Do You Need To Provide Service In A Business?

I have never owned a business because I have never been sure that I could have the cutting edge and deliver the continued service and great product time and time again to stay in business. Yet, with so many businesses in this county that I have lately encountered I think service does not matter.  I hope someone can convince me, or the business owners otherwise.

This year I had to remove 6 large trees from my property that were at the minimum 24 feet tall.  The tallest trees were about 65 feet tall and 18 feet around. Of course, the landscape of our yard was drastically changed. We cleaned the yard as best we could, mourned the loss of the diseased trees and decided to venture to landscaping stores in the spring and see how we could restore the look of our yard.

First business not delivering service - I will not say a name but I traveled to Fowlerville in early March.  Based on the lovely roadside presentation of their business on Grand River, I spoke to them about replacing my trees. They shared that perhaps I should try hardwoods instead of the diseased pines. I found the person that I spoke with, also one of the owners, was eager to make me happy.  I asked if I should leave a deposit and they said that it was early yet.  I came back three weeks later, signs of spring were in the air, I was ready to order and pay completely for my order which had been bid at a cost of 2,000.00. So not a cheap transaction. Again, they said it was too early, for me to come back when they called me, after they bring in the trees from the woods.  They told me,” You can tag them and then we can make a sale and set up an install date.”

Weeks passed and it was now the end of April. I found an ad in the Marketeer from Milford Gardens advertising quite a sale and installation. I drove there, chose the trees and on Mother’s Day they delivered, installed and mulched my three trees at half of the price.

I finally heard from the attractive Fowlerville nursery in July. I was shocked. They shared that the paperwork had been lost in the shuffle.  I wish I could print their name. That same business offered to spray my yard for ticks, a check was left at the backdoor and they never came.

Second business with no service - I am leasing a car and went for an oil change. At that time it was found out that I had a gasket leak from the transmission. I went to the dealer where I purchased the car and was told to come in at 7:30 am last Friday and that a porter would drive me home.  That went well, the porter was a wonderful older man that I enjoyed a brief conversation with as he drove me home.  I don’t want to offend anyone but the porter was an older man who had returned to the work force just for something to do.

Five hours passed and no service representative called me.  Finally when I called their department they shared they had not even looked at the car and that it would take another day. I was disappointed but decided what can I do? They were to phone me today, five business days later, when parts came in to schedule my all day appointment for this Friday.  It is now after business hours at this car dealership and they have never called.  I will now go to their competitor in Brighton. I wish I could say their name.

Third business delivering no service - I have a family that I love. We celebrate four generations all healthy and living in close proximity.  I wanted to have a family photograph and more taken this past Monday evening at our home. I paid the 95.00 dollar home fee and also paid the 350.00 minimum purchase fee which is guaranteed. We had discussed the possibility of poor weather with the intent to reschedule.  The day of the shoot was this past Monday at 6:00 p.m. 

The weather did not cooperate with a thick cloud cover. At 4:30  our son called on his way to town from WSU to ask them if it was a go. They shared that they wanted to cancel.  He share with them that it was raining in Detroit. If our son had not called them, we would never have known about the cancellation and there are eleven of us in the family trying to schedule this photograph time. Our son then called the four families to say that it had been cancelled.

I e mailed them the next day, no response from them. I called them today to reschedule, left a message and no response. At this point, I will go to their business and cancel. I think it is important to note that we have used this photographer three times in the past. I wish I could say their name.

The fourth business not delivering service - I have a well and septic system as I live in a rural setting.  I need to have my septic tanks pumped every few years.  On Monday, the same day as the photographers were to be here, later in the day, a company came. The same company that we have used for years. They started on the side of our house and needed to use the side faucet for flushing things.  My side faucet is hooked to a hose that leads into our pool that makes it easier for when we are adding water to the pool.  The hose was unhooked and left to lay on the ground. The septic tanks were pumped and they left with us paying the full amount.

Later in the day, my husband noticed that the basement had a lot of water in it. He quickly checked pipes from the tank leading into the basement. But instead we found that the serviceman had never reconnected the hose to the faucet and that instead our pool was being drained. There were about 2 inches of water draining from the pool and the water had beeb pooling at the side of our house and going into the basement.  I wish I could say their name.

So in closing, all of these last three business encounters happened to me this past week. I guess in Livingston County it is easy to open a business. Perhaps I will!!  It seems one just has to have very low expectations for return and happy customers and deliver no service. If you know me, call me, and I will give you their business names.

I so wish I could say their names.