repsponding.



Oh well... I guess its not as bad as your case.
 
35TH LE said:
I have one customer that sends me text messages all the time... I mean Ive done 2 cars for him and he'll send 5-10 texts during the time it takes to finish the car. Its usually "Hows it going?"... "Gonna be show ready?"... "Cant wait to get it back!". I dont know if he leads a boring life or if hes just really excited about the detail but I dont have free texts on my phone acct and I burn 30 minutes reading and repsponding.



Oh well... I guess its not as bad as your case.
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I would just ignore the text and tell him your phone id not set up for text. Or call your provider and tell them not to allow text through. i actually think most phones can block texts.
 
I usually try to call everyone back within 24 hours of a message that's left for me but sometimes that's not enough.



I sold a Gift Certificate to one of my regulars last Christmas that he gave to his father. Father is in no hurry to get the truck detailed. Fast Forward to August. Father's got my phone number but continually asks his son to set up the detail for him. Son is busy and doesn't get around to it for two weeks. Father calls me on a Wednesday evening at 10pm and left me a message being short with me? Father then calls back the next day @ 3pm while I'm still at work and leaves me the most rude message I've ever recieved. He accuses me of trying to avoid him, not calling him back and using "slimy" business practices by selling a gift certificat that I had no intention of making good on. He then continues in the message to tell me that he's imediatly getting off the phone and calling the BBB and Attourney General's office to report me for fraud.



I immediatly left my desk and called him back after getting the message and he continues to ream me for another 10 minuts on the phone despite the fact that I'm apologetic the entier time and asked him how my actions were inappropriate when he had not even given me 24 hours to respond. He doesn't stop yelling the entier time, spits out his address and demands I be there saturday morning to detail his truck.



Well I showed up Saturday morning to detial the truck and apparently in that timeframe he'd put it together that his son had never contacted me and he acted completely irrational about the whole thing. I did get a $40 tip out of it but he never even spoke with me face to face to apologize, sent his wife out to do the dirty work because he "felt soo bad" he didn't even want to speak with me.



Worst experience ever.



Andy
 
AudiOn19s said:
I usually try to call everyone back within 24 hours of a message that's left for me but sometimes that's not enough.



I sold a Gift Certificate to one of my regulars last Christmas that he gave to his father. Father is in no hurry to get the truck detailed. Fast Forward to August. Father's got my phone number but continually asks his son to set up the detail for him. Son is busy and doesn't get around to it for two weeks. Father calls me on a Wednesday evening at 10pm and left me a message being short with me? Father then calls back the next day @ 3pm while I'm still at work and leaves me the most rude message I've ever recieved. He accuses me of trying to avoid him, not calling him back and using "slimy" business practices by selling a gift certificat that I had no intention of making good on. He then continues in the message to tell me that he's imediatly getting off the phone and calling the BBB and Attourney General's office to report me for fraud.



I immediatly left my desk and called him back after getting the message and he continues to ream me for another 10 minuts on the phone despite the fact that I'm apologetic the entier time and asked him how my actions were inappropriate when he had not even given me 24 hours to respond. He doesn't stop yelling the entier time, spits out his address and demands I be there saturday morning to detail his truck.



Well I showed up Saturday morning to detial the truck and apparently in that timeframe he'd put it together that his son had never contacted me and he acted completely irrational about the whole thing. I did get a $40 tip out of it but he never even spoke with me face to face to apologize, sent his wife out to do the dirty work because he "felt soo bad" he didn't even want to speak with me.



Worst experience ever.



Andy
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That's when you return the money and never look back.
 
G35stilez said:
...I have my voicemail setup so that you *know* it's a personal phone,
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If you're using that line for business I don't think it matters how you have your voicemail set-up. Some people don't get hints like that and if they want to reach you badly enough, well, you know the rest.



Why not get a second phone just for the business? It is a business expense and a write-off...
 
G35stilez said:
This has happened to me on numerous occasions, but once more last night, so I figured I'd see if it's common.





As I'm sure with many mobile detailers, your cell phone is your work phone/personal phone. Liz always hounds me at night if it's ringing off the hook (she has a valid point). Some nights it's nothing, sometimes its 5-6 calls. Anyway, I always have a general rule of thumb when calling people:





-Call once and leave it at that. If you want to leave a message, do it, if not, your number (if not blocked) is on the caller ID...The person will call you back if they desire, when they desire.



-Call twice or more in a few minute span, EMERGENCY.







Maybe it's just conditioning over the years, but any multiple, same number calls I've recieved have always been something of urgent importance.





Back to last night... I have my voicemail setup so that you *know* it's a personal phone, yet this customer kept calling, no message. After the 4th call within 30 minutes, I picked up and was rather short with them. At first, I was pleasant, but once I caught the mentality that they were just replicating the call in efforts to reach me on the phone out of basically, IMPATIENCE, I got quick and tried my best to get off the phone in a quick fashion.



I ended up referring the client out as they were out of my area.







Anyone deal with similar situations? What is your take?
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Never mind the calls! Where are your detailing pictures????? :D:D:D



Back to topic - Much better than what happens to me. Once I call back they have found someone else. :(
 
MichaelM said:
If you're using that line for business I don't think it matters how you have your voicemail set-up. Some people don't get hints like that and if they want to reach you badly enough, well, you know the rest.



Why not get a second phone just for the business? It is a business expense and a write-off...
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Shut the business down more recently (more on that later).





I was just trying to get a consensus if this is common.
 
G35stilez said:
I was just trying to get a consensus if this is common.
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Definitely some whack jobs out there.



You might consider putting something in your voice mail letting people know that you aren't detailing, at least for the time being.
 
I'm one of those people that hates talking on the phone. Always have, always will. I don't like to talk to family members and could be quite happy never using one again. That said if I place a call to a business and it takes them 24 hours to return my call I consider that unacceptable. This assumes there are no extraneous circumstances surrounding the calls time frame (i.e. weekends, holidays etc.). Most of us go through life planning every spare minute of time we have. Sometimes I only find out I have time to accomplish a task 1 day ahead of the time I need it done. All businesses need to have a routine that is right for their business but if I'm waiting 24 hours for a return phone call chances are I've found someone else to take care of my needs.
 
Why not indicate on your message when you normally return calls? I'm on call 24/7 for my "real" job and they know to send a text first. I knew a real estate agent who would only return calls from 9-10 am each day M-F .
 
az57chevy said:
Why not indicate on your message when you normally return calls? I'm on call 24/7 for my "real" job and they know to send a text first. I knew a real estate agent who would only return calls from 9-10 am each day M-F .
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This is a very good idea if you don't carry a cell phone and answer calls as they come in. I prefer to take calls as they come in as I feel I would lose out on jobs by not doing so. It seems many are in a hurry and if you don't pick up or they get a voicemail, they hang up and are onto the next shop. Plus, I personally hate getting a voicemail during regular business hours. Just personal preference I guess.



The real estate agent we used had a message stating what day it was and when they would be returning calls. He was in meetings all the time so this setup was perfect for his situation, and I knew when to expect his call. If you take this route, just make sure you actually make good on it, and make your call backs during this periods.
 
mirrorfinishman said:
Personally, I do not use a cell phone while I am out there detailing cars. I simply review all of my messages when I get back to the office and then try to contact the callers as soon as possible that very same day.
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mirrorfinishman said:
Why not answer the phone the first time?
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Huh? :think:
 
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