Do people have no sense of propriety anymore?

We have our own side business. This woman asked for a service. Then told me she had to wait to see if her husband was agreeable to price. Her husband was fine with the price but then changed the day we agreed-upon . She wanted today and I told her we were going away but we could do it early in the morning 9 AM. She doesn’t reply to me at all . Then she messages me last night at 8:30 to ask if we were still on for today . Waaaa?????? When you didn’t reply to me how was I supposed to know you wanted me to do the service today ??? Then she messages me again at 6:45 this morning 6:45 this morning !! She asks if she can etransfer her money . I reply to her at eight and say yes and she goes oh never mind I got cash.

What the hell. People not know how to communicate anymore ??? Or Communicate at proper times ???

I blame a lot of this on our click-click-click instant society. You can get groceries delivered in the middle of the night. You can order your entire wardrobe of summer clothes in about an hour on Amazon Prime.

You can change your mind about any of your online purchases in about two seconds, and people do that all the time.

Because of our electronic culture, everyone has their head buried in their phones, and people aren't "people" anymore.

I'm in sales for a living, and I read something a while back that I live by today:

"You have to let go of your low volume, high maintenance clients".

That one saying has helped me a ton. People like this lady will abuse you, because if you appease her, she'll come back as a repeat customer, making demands, poor communication, cancelling, and then when you've performed your service/sold her your good, she'll relentlessly abuse you with all that is wrong. Oh, and don't worry, when she's finally done with you, she's got 10 friends she's referring to you who are, ugh....worse than she is.

For future, with people like this, begin an email string with her rather than phone calls. This way, you can quote yourself back to her, and say, "Thank you so much for your inquiry. As we wrote on xxx date/time, here are our parameters".

Or, you can do like I do, and just give up the small amount of business you get from people like this. You'll sleep so much easier.

I blame a lot of this on our click-click-click instant society. You can get groceries delivered in the middle of the night. You can order your entire wardrobe of summer clothes in about an hour on Amazon Prime.

 

You can change your mind about any of your online purchases in about two seconds, and people do that all the time.

 

Because of our electronic culture, everyone has their head buried in their phones, and people aren't "people" anymore.

 

I'm in sales for a living, and I read something a while back that I live by today:

 

"You have to let go of your low volume, high maintenance clients".

 

That one saying has helped me a ton. People like this lady will abuse you, because if you appease her, she'll come back as a repeat customer, making demands, poor communication, cancelling, and then when you've performed your service/sold her your good, she'll relentlessly abuse you with all that is wrong. Oh, and don't worry, when she's finally done with you, she's got 10 friends she's referring to you who are, ugh....worse than she is.

 

For future, with people like this, begin an email string with her rather than phone calls. This way, you can quote yourself back to her, and say, "Thank you so much for your inquiry. As we wrote on xxx date/time, here are our parameters".

 

Or, you can do like I do, and just give up the small amount of business you get from people like this. You'll sleep so much easier.

Luckily our answer was to stop offering the service but now everyone suffers. But I did p.m. some customers privately and let them know that we were fine with them.

Believe me, Seraphim, I totally get it. The amount of abuse some customers have wanted to put me through is insane. I've had to just get off the merry-go-round and say no. Which is also saying no to the business, but you know what? A happier LHGirl I am.

I would "train" my customers.

"We can do it at 9 am if we here back and get confirmation by 7pm tongight (date noted), otherwise, our next available times are x and x"

And if she calls at 6 am -- oh well - too bad so sad, the slot filled. People can be abusive, sure. But if i don't get to the post office by X time, my letter won't go out that day. no matter if someone was slow in the fast lane and i got there late, no matter if i "thought" the time was different". Its a drop dead deadline. say "cash only, confirmation required by X time" and people will learn awfully quick. mcDonald's even closes their lobby at a certain time. Have to use the bathroom? Too bad so sad, go to Walmart.

I would "train" my customers.

"We can do it at 9 am if we here back and get confirmation by 7pm tongight (date noted), otherwise, our next available times are x and x"

And if she calls at 6 am -- oh well - too bad so sad, the slot filled. People can be abusive, sure. But if i don't get to the post office by X time, my letter won't go out that day. no matter if someone was slow in the fast lane and i got there late, no matter if i "thought" the time was different". Its a drop dead deadline. say "cash only, confirmation required by X time" and people will learn awfully quick. mcDonald's even closes their lobby at a certain time. Have to use the bathroom? Too bad so sad, go to Walmart.

I agree with this and with LH Girl's input entirely. Love the idea of "training". My son's camp states that it will charge $5/minute for pickups after closing time. Steep? Of course. Necessary -I'm sure based on their experience with people who think it's ok to be late for counselors/teachers who've been taking care of your kids sometimes for 10 hours. And yes even though I'm not in sales right now I'e seen a dramatic drop off in follow up and reliability which of course is a bit ironic since it's so much easier to follow up now.

How annoying for you and your husband and sorry you had to go through this.

Believe me, Seraphim, I totally get it. The amount of abuse some customers have wanted to put me through is insane. I've had to just get off the merry-go-round and say no. Which is also saying no to the business, but you know what? A happier LHGirl I am.

For sure!

.....

Most of our customers are pretty good, thankfully.

Customers are a mixed animal. You have to accommodate them for your own businesses survival, but some are such morons.... like this flake.

Customers are a mixed animal. You have to accommodate them for your own businesses survival, but some are such morons.... like this flake.

Right!

Omg I just about lost it when she private massaged me at 6:45 AM. That is soooooooooo RUDE! We are not Amazon but a family business. And a family who was sleeping.

Right!

 

Omg I just about lost it when she private massaged me at 6:45 AM. That is soooooooooo RUDE! We are not Amazon but a family business. And a family who was sleeping.

I've received phone calls that early! I now silence my phone before bed, and I don't return any calls, texts, or emails until 8:00.

Like you, most of my customers are great, otherwise I'd have quit long ago.

I've received phone calls that early! I now silence my phone before bed, and I don't return any calls, texts, or emails until 8:00.

 

Like you, most of my customers are great, otherwise I'd have quit long ago.

I do have do not disturb on my phone that I use too but my regular work can call as early as 6 AM.

Right!

 

Omg I just about lost it when she private massaged me at 6:45 AM. That is soooooooooo RUDE! We are not Amazon but a family business. And a family who was sleeping.

Gosh! I won't even text that early unless I know it's ok. I'll email because I hope that they don't get an email notification beep.

ANNNNNNDDDD unbelievable she PM’d me this morning at 6:30 AM to say she doesn’t need the second service. I am not even going to grace her with an answer because she is ridiculous.

ANNNNNNDDDD unbelievable she PM’d me this morning at 6:30 AM to say she doesn’t need the second service. I am not even going to grace her with an answer because she is ridiculous.

Unbelievable. What the F is wrong with people. Yes, she's ridiculous, and no, I wouldn't answer her either.

Some people are simply crazy and it's really cheaper to let them go find someone else to work with.

That aside, make sure you set up proper expectations for customers. That always works wonders in the you teach people how to treat you kind of way. Set clear business hours. Make sure your vm spells out business hours. If the people are texting you, you can set up auto respond for after hours texts. There is a lot you can do to tame crazy expectations. If people are breaching all you have done, you likely don't want them as customers anyway. As others pointed out, carrying on with people like that is just setting yourself up for a nightmare that will ultimately cost you more than it's worth.

Remember that while your customer/client can fire you, you also can fire them. It's a two way street.

Just an idea. Have you considered a dedicated phone number for the business with a VM recording including hours, etc. and the option to leave VMs? This way they can call back at regular biz hrs or you can return any messages when you get to them.

Our business is through FB.

Our business is through FB.

That's fine, but you can still use VOIP services for phone - so it does go to your cell phone, but you are not publishing your cell number. Also you can set up business specific vm/hours/txts and so on. Gives you better control. You can also publish business hours on FB as well. Setting up expectations is very important. It really will help you manage your customers better and bring in a level of sanity. Of course, you'll always have exceptions, but overall, you want to set up reasonable expectations and then over deliver so to speak. When a response or delivery is above what's expected, it will earn you goodwill and great reviews. It's really a psychological game.