You Don't Always Get What You Pay For

Usually when you buy something at a great discount and it doesn't work, then you tell yourself "Well, you get what you pay for!" But this isn't always the case as I found out when I decided to get my post holiday studio and post cruise (4 men alone for a week) house cleaned this week. Sometimes you just get screwed!

My Little Dish Customer Service

I'd like to think my customers always get what they pay for. They pay good money for a custom plate. A one-of-a-kind, made to order, personalized plate. My prices are competitive. My customer service is over the top. My turnaround times are, well.....good...but they could be better. They are standard for a hand painted ceramic piece, but I like to go above and beyond what's expected.

My repeat business makes up about half of my business, but about 80% of my direct orders. I remember names, faces and plates I have painted for them. I love my customers, minus a select few who I secretely wish would NOT order again. You know the type. You give an inch.......they take a mile. You bend over backwards to help them out and they knock you down. They never like what you do and they always want something for nothing.

I felt like one of those customers this past Friday, when I hired a new cleaning crew (can't even believe they call themselves that!). I found them on craigslist, talked to the girl a few times and felt comfortable with them. I thought they would be great. Boy, I was soooo wrong. It was like one of those bad haircut horror stories, you know when your hairdresser is booked up and you HAVE to get a haircut before you leave town, so you go to someone else!!!! Baaad idea, it never turns out right, come on you know what I'm talking about.

Where Did the Time Go?

I honestly don't know what they did for the 4 hours they were here. That should have been my first clue! I did a spot check when they moved from upstairs to downstairs and found that the bathrooms had not been done. The tubs weren't srubbed, the showers weren't scrubbed, the sinks still had toothpaste in them. So I mustered up enough guts to point this out to them and they re-did them, or so I thought. But I felt so bad asking them to re-do them that when it came time for them to go, I let them. I just got them out of there as quickly as I could, cause I knew I wouldn't like what I saw and figured I'd just fix a few things myself.

The Bad, The Bad and the Ugly.........

When they finally left, I went over the entire house. It was like assessing the damage of a bad car accident. By the time I was done, I was seriously contemplating calling to cancel the check I had just written them, and I probably should have in all honesty. It was totally unacceptable to pay someone $20 more than what I normally pay, for a job that was so below standard it wasn't even funny. My husband can clean better than these girls did, well, when I can get him to do it.

The bathrooms they re-did, still had toothpaste in the sink (um, do they scrub with a cotton ball or what?) and they completely skipped my downstairs powder room all together (didn't even crack the door), the bottom of the toilets had not been touched and anyone with boys out there knows, YOU MUST clean the bottom of the toilet. If they dusted, they didn't move a damn thing, they didn't pick up the little odds and ends and pile them on the beds of the boys room. They didn't dust if anything was in the way, basically, as shown by the fireplace mantle that had not been touched. The floors were swiftly swiffered, but not enough to get up the dried juice stain under the kitchen table or the sticky whatever by the fridge. The stove top and hood weren't wiped down (not the tins, but the WHOLE stove). The front door was not Windexed. There were candy wrappers on my 8 yr. old's dresser. Oh the list goes on and on. As I'm typing...I'm wondering if it's too late to cancel that check!!!

Maria, the cleaning lady I always use, despite the language barrier, is phenomenal!! I can't understand a word she says and she can't understand me, but that's okay, she knows how to clean a house. I never have to point one thing out to her, she just knows what needs to be done and even cleans things I would probably just replace (like the icky stove tins I replace all the time). She does such a great job and I always tip her $20 for putting up with the extra crap the boys leave around because I know how bad my house can get with 4 guys living in it. I'm reasonable and realistic when it comes to that. Needless to say, I did not hand out any tips on Friday!

Hind site is 50/50

Well, you would think I'd be a demanding person, having to deal with the general public everyday with my own job. Knowing what good customer service is and really knowing how to handle a bad situation. But really, I'm just a pushover. I hate conflict, I hate to be an imposition to anyone and I'm a terminal people pleaser. If I had it to do over again, I would have called my "PPP Sponsor" (Pathetic People Pleasers) and had her talk me through a total confrontation with these gals. I would have mustered up the courage to let them know just how un-pleased I was. Although, I'm not sure having them re-do it would be the answer, I mean if they didn't know how to do it in the first place, what's the second time around going to prove? I maybe would have mustered up the courage to call my bank.

The squeaky wheel gets heard, right? Well, I didn't squeak enough in this situation, but I sure learned my lessons. Stick with what you know and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I need to learn a little patience and need to wait for those things worth waiting for. Like Maria! I also need to find my courage "like the scarecrow from Wizard of Oz", and confront people about their poor customer service.