Sometimes crazy angry customers can ruffle the feathers of even the most calm people in the world. I admit that some customers have broke me down at one time or another. And it looks like Ryan Carson was no exception. In his story about how he handled some abuse from a customer, he even admits that he got sucked in too far. Check out his story and the various comments here.
I agree with many of the commenters in that I would have simply refunded the $5 - no questions asked. This would have prevented wasted energy over a measly $5. Now that person who obviously has issues with controlling his/her anger is going to tell ten other people how difficult it is to do business with you.
As Patrick McKenzie said:
“The only thing that matters is you keeping your cool, and this can frequently require having the patience of Job and less ego than a blade of grass.”
You can’t control other people - you can only control how you react to them!
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I agree with Patrick's approach. If the customer's dissatisfaction is caused by an error on the business's end, then Patrick's e-mail could elicit some valuable feedback AND retain a customer.
Regards,
Glenn
Posted by: Glenn (Customer Service Experience) Ross | February 16, 2007 9:30 PM | Permalink to Comment