Repeat Callers....

[CMS_SAFECRAKR1]

Today has been a record...I'm the only guy in the whole area answering calls for the holiday. Unfortunately i don't make car keys, we have another tech who specializes in it and hes not available this weekend. So i had a Indian woman call me needing keys made for a mid 2000's ford SUV. Told her i have no available tech to make keys and she says ok.....she calls me back 5 more times thinking she is calling another different locksmith....I keep telling her that you keep calling me. After that i have about an hour break.....The same number calls back with Indian man asking same question.....he gets same answer the next 5 times he calls me. This pattern continues 18 times in 3 hours with 4 different people calling me from same number!!! I Ignored it the 18th time....

Guess i better learn to make car keys.......

Anyone got an aspirin?

[billdeserthills]

Just one more good reason why I won't work for people who cannot speak my language, lost too much money when they don't understand

[billdeserthills]

Just one more good reason why I won't work for people who cannot speak my language, lost too much money when they don't understand

Just thought I would explain before someone sensitive gets me banned.
Last time was my last time, someone called me out to make a key to their lock, I go out and the only person I see at home is an indian lady (from India) who can't speak
much english, but she shows me the Schlage 'D grade' knob lock on the front door and I understand I am to make a key to this lock, which I do. I hand her my carefully typed
bill for $90 for picking open & making the first key & she speaks the only english I heard her say the entire visis, which is "Home Depot Man say $45".
I carefully explain to her that "I am Not Home Depot Man, and my price is $90". I finally wound up taking nothing and placing a lien upon their house that never did
pay off & now I only do work for folks who speak and understand my language.

[GWiens2001]

Just one more good reason why I won't work for people who cannot speak my language, lost too much money when they don't understand

Just thought I would explain before someone sensitive gets me banned.
Last time was my last time, someone called me out to make a key to their lock, I go out and the only person I see at home is an indian lady (from India) who can't speak
much english, but she shows me the Schlage 'D grade' knob lock on the front door and I understand I am to make a key to this lock, which I do. I hand her my carefully typed
bill for $90 for picking open & making the first key & she speaks the only english I heard her say the entire visis, which is "Home Depot Man say $45".
I carefully explain to her that "I am Not Home Depot Man, and my price is $90". I finally wound up taking nothing and placing a lien upon their house that never did
pay off & now I only do work for folks who speak and understand my language.

Would not be too surprised if she spoke a bit more English than she stated. She knew enough to tell you she got a price at Home Depot and that it was half of yours.

Why not call the police for theft of services, which is allowable here in our state?

Gordon

[billdeserthills]

Ever try calling the police? All I have ever heard is "It's a civil matter & you need to sue in court"

[MatrixBlackRock]

Just one more good reason why I won't work for people who cannot speak my language, lost too much money when they don't understand

Here in South Florida, English and Spanish are the two majority languages, then add a touch of Creole and Spanglish and it is a rather stirred up pot of Babble.

My suggestion to you is to try and learn the basics of the languages the customers you might interact with, you don't need to speak those languages, just be able to understand what is being spoken, in that language.

It will serve you well.

Wayne

[Jburgett2nd]

If you have smart phone there are a ton of translator apps.

[CMS_SAFECRAKR1]

We have a few Puerto Rico brethren that work on our electronics side of the company that speak very good english as well, learned spanish enough to get by with customers for basic services. Our dispatcher is Mexican american and she translates for us if we get a hardcore Spanish person that speaks zero english. We have a good bit of Czech, Russian and Mixed Asian in the areas I work, wish i had the time to learn some basics but it all seems to much. The Indian population around here i find to be mainly bipolar in their demeanor toward any type of service provider. One second they agree and after the job is done they flip 180 degrees and rip into about everything. Heard the same from plumbers, carpenters, auto mechanics, etc. This isnt true for all of them, but quite a few.

Ps I mean no offense to anyone in my posting, just stating observations that apply to where im at.

[cledry]

When in doubt get a credit card before going out.

[GWiens2001]

When in doubt get a credit card before going out.

+1

Gordon

[Sinifar]

I love it when they say "Big Box quoted us" -- so why don't you go over to the big box and find out what happens next? If the public likes the box so much why then do they bother us with their problems?

As far as the price difference and not getting paid, some things are not worth the hassle. Take the invoice and toss it into your 'uncollectable" pile and deduct it form your taxes in the "allowances" section near the cost of good sold area. No hassle, no arguing just write the thing off and move on there are more important things to worry about.

[dll932]

Today has been a record...I'm the only guy in the whole area answering calls for the holiday. Unfortunately i don't make car keys, we have another tech who specializes in it and hes not available this weekend. So i had a Indian woman call me needing keys made for a mid 2000's ford SUV. Told her i have no available tech to make keys and she says ok.....she calls me back 5 more times thinking she is calling another different locksmith....I keep telling her that you keep calling me. After that i have about an hour break.....The same number calls back with Indian man asking same question.....he gets same answer the next 5 times he calls me. This pattern continues 18 times in 3 hours with 4 different people calling me from same number!!! I Ignored it the 18th time....

Guess i better learn to make car keys.......

Anyone got an aspirin?

Anyone calling multiple companies is looking for the cheapest price. What I used to do when that happened was quote them a higher price each time...they weren't likely to give us business and if they did they would probably gripe anyhow...who needs it?

[billdeserthills]

I just got a funny guy who seemed to like to joke around on the phone. He asked how much I would charge to replace his knob lock on his door. This is a loser for me as I really can't guess how much he wants to spend on an entrance handle and I stock locks over the $200+ mark. So I started by adding things up, "I tell him it will cost $60 for my service call and it will be between" that's when he interrupts me to ask if the service call will be included in the price? Yeah, well that sure is a funny, funny joke. Unfortunately the dog woke me up at 5am so I'm not feeling the love today. I told him that unfortunately we don't seem to be speaking the same language, so thank you for calling and have a nice day. He tried calling back, but until I get some more sleep I'm really not interested.