Hurricane season is upon us and, as we prepare for Katrina’s arrival, it makes me think back to trials and tribulations of last year. After dancing with hurricanes for three months, the recovery efforts took almost three times as long. Local screen repair shops were overwhelmed with requests to repaid damaged pool enclosures. Materials were scarce. Some businesses put messages on their answering machines that said that due to high demand, they were not accepting new customers. And not surprisingly, prices rose faster than gas prices during an oil embargo.

Michael’s Screening had posted signs in my neighborhood advertising their screen repair service. After getting a bid from another company that was 75% higher than my insurance settlement, I decided to give Michael’s a call. When I got the answering machine on my first call, I was relieved not to hear the “we are not taking new customers at this time” message as had become the norm with other screen repair companies.

I did not hear anything from them so I called a few days later to see if I could get a live person. Lo and behold, a real person answered and I described my needs to them. They said they would send someone out to prepare an estimate in the next few days. I asked that the estimator call me before she went to my house so I could be their and show her exactly what I wanted. I was assured that she would do so. So far, so good.

A few days later, I receive an estimate. No phone call, no discussion, just a sketch and a price. Reasonable turnaround time, but the estimate was completely wrong because the enclosure I wanted was different than the previous enclosure. So I called the company.

“No problem”, was the response from Michael’s Screening. “We will send the girl back out later in the week to revise the estimate.” I asked again that she call me before going to my house so that I could be there to make sure she was clear about what I wanted. I was assured, again, that she would call.

A few days later, I received a new estimate. I did not get the phone call I requested so that I could be at the house to show her what I wanted. So I called to complain about bad estimate number two. The rest of the Michael’s screening story is a little like the movie Groundhog’s Day. I call, they promise to fix it, nothing happens. Repeat. Repeat again. Give up and call someone else.

My experience with Michael’s Screening in the sales processes makes me wonder just how bad the actual service would have been. Each time I called and they failed to deliver on their promises made me question the degree to which I could trust them. If I had gone forward with them on the project, I am quite certain that my skepticism would have carried over to a new set of people who were doing the actual work. If the sales function doesn’t get it right, then there is no reason for a customer to trust that the product and service people will be any better.

In retrospect, the businesses that I have developed greater respect and trust for are the businesses that told me the truth on their answering machines. At least I knew not to expect a return call or that they were booked for the next three months. A fast “no” to a customer is sometimes better than a long “yes” to a request. The customer may not like the answer but virtually everyone respects companies and people that tell them the truth.

Poll Closed

Poll Closed