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Thread: Unreasonable requests from otherwise good clients.

  1. #1
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    Unreasonable requests from otherwise good clients.

    I was curious about how people deal with clients who have proven themselves to be good, repeat customers in the past,but are now making unreasonable demands. We had two of these yesterday alone. The first was a lady who purchased an expensive pair of glasses one year ago and never picked them up (despite 3 calls from us). When she finally came to get them she said she didn't like them and wanted credit towards a new pair. The second lady had been wearing progressives and told us that she didn't really like them and wanted to try trifocals. After dispensing to her trifocals she told us that she preferred progressives and wanted a free re-do (no problem for us). However, she refused to pay the difference in cost between the trifocal and progressive.

    In both cases, these are very unreasonable demands. However, in both cases the clients are good, long-standing clients who have been seeing us over the years as patients and have purchased glasses from us in the past. I'm very reluctant to accede to such unreasonable demands because not only is it plain wrong, but it sends a very bad message to my staff on how to deal with requests in general. Also, I don't want to positively reinforce these clients in such a way that their demands become more unreasonable over time. Lastly, I feel that it increases the credibility of one's optical shop to have firm policies.

    The only downside is that when this happens (and it has happened many times) there is a very real chance that you will be creating a disgruntled patient who never comes back to your office. In the past, we made a lot of exceptions for "good" clients but recently we have been stricter and have been politely declining all such outrageous demands. Just wondering what everybody else does.

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    What is there to possibly add to this discussion? You have presented both sides , The side of principle and the side of customer retention. Which do you value more ?

    Big box stores like Home Depot and Lenscrafters lean on the customer retention side. The principle side will cost you more and more customers.

    I like your style and guts though. Good luck !

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter rdcoach5's Avatar
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    Our policy is simple. The customer is always right. That makes it very easy to deal with unreasonable requests/demands. However, the the lady who refused to pay the up charge for progressives from trifocals should be billed for the upgrade. You can't just let your customers decide what they are going to pay or you will go out of business.

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Barry Santini's Avatar
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    Well, in both cases I don't see a "pattern" developing for either one, so I would lean on the free-redo side. However, if subsequently there was another redo like-situation, then there would be an established pattern. I would point it out, and decided what's best to do at that time.

    But *something* would be done.

    B

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    Tough call. Is the frame that was never picked up still salable? How much was your cost of those lenses? Also, why did she never pick them up? That seems very strange.

    On the second one, how much is the lab going to charge you to remake them back into a progressive? Could you charge her just your actual cost? Would she be willing to pay that?

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    Master OptiBoarder optical24/7's Avatar
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    Simple. Eat it now, charge her double next time.

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Java99's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rdcoach5 View Post
    Our policy is simple. The customer is always right. That makes it very easy to deal with unreasonable requests/demands. However, the the lady who refused to pay the up charge for progressives from trifocals should be billed for the upgrade. You can't just let your customers decide what they are going to pay or you will go out of business.
    The above is what I would do.

    On the one that was never picked up, I'd come up with a letter to send at 90 days or however long you feel is reasonable, saying the glasses will be returned to stock in X days if not paid for and picked up, and the buyer will be charged a restocking fee to cover costs on custom items. And I'd send the letter certified so they have to sign proving they received it.

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Jubilee's Avatar
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    ok.. The second lady? She was in PALs, the trifocals, and decided she liked PALs better. Did you refund her the cost difference between the PAL and TRI? Or is she refusing cause she originally paid for the PAL to begin with?

    First lady.. I would offer her 50% off. The frame should still be in good enough shape to sell, so you can recoup your costs on it. The lenses are trickier, but I will often save a lab voucher/coupon for such times to help offset the cost. Being willing to flex some..shows you are willing to work with them. From the description of "she wanted credit towards" it doesn't sound like she wanted free.. just a discount.
    "Some believe in destiny, and some believe in fate. But I believe that happiness is something we create."-Something More by Sugarland

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by ilanh View Post
    I was curious about how people deal with clients who have proven themselves to be good, repeat customers in the past,but are now making unreasonable demands. We had two of these yesterday alone. The first was a lady who purchased an expensive pair of glasses one year ago and never picked them up (despite 3 calls from us). When she finally came to get them she said she didn't like them and wanted credit towards a new pair. The second lady had been wearing progressives and told us that she didn't really like them and wanted to try trifocals. After dispensing to her trifocals she told us that she preferred progressives and wanted a free re-do (no problem for us). However, she refused to pay the difference in cost between the trifocal and progressive.

    In both cases, these are very unreasonable demands. However, in both cases the clients are good, long-standing clients who have been seeing us over the years as patients and have purchased glasses from us in the past. I'm very reluctant to accede to such unreasonable demands because not only is it plain wrong, but it sends a very bad message to my staff on how to deal with requests in general. Also, I don't want to positively reinforce these clients in such a way that their demands become more unreasonable over time. Lastly, I feel that it increases the credibility of one's optical shop to have firm policies.

    The only downside is that when this happens (and it has happened many times) there is a very real chance that you will be creating a disgruntled patient who never comes back to your office. In the past, we made a lot of exceptions for "good" clients but recently we have been stricter and have been politely declining all such outrageous demands. Just wondering what everybody else does.
    It's good to see this happen to retailers. It is common in the wholesale end as well. I remember one guy that called and wanted us to make a pair for his wife's birthday. Another guy wanted to comp a pair for his preacher. ... No, I do not want to give your wife a birthday present and he aint MY preacher.

  10. #10
    OptiBoard Professional RT's Avatar
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    Did your lab eat the redo jobs?
    RT

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    Quote Originally Posted by RT View Post
    Did your lab eat the redo jobs?
    We gave a discount for customer's errors. We wound up having to eat a lot of progressive refits and lenses that were scratched by consumers. The manufacturers started these "warranties". Later they stopped covering them and we still had to eat them. Used to kill me when a despinser would say "it don't cost you nothing". I wanted to send them the blanks.

  12. #12
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    I don't believe in policies if you are a private practice. I think you should take each situation as a case by case basis. I've made exceptions for patients in all types of circumstances, and others I've held firmly to the "law".

    On the other hand, if you work in a corporate environment, then you need to stick to the rules, which makes things real easy.

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