# General Business Category > General Business Forum >  Colbrite Solvents technical persons shouts F*CK YOU at me over the phone

## adrianh

I've been having problems with the thinners that we use for spray painting. We've always used Colbrite thinners and its always worked extremely well. The last couple of litres caused the clear laquer to go hazy white. So I phone up Colbrite in Cape Town and explain the problem to their technical guy. While I'm trying to explain the problem the guy keeps interrupting me. The more I asked him to listen to me the more aggressive he got. so after going back and forth with this for a couple of minutes I say to him that he is wasting my time. This guy shouts F*CK YOU and puts the phone down.

Uh, ok...So I phone them up and and ask them to speak to the owner...And lo and behold, who is a director...

A German employee overheard this lot, simply smiled and said: Only in South Africa....

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## Martinco

Darn it !!! Colbrite just lost another customer. Shows you how important customer relations can be.

As far as I have it, _if you have the time_, you can actually make a criminal case of Crimen Injuria against this guy.

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## adrianh

You know, I do understand that people get frustrated and lose their cool, we all do, but there are limits. Doesn't matter how the wife or kids pi$$ you off, you simply never hit them, and by the same token, you don't swear at your customers.

I've taken the thinners & clear laquer to another company and we did some comparative tests, alternate products do not create the same problems. I was told that there is probably a problem with the mix of the batch of thinners that I got. According to the supplier the Acetone content is too high.

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desA (01-Dec-10)

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## desA

Vote with your feet. Never, ever give them another chance at your business.

Write them a letter explaining the treatment you received & precisely why you will never deal with them again - under any circumstances.

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## adrianh

I phoned them this morning and I was told that the person who swore at me is the owner of the business. 

...Ja well no fine....

Writing letters seems to be rather pointless.

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## Martinco

> I phoned them this morning and I was told that the person who swore at me is the owner of the business. 
> 
> ...Ja well no fine....
> 
> Writing letters seems to be rather pointless.


All in all, looking at your posts of yesterday and today........you are not having a great week !     :Console: 

Don't worry, there is always next week to look forward to when you get your delivery from the new supplier.   :Wink:

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## adrianh

Ag no, I don't really give a S... It's all in a days work. Thanks for the sentiment though...

Nothing that a couple of beers can't cure :-)

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## Dave A

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.  :Slap: 

Not sure this helps either, though:



> Write them a letter explaining the treatment you received & precisely why you will never deal with them again - under any circumstances.


Never is a long time. Tell them you're never coming back and it does nothing more than validate their _f*ck you_ attitude.

The win would be an unconditional apology and way more respect in the future (as well as rectifying the original cause of the problem, of course). 

I hate burning bridges, especially permanently. Leave them with something left to lose, no matter how remote the prospects of your future custom might be right now.

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## Chrisjan B

Wise words!

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## tec0

Bad attitude? Well I had some âreally badâ experiences with a computer reseller. So now when I go to their shop I grab what I need donât ask for assistance and just pay my money. Because the technician and shop owner has a bad attitude I donât talk to them at all. 

But when they are giving advice to a customer, then I will just say to that customer > If I were you I would get a second opinion...â  :Devil2:  

They absolutely HATE that...  But I donât mind it at all.  :Innocent:

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## murdock

how about sending him an email and giving him the opitunity to give his side of the story?

i have told a few customers to go ..&*%^...themselves....but have good reason....without going into details....1 because ofyears of verbal abuse telling me i dont know what i am doing etc...i dont stand for it anymore...i dont work for a boss and will not torerate customers just speaking to me in any manner they choose fit.

another using me and telling me they will see me right on the next contract and you bust your butt on the next project finish the job well within contract price...time etc and they come again with the same tune.....they lost money and there was no profit and they will see me right on the next contract...you must cut your price (so they can buy a new jetski or something :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): )..i just got to a point where the fool is driving a R600 000 motor vehicle living in a 5 million rand house and everytime you see them they are crying about how they are battling...and there no money and he works late nights and weekends..........if you are a sub conractor beware of these Aholes...they get rich at your expense...i told all them i was sub contracting to to go ^&*% themselves...i dont TURNOVER the kind of money i use to but hey...i make less money but get to spend time with my family which is worth more to me than any amount of money...i have had these people try contact me asking me to please do more projects for them  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## tec0

I call them users, like you I do a lot of contracting jobs, fixing stuff but when it comes to payment there are always these excuses... So yes I too get nasty. Yes you do get less work then normal but honestly you donât lose any money. 

It has been my experience that If I donât work for doggy people then I get paid... So my risk factor goes down to almost zero.  :Big Grin: 

Sadly there is a lot of activity lately, big companies taking our work away from us small contractors so life is difficult at the moment.  :Frown:

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## adrianh

We all have bad customers and I for one can certainly be a k_k customer myself.

...but...

As I said before, there are limits to our behaviour, and yes, I have also stripped my mo_r. I think that when one deals with a customer you need to be diplomatic. Even if the guy is an ahole, you still want his custom and his goodwill. I will rather concede an argument (within reason) than have a customer running around bad mouthing me. Its a matter of picking your battles (I am getting better at it)

I agree with Dave, its better just to let it slide and write it off to the guy having a bad day. (I'm always in a terrible mood on Monday morning - I find this to be the best day to lie low, or to tackle the people that really deserve to get whipped - Tele-sales people generally get the brunt of it)

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## tec0

Agreed everyone will have a bad-day I for one is really one of those people that canât help myself, if someone does me wrong ânormallyâ I will do anything to give that person absolute hell. People do it to me so why not pay them back in kind. 

That being said, if you do business with that company again, and you must speak to that person just ask for someone else. And if no one else is available then handle that person in the coldest most professional way possible. Not overseeing any mistake, no matter how small. 

Or you can do what I personally cannot do, and that is to forget about it and life goes on...  :Smile: 

me->  :Devil2:   :Stick Out Tongue:

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## desA

No matter how bad the day, a company executive does not swear at a client. Period.

In my lifetime - never, means never. Colbrite would get no further business from me. Period.

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## JanvandeMerwe

And all-in-all, what I find amusing is that it is this thread that ranks number 1 for the Colbrite Solvents in Google.co.za

I guess this better punishment for a business than any letter writing IMO. Shooting your self in the foot; Dave, I do agree.

Pardon the ramble,
-Jan

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## desA

LOL...    :Slap:

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## daveob

:Rofl:

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## Martinco

> And all-in-all, what I find amusing is that it is this thread that ranks number 1 for the Colbrite Solvents in Google.co.za
> 
> I guess this better punishment for a business than any letter writing IMO. Shooting your self in the foot; Dave, I do agree.
> -Jan


This serves as a very good example and I actually got all my sales personnel to have a look at this thread and it hopefully sank in.
Just imagine, somebody does a search on your company and the very first entry comes up with this.  :Oops: 
It is said that revenge is sweet and Adrian , you are getting yours now !

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## JanvandeMerwe

Great that you are showing this to your people Daveob.

I think it is important to remember too that whenever we put something in writing, be it a forum post or an email approaching another company, we are making our words public.  Those words can be posted on the Internet, forwarded to friends, or even competing businesses that would love to take some of your market share.  In many cases, these words can become the sole representation of every employee in the organization and the values it stands for too.

Moral of the story; whenever we are communicating it can be quoted and either help the brand or damage the brand.

Seems like Colbrite does not mind damaging it.

Pardon the ramble.

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