Thanks for response - Black & Decker padlocks

But, didn't your customer tell you that they'd had'em re-keyed not too long ago?

Liar, Liar, pants on fire!!! Just once I'd like a customer that comes in and says, "I wanted to see how it works, so I took it apart"!

NOT, gee, my 3 year old took it apart.

Newnsie

I try to believe my customers. Just because they are mistaken does not make them liars. Some are, I'm sure, but not most. In this case there was nothing to be gained by lying. He didn't care how it worked - he just wanted some padlocks keyed to a certain key.

You must live in dreamland!

If the customer LIED to you & you still believe him, I've got some land down under the Platt bridge that I want to sell. Interested?

When a customer says, "I just had'em re-keyed recently", that's just a mind fart, right?

BS

I take whatever a customer says w/a grain of salt. That's why I do not give out free estimates via the phone. The lock they say is on the door is NEVER the lock they described & they want the repairs/replacement at the same price quoted.

Just my 2 Cents

Newnsie

And, you must live in curmudgeon land if you can't see the difference between an error and a lie.

I didn't say anyone lied to me. You said it. As for the land under the Platt Bridge, you can keep it, although I'm not sure why you bought it to begin with.

I don't consider 18 months ago to be "recently". I'm all for giving them the benefit of the doubt unless I find that they are being dishonest for the purpose of cheating me. This guy has probably 500 padlocks and has had a lot of them rekeyed in the last few years. The locksmith he used has retired and moved out of the area (possibly to land under the Platt Bridge) and it's quite possible he got the padlocks them mixed up.

In any case, what he said cost me nothing, I profited from selling him new locks, all KA, and have another job scheduled at his warehouse next week. To your way of thinking I should have deemed him a liar and cut off any possible future work for him.

We do the same thing but probably for different reasons. You seem to assume that people are lying to you and I do it because I don't want misunderstandings. In any case, my way has worked for me very well for quite a while and I see no reason to change.

Sure, and this was mine. Have a good day.

Skip

When you have customers come in & bareface LIE to you almost on a daily basis, you start to see them all as liars.

Example: When they bring in a "Big box store" access key screaming, "This key you made me doesn't work"!

I guess you give'em the benefit of the doubt & make a new one.

Maybe I've spent too much time attempting to treat all customers as intelegent. Believe me they're not.

Half of'em don't even know what brand or type of lock is on their house or business. The other half chance a guess when asked.

Then there's the others that don't even know what make & model of auto they're asking you to hurry out to open.

Yeah, I'm just a curmudgeon, cause he's still a liar in my book.

Newnsie

I don't have that problem very much.

The last time one of them brought in a key that didn't have my mark on it and, said it was mine I pointed out the key duplicater's stamp and sent him to Home Depot. No muss, no fuss and no raise in my blood pressure.

I agree that they are less than informed but then most people outside the trade are.

Yep, I've noticed that.

Well, I guess your book is the only one that counts for you. I'll stick with my book.

Skip

Box stores do not stamp their dupes like us. That's why we can tell the difference.

Pray tell, just why in the hell would you make a copy of a key that they had made at some place else & dupe it for free?

I do not give'em "The benifit of the doubt".

I have stayed in business 0ver 38 years w/o kissing their ass', unlike those that have come & gone.

In urban areas, there are quite a select few that pull this BS without even careing whether or not they had taken $$$ from your pocket by first going to the box for dupes that probably won't work because some clerk from the rug department cut it.

My book is the only one, period....

Newnsie

You must be such a joy to do business with! What a hateful, bitter, and joyless life you must lead. Most people can be taken and believed at face value. There are some that will try take advantage. Why not smile at them and tell them "Nice Try" and send them on their way. To treat everyone like scum shows nothing but your paranoia. How sad and pathetic! Time for you to retire and get out of the service business.

PLONK

Back at ya bitter little man.

Considering that I never said I made one for free I guess I can't tell you why.

I'm in one of the largest urban areas on the country and have had very few people trying to take advantage of me.

You seem to equate being in error with dishonesty. Either that or evidently, in your mind, all people are dishonest until proven that they aren't. I don't think that way and have no need to do so. However, I do appreciate your attitude because customers driven away with insults and accusations of dishonesty and trying to take advantage, come to me. I have no problems with them. Thanks for the business.

Now, if you'd like the last word, feel free. You may have it. If it makes you feel better to end your message with "PLONK" because I don't agree with you, that's okay too because I don't mind if you identify yourself as a "Person with Little Or No Knowledge."

Okay, you're on.

Skip

I think you should leave him alone. Think of all the business we get from this type.

Years ago I worked for a small manufacturer which was owned by two people. One was responsible for production, the other for sales and service. I worked in cust service under the older guy (63?) He was fond of pointing out to me that 90% of the customers lie to us. The more often he told me that, the more parts I sent out free. If someone called and said they bought our product ($400-1000 fireplaces) and said they didn't receive an owners manual, this guy wanted me to charge them $5 for a manual it cost us 21cents to print. No matter how many times I told him that entering an order for $5, putting it thru the entire order cycle would end up costing more money than putting the manual in an envelope and mailing it to the customer for free, he never relented. Also the fact that we ran inspections for a while, and 30% of the product did end up without a manual....Needless to say, the orders kept getting smaller and smaller, and the company went out of business. Also needless to say, he could not understand why the major retailers were dropping us as suppliers because of unresolved customer complaints.. even when they told him so.

There is nothing so important in business as good will.........unless you're an oil company.

I can't get past the black eye his type leaves on the trade. I've lurked and watched him here and seen nothing but a bitter, paranoid little man in so many of his responses. I sincerely feel he has no business dealing with the public. He should become a mushroom farmer.