Tag Archives: rules of business

More kudos

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A reader commented that it was good to see me offering ‘attaboys’ in addition to criticism.  In that spirit, I have more praise.

This one is a little different.  I recently needed an electrician at The Farm.  I had no references, but I found an ad for a local electrician at another local business.  I called him and he came over immediately to check out the job.  He then started work the very next morning and finished in a reasonable time frame.

In short, he satisfied all four Rules:

1. Arrive when you promise.

2. Do what you promise.

3. Get it right the first time.

4. Treat me with respect.

We are very happy.  I won’t name him here as he is semi-retired and I’m not sure if he’d appreciate the publicity.  However, if you ever need an electrician in the Deerfield, NH area, please drop me a line.

Now if I could just find a good carpenter.

Dunkin Donuts

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Kudos to the shift manager at my local Dunkin Donuts in Topsfield, MA. I forgot my wallet this morning; and he offered to put my usual on a tab, without my asking.

Call it good business, customer service, or simply feeding my addiction. The fact is he went above and beyond for me. Thank you, sir.

The Fourth Rule

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Or, An Ode to Corporate Ignorance.

Back before Thanksgiving, I posted a brief rant about my Three Rules of Business.  Today I discovered a fourth, and I’m ashamed that I’d missed it before.

After hiking today (see below), I was struck with the urge to do some shopping.  I dropped by Barnes & Noble in Newington, NH with a specific book in mind.  They didn’t have it in stock, but this post is not about them.  While wandering the stacks, I had the urge to go next door to Best Buy and check out a Wii Fit.  (I’ve been thinking about buying one for a while.)

As reported earlier, I’m a bit reluctant to leave valuables in my car these days.  My camera falls into this category, and it was a gift from Mrs. Mack505.  I really don’t want to lose it.  It’s been slung around my neck all day, including my stroll into B&N.

The underpaid, undereducated employee at the Best Buy door stopped me, however.  ”I’ll have to put a sticker on your camera.”

Like hell you will.  It’s expensive, it’s mine, and I’ll not have you defacing it.

The rationale that Best Buy doesn’t sell this camera fell on deaf ears.  ”We sell cameras.  I’ll have to mark it to identify it as yours.”

Let’s see now.  It’s a Nikon D70, which was discontinued 2 years ago.  You don’t stock it now.  It has a Quantaray 28-90mm zoom, which you don’t sell; Camera Armor by Made, which you don’t sell; and an Optech Reporter strap, which you don’t sell.  It has over 6100 photos on the counter, including 12 shot this morning and still on the card.  I’m pretty sure your cashiers could tell I didn’t steal it from you.

Doesn’t matter.  ”We sell cameras.  I’ll have to mark it to identify it as yours.”

So I took my impulses and walked right back out the door.  Best Buy, you probably could’ve gotten $100 out of me this afternoon.  Instead, thanks to the ignorance of your door guard, you got a negative blog post.

And thus, Rule #4:  Treat me with respect.

The Car Wash, or three steps to fix the economy

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Over the years I’ve developed three principles in dealing with vendors. Call them Mack505′s Rules of Business, if you will.

1. Arrive/be open when you promise.

2. Do what you promise.

3. Get it right the first time.

It’s that simple: WHEN, WHAT, RIGHT. Vendors who meet the requirements get repeat business and good reviews; vendors who don’t seldom receive a second chance.

Tomorrow is the biggest travel day of the year. Along with hundreds of thousands of other Americans, I will be hitting the road. This afternoon, I decided it might be nice to do so in a clean car. The exterior doesn’t matter much, but having the interior vacuumed and the windows washed would be nice.

It was too late for a full detail appointment, so I headed off to my local Simoniz Car Wash in Reading, MA. I had $30 in hand for a quick cleaning, and I’m a sucker for the upsell. I don’t often walk out for less than $60, but my car looks and smells nice.

The lights were on, the big neon ‘OPEN’ sign was lit, and the tunnel wash was running. Large billboards offered over a dozen cleaning and detailing packages, but the attendant advised me, “Exterior only today. You could come back tomorrow.”

Yes, I could. But I won’t. You violated Rule #2.

I had a few other errands to run, so I decided to try the Simoniz in Malden. (BTW, there is a dearth of full-service car washes in my area. There are plenty of automatics, and plenty of detailing shops, but very few who can wash and clean on a moment’s notice.)

I had a similar response in Malden, with the exception that they didn’t even speak to me. I was waved away from the full-service lane by the attendant. Exterior only. Rule #2 again.

Folks, I’m making a long drive in the Northeast in November. The outside of my truck is and will remain dirty. It’s the inside I care about.

Simoniz, let me repeat myself: I showed up today with cash in hand looking for a service which you advertise. You probably could’ve sold me a more expensive service. Instead you turned me away.

Twice.

I won’t be back.

EVER.

After wasting two hours, I did what I should’ve done initially. I vacuumed it myself. I will also visit the Delta Sonic while I’m in Buffalo. Guys, there’s a business opportunity in metro Boston.

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I debated whether to name names in this post, but what good is a review, positive or negative, if you don’t know who I’m reviewing? Simoniz, I hope you read this.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Notes.


Photo licensed under Creative Commons, and not associated with either of the mentioned businesses. But it sure is cool.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyjcase/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0