Do you ever have the occasional customer service experience like this?

[climbingmonkey24]

I wouldn’t necessarily call this a real bad experience, but not typical from what we usually see.

Long story short, recently I had a situation where we did exactly what we were contracted to do, plus some extra, and after following up a few days later with the client via email to make sure they were okay with the outcome…while not necessarily full-on upset, the client did express that they would’ve liked more pruning done, though admitted that they were primarily focused on the main branch that was being quoted. When I asked what additional pruning they were referring to (removing deadwood), they didn’t specify. I offered to go back out and meet with them to address the concerns in-person and if necessary, perform further pruning, but they declined.

Looking back I’m thinking it might’ve been a good idea to call them rather than email as it’s too easy to misinterpret someone’s tone / attitude, in messages. But it leaves me with an unsettled feeling. Are they going to bash my company now? Leave us a bad review? We did everything we could to try and help them out. Or maybe I’m just reading more into the situation than is necessary.

Experiences like this aren’t typical, I’m used to our clients telling us we did a “good job” or “looks great” or simply something along the lines of we got the job done. And if ever there is an issue, I make sure to address it with the client before closing out the job.

I’m just curious how often others encounter situations like this. It’s disheartening to do what you think is good work, offer to go above and beyond the original agreement if a client isn’t 100% satisfied, and then just kind of have them not really acknowledge your willingness to resolve whatever the issue is and just ask for the invoice.

I know there’s something to be said about not getting too emotionally-invested and it’s just business. But it’s hard not to when you’ve worked real hard to build a good reputation and you’re genuinely trying to do your best to make clients happy.

 

[southsoundtree]

Can you provide the text of the specs of the scope of work?



Charging for pruning by the hour is a way to work around uncertainty if concise specs are not available.


Pruning is often like peeling an onion, take off some, progress looks good, customer's want more.

I do a lot of view pruning. When there is something beautiful to see, its hard for most people to stop wanting more unless their a bit neurotic about hurting the tree.

I had a customer having such a hard time with concerns about me giving them too much view of Mt. Rainier out of fear of leaving an ugly hole. An ugly hole is definitely my concern, as well. After the fact, they are super happy. Most people just want "a little more". Part of that is some people's ingrained wiring, like some people that only will be happy if they talk you down some (if you see that coming, start high and come down so that you get what you want and they get what they want).

 

[flushcut]

It’s like anything when you read reviews. If there are 100 good reviews a one bad review IMO the common denominator wins.

Always try and make it right but at the same time charge for your time. If they want something that was outside your initial estimate or contract, they’re getting an up charge. Bad review be damned the karma is on them.

 

[southsoundtree]

P. S.

"We get $xxx.xx/ hour for tree care, plus materials if applicable for support systems."

You get to say whatever you will stand behind. Telling them that you already get that amount makes them feel better. "Other people have been paying this amount and are very happy, so I must be getting a good value."

Regular pruning and storm-damage (hangers, etc) can be too hard to sum up, plus there is always things you don't see from the ground, especially in large trees.

A plus side of an hourly rate for low-risk pruning (not loose limbs over a greenhouse) is saving a lot of time agonizing about specs and scope and clarity.





"Hey, while you're up there can you just take off two or three more? It's looking better than I knew it could!"

Response when paid by the hour: "Sure, happily!" Win-win

Thought while getting paid per job: I don't want to do free work even though it's just 10 minutes in This tree, and I'll hope to have a career-length relationship with this customer, so a precedent can mean 50 prunes over time.

Might say, "I can't just get those three, but I can do everything required to make all three go safely".