Don’t you just hate the unreasonable customer. The ones who go berserk at the most minor of slights.
There truly are some nutjobs out there.
The Trouble With These Nutters
The trouble with these nutters is they can cause more trouble than they’re worth. With the advent of social media every idiot now has an audience – and they’re usually not afraid to use it.
Some of the complaints are so stupid it defies belief at the rage they produce – forget a bread roll for a customer in a restaurant and you’ll be getting it in the neck on Trip Advisor before the day is out.
“And get this – THEY FORGOT MY BREAD ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This place is a dive and this has been the worst experience of my life”
Oh the outrage, the woe is me, the ever so slightly crappy sense of perspective!
The nutter can now cause you a fair bit of damage in business and there seem to be more of them about.
We’re noticing more people trying to scam free meals or accommodation from our clients with the threat of “If I don’t pay for it, I won’t do a Trip Advisor review.”
Case For The Defence – Exhibit A
I’ve just been chatting with a client who runs a resort and he’d just dealt with someone I’d like to call “Exhibit A”.
Exhibit A was outraged (outraged I say!) because her beachfront apartment isn’t serviced!
I agree that it is absolutely disgraceful that my client doesn’t service her apartment with fresh linen, made up rooms, room cleaning and more every day.
After all, it’s a fully serviced apartment with all that included ……………..oh wait Dear Nutjob! It’s actually not.
It’s a lovely self contained apartment in a great resort that clearly states in exactly 182* different places (* completely made up, but it’s lots) it is a self contained non-serviced apartment.
But the facts don’t worry the idiot customers too much, so she commences her barrage of abuse at the Resort Reception Staff, including the usual gems of:
- “I’ll be complaining to [insert some official sounding government department here] – one of our clients reported us to the Missouri Attorney General once – we reported him to Santa,
- “I’m be writing a review on Trip Advisor”, and
- “You’re a bunch of f*** wits!”
My client came for a chat on how to handle this one.
His Initial Idea Was A Beauty
“I feel like going up to the woman’s husband and saying:
“Gee, your wife must be a great shag because she’s a horrible woman.”
Yeh, not sure that’ll work* (* it definitely won’t work).
Whilst it can be incredibly frustrating dealing with complaining customers, it’s important not to lose your cool.
The Trick To Responding To Reviews On Trip Advisor And Elsewhere
The trick to responding to angry customer is to simply acknowledge the complaint and offer regret that their expectations weren’t met.
Maybe say how dealing with their challenges has helped make you better prepared for future customers. But that’s it.
Don’t:
- Lose your cool,
- Get angry,
- Suggest to the complainer’s husband that she must be a good shag.
The reason why is simple: It’s because this is one fight you just can’t win.
There’s no point in venting on review site response because you’ll do 1 of 3 things:
- Add fuel to the fire
- Look like an angry business owner who blames the customer (even when we both know it is that idiots fault)
- Encourage that person to keep on complaining to all their mates and other review sites.
It’s a fight you just can’t win.
So swallow your pride, acknowledge the complaint and move on.
Cheers
