Why are you mad about these things! This makes no sense!

I work in sales. Recently I received a call from a person who had purchased a large lot of ovens at an auction. For some reason none of the ovens had power cords. This was the conversation that ensued:

Me: That's unfortunate, what's the model number and I'll see if we can source those in your area.
Client: Blah bibbidty blah.
Me: Okay, unfortunately those cords have been discontinued.
Client: Fine, fine. All I really wanted was to know if they NEED a power cord to work?
Me: Is it an electric oven, or a gas oven?
Client: You think I'd be calling you about a power cord if it wasn't f**king electric!!
Me: .......(what in the actual f**k?)...Sir, all electric ovens will need a power cord to work.
Client: Okay, so are you guys going to give me back my five grand since you can't sell me the cords?
Me: No, not at all, that is ridiculous.
Client: Prepare to be sued. *hangs up*

Why are people like this? Why would an individual be upset at a random salesperson who has nothing to do with their poor auction purchasing choices? No! Just no!

I would never have ranted about it, or even remembered this interaction if the person hadn't actually SERVED. OUR BUSINESS. WITH COURT PAPERS! What!? Of course lawyers will be able to throw this out, and the guy will be out the court costs, but god, how do people become like this?

I know it's slow on weekends, and many people won't read this for whatever reason, but can we all remember one thing?

If you're calling a third party business, it's almost never productive to get upset at the person on the other end of the phone unless they have personally screwed something up. If something is not available to be purchased...go find Lara Croft and have her search for it. Call the company who makes it. Go away.

He's not really mad at you.

He is pissed because he just wasted over $5,000 and his wife is super pissed that he didn't check to see if they even worked first.

So it trickles down.... To you. He doesn't want to sleep outside in the car for the next two months. He attempts to make it right only to find out that isn't going to be as easy as he thought so he becomes more pissed that he didn't pay attention and of course... WINTER IS COMING, the car will be cold and gas is too expensive.

By serving the papers, if he's in it for a penny, he's in it for a pound I suppose is his thought as ludicrous as it is.

It's not you. It's him.

He'll learn eventually or he'll adjust nicely to his new dog house.

a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

Hahahahaha! That cracked me up! Good answer!

If it was an auction he should have known better. I doubt auctions have any guarantees on electric appliances. To be fair though, it should have been listed as not having the proper part.

a reply to: Atsbhct

Try to remember in times like these that average intelligence is a marker that indicates roughly half of people are below that marker.

a reply to: Grimpachi

Why can't all of those people be the loveable Forrest Gump type?

a reply to: Atsbhct

That would be fun.

a reply to: Atsbhct

hahahahahahahahah....yes and yes
5 grand down the tubes
suxors for him
these are the days of the internet. im sure there can be cords found for blah blibbity blah models somewhere

Are the items supposed to be plug in types? You were able to mention something about, "Those cords being discontinued" which seem to imply an interface between the machine and the wall socket, in other words the cord plugs into the machine as well as being plugged into the wall. Most stuff with an element/s have already hard wired cords into the machine, while some element/s machines need also to be hard wired at the power source. Things like that should be made apparent at any sales of electrical appliances.

originally posted by: smurfy
Are the items supposed to be plug in types? You were able to mention something about, "Those cords being discontinued" which seem to imply an interface between the machine and the wall socket, in other words the cord plugs into the machine as well as being plugged into the wall. Most stuff with an element/s are already hard wired into the machine, while some element/s machines need also to be hard wired at the power source. Things like that should be made apparent at any sales of electrical appliances.

i think all stoves in the states have had a separate cord for many years. some safety issue i think.
i bought a new stove last year and had to buy the cord separate. it was like 20 bucks. the sales guy said it has been that way for some time.
if you buy something at an auction though i dont see how it coming with a cord is implied.
maybe dude should have researched what year the stoves were made and planned on possibly having to buy cords.

since when can you buy something at an auction and then bitch when something is missing?

well i guess you can always bitch about it but that dont mean when you buy 5k worth of stoves at an auction you are guaranteed to get the cords.
again, sucks for him

a reply to: TinySickTears

if the man does not know how to fit a power cord then it would be a lot cheaper to get an electrician to do it for him than going to court .

a reply to: TinySickTears

usually all appliances are sold with a standard power cord. If you need a different power cord to match your power supply, those are sometimes available. I think the guy either fleeced you for a power cord, or it was a floor model that the power cord had gone missing from.

Not being familiar with auctions, and having never purchased an oven before, I though the mans expectations were fairly reasonable. It never would have occurred to me that an oven didn't come with a power cord. I have purchased refrigerators, washers and dryers, dishwashers, and they all came with cords, so it seems odd that an oven wouldn't.

Also, you would expect that something being sold at an auction would be accurately represented. I would imagine that they would have to disclose any known issues.

Now, my question is, is your business directly related to the auction? Or do you just sell oven parts. I can see him suing if you work for the auction, if you are just an unaffiliated parts dealer, then I don't understand his reason for a lawsuit.

a reply to: calstorm

We are a completely unaffiliated parts retailer.

originally posted by: TinySickTears


i think all stoves in the states have had a separate cord for many years. some safety issue i think.
i bought a new stove last year and had to buy the cord separate. it was like 20 bucks. the sales guy said it has been that way for some time.

You need to say more there, any oven over a certain power, needs to be in a dedicated oven socket, ie; a marked and fused cooker socket, it has much heavier cabling to do the job, and that's what I would call a separate cord. The appliance itself should have comparable cabling. I don't see why there should be a plug housing on a heavy appliance, plus another plug into the wall, if that's what you mean by a separate cord.

Hmmm.

Maybe not the popular opinion, but I think you are being quite rude towards the guy!

It seems you are like dusting off your hands counting the cash smirking away and laughing at the customer. What ever happened to customer service? Something that is being lost these days. I shop in places that go above and beyond to help me out, and they get repeat business from me.

Perhaps you can 'as a service' actually track down the cords, or an electrician to fit them. Perhaps even apologise for not informing him there were no power cords? Instead you bag him on the internet!?

He could have given you repeat business, 5 grand is a huge layout and I would expect or at the least hope for some assistance if my purchase had not been as expected. Help the guy, and he may be back in a few months for another large purchase.

a reply to: Qumulys

The thing is, you can't "track them down". They don't exist anymore. As a business, I can't provide this service.


ETA - If a customer swears at me, I immediately do not care anymore. This happens maybe 1/1000 customers. We can do a pretty fantastic job at sourcing any product that still exists, if it doesn't , our hands are tied. Also, we can't source an electrician for a customer who doesn't live in the same (Canadian, this customer is American) city as us. We have no idea if they would be reliable. No customer has ever asked me to source an electrician for them.

a reply to: Atsbhct

Well, did he know that before the purchase went ahead? Were they clearly marked as missing the cords? In this case an electrician would be able to retrofit a cord and give an electrical safety certificate paperwork for it. I'd speak very highly if a company did that for me.

Or, you can arrange him a refund and when they are sold next time, make it clear that the ovens are only usable for parts - or will need retrofitting with new cords.

When both parties are kind of in the wrong (perhaps he should have checked them first?) that's when a 'company' can convert a crappy situation into an opportunity to become a 'great company' with outstanding customer service.


I'm sticking up for the little guy!

To your ETA;.... Are you saying that phone lines and a online phone book to call an electrician in his town are beyond your companies abilities? Jesus, what a poor excuse! That kind of attitude in my eyes is just a pathetic excuse and horrible customer service! I'd be swearing too by now dealing with this company!

a reply to: Qumulys

Furthermore, I don't you understood the post. We are a completely unaffiliated parts company, and did not have anything to do with this person buying $5000 worth of ovens with no power cords.

a reply to: Atsbhct

I give in. You're happy to rip him off with non working ovens then claim you can't help replace missing parts for ovens you sold. Down under our laws would entitle him to return the ovens for a full refund.

*pulls out hair* This thread is like being on one of those phone calls where you have to press a number every 5 minutes then listen to bollocks about how 'you are important to us and we will be with you shortly' only to get to the 45 minute mark of waiting for the phone to finally ring, you get hope to at last talk to a person and then they hang up the line... That's the frustration this customer is feeling, you've made me feel that way!

Come on.... Help the customer, step up for him instead of skulking away into the bushes waiting to catch the next unsuspecting customer who drops 5 grand in good faith.

As it stands, my view of your company is not very nice one, and if I was that guy I'd be shouting to all my friends and anyone who will listen about how bad his experience was with your company. Your companies position is making a bad situation way worse, I feel like I'm smacking my head on a wall!

a reply to: Qumulys

WE DIDN'T SELL HIM THE OVENS! We only sell individual parts for appliances and are no way affiliated with the company that sold him the ovens.