Should I send this email?

[suzanne]

Sorry Tony but I dont agree.

Tracey has obviously worked hard to achieve where she is today and I admire that. She knows this woman is lying and not only that but she is trying to say that it was her fault for her not making the appointment.

Let the woman know that she is in the wrong, offer her a refund (if you have to) and hope she suffers big time with the next clinic/cat lady she books.

I agree 100% with para 2, but that's not my point.

The lady customer/knocker knows she's wrong, telling her will make no difference.

My point is, Tracey is a genuine & kindly soul, & engaging with low-lifes rarely results in anyone winning. Tracey would waste a whole bunch of negative energy on this half-wit woman, time which she could better spend without polluting herself & her mind by mixing with such time-wasters. Some folks just like to be difficult for difficult's sake, but they can't see past the end of their nose. You can't win an argument with an idiot.

It's just a waste of good time to argue with those who are intent on dodging their bills, & in the greater scheme of things, it's not cost-effective to engage with them. Karma always catches up with them.

But I agree, we'd all approach this differently.

Says the business man who started with nothing and built an empire??

I think age has mellowed you Tony...Happy Birthday X

[tikay]

Sorry Tony but I dont agree.

Tracey has obviously worked hard to achieve where she is today and I admire that. She knows this woman is lying and not only that but she is trying to say that it was her fault for her not making the appointment.

Let the woman know that she is in the wrong, offer her a refund (if you have to) and hope she suffers big time with the next clinic/cat lady she books.

I agree 100% with para 2, but that's not my point.

The lady customer/knocker knows she's wrong, telling her will make no difference.

My point is, Tracey is a genuine & kindly soul, & engaging with low-lifes rarely results in anyone winning. Tracey would waste a whole bunch of negative energy on this half-wit woman, time which she could better spend without polluting herself & her mind by mixing with such time-wasters. Some folks just like to be difficult for difficult's sake, but they can't see past the end of their nose. You can't win an argument with an idiot.

It's just a waste of good time to argue with those who are intent on dodging their bills, & in the greater scheme of things, it's not cost-effective to engage with them. Karma always catches up with them.

But I agree, we'd all approach this differently.

Says the business man who started with nothing and built an empire??

I think age has mellowed you Tony...Happy Birthday X

Thanks Suzanne. Mellowed me? - nah, I'm more crusty & feisty these days than ever I was when I was in business!

I can assure you, I never built my "empire" (a very small Empire, I hastily add) by wasting time chasing lost causes. JNK taught me that - is this individual, or Client, likely to bring in long-term profit to my/Trace's business? No. So no point wasting time on them. We must preserve & focus our energies on where the profits will come from, not on lost causes. Arguing with idiots is lose-lose.

[lazaroonie]

six months ago Iwould have said "fight fight fight". Because you know you are in the right.

now ? as Tony says, channel the energy you woud expend on the fight into something more constructive. Life really is too short to be spent fighting .


a wee story :
Me and my missus bought her a new car last november. a year later, turns out things arent as they should be, and we have been "missold" (dont want to go into details). I have evidence of lying by the sales manager, and my brief says "hey lets go to court and fight them".

Surprisingly I dont want the hassle. We would win, almost guaranteed. And the creep of a sales manager would lose his job. Six months ago I would have taken great delight in that. In fact a year ago I would probably have driven round there and "made him see the error of his ways" personally.

So I chalk it up to experience. We are a few quid down but so what.


you know, sometimes "turn the other cheek" isnt just for the Christians. Its actually not a bad way to live your life, whoever or whatever your god may be.

[suzanne]

Sorry Tony but I dont agree.

Tracey has obviously worked hard to achieve where she is today and I admire that. She knows this woman is lying and not only that but she is trying to say that it was her fault for her not making the appointment.

Let the woman know that she is in the wrong, offer her a refund (if you have to) and hope she suffers big time with the next clinic/cat lady she books.

I agree 100% with para 2, but that's not my point.

The lady customer/knocker knows she's wrong, telling her will make no difference.

My point is, Tracey is a genuine & kindly soul, & engaging with low-lifes rarely results in anyone winning. Tracey would waste a whole bunch of negative energy on this half-wit woman, time which she could better spend without polluting herself & her mind by mixing with such time-wasters. Some folks just like to be difficult for difficult's sake, but they can't see past the end of their nose. You can't win an argument with an idiot.

It's just a waste of good time to argue with those who are intent on dodging their bills, & in the greater scheme of things, it's not cost-effective to engage with them. Karma always catches up with them.

But I agree, we'd all approach this differently.

Says the business man who started with nothing and built an empire??

I think age has mellowed you Tony...Happy Birthday X

Thanks Suzanne. Mellowed me? - nah, I'm more crusty & feisty these days than ever I was when I was in business!

I can assure you, I never built my "empire" (a very small Empire, I hastily add) by wasting time chasing lost causes. JNK taught me that - is this individual, or Client, likely to bring in long-term profit to my/Trace's business? No. So no point wasting time on them. We must preserve & focus our energies on where the profits will come from, not on lost causes. Arguing with idiots is lose-lose.

Okay fair enough I agree that it is no good chasing a lost cause but if Tracey lets this appointment/non payment pass by what does she do with the next one?

Does she let them all pass by or make a stance now?

Isnt this why all GP/Dentist now makes a charge for all missed appointments and rightly so IMO?

[Dingdell]

Good clients do pay if they miss an appt as they know how important it is top the life of the clinic to keep it going. I think what Tony is saying is that this 'client' will never fulfill a role within my busines of any value and those that do will always pay in any case.

I think I'll refund but let her know she's not an asset to my business by recomending her somewhere else. 

Thanks all for your comments. x

[suzanne]

Tracey.....rebook the appointment, apologise for the mix up and take great pleasure in making it a little bit more uncomfortable than it could have been :-)

[tikay]

Tracey.....rebook the appointment, apologise for the mix up and take great pleasure in making it a little bit more uncomfortable than it could have been :-)

That I like.

[tikay]

Laz said......

you know, sometimes "turn the other cheek" isnt just for the Christians. Its actually not a bad way to live your life, whoever or whatever your god may be.

Laz is my hero.

[Snatiramas]

Rise above it and move on..............

[sovietsong]

I find not turning up for appointments v.annoying.  I work on an appointment booking system at work however as I am a paid employee if people come or not is of no consequence to me, still if a customer does not turn up without a message I wont book them an appointment until a convenient (for me) time, sometimes i refuse to see a customer at all unless they provide a valid reason.  The reason provided by this lady is far from valid.

When it comes to this situations although it pains me to say it if you will be financially worse off by not providing a refund (due to bank charge) i would just give her the money back.  She has a small victory but you have the greater victory that she lives a pathetic life that hinges on getting refunds through lying through her teeth!

Gl which ever option you choose.

[ShatnerPants]

Why are you refunding her anything?

Just say you prefer to deal with clients who act in a more professional manner and supply her with the details of the cat lady.

Or am I missing something?

Because however much I know she's lying it will always be a case of she said/I said. She has said (in her first email to me today before I had even responded) that she intends to go via her card company to get an enquiry and possible refund which automatically costs me as a retailer £60 whether her query stands up or not. I'm in a loose loose situation - bizarely I can't afford to keep her payment!

This doesn't make sense to any sane person, but if it's cheaper to you to refund the money, than not, then obviously a refund is the way to go.   Presumably her payment was less than £60, but is it worth making the refund less a reasonable 'admin charge' , say £10 - £20 ?

I've worked in retail for far too long.  I used to work for a guy that would let people walk all over us, and I felt bad refunding money when it was blatently not our fault.  Later I worked for a guy whose policy was no refunds unless you died ( seriously - and in theory he expected the next of kin to show a death certificate ).

Both of these attitudes caused me more personal grief than the job is worth - it's the sort of thing that you take home with you and spend far too long thinking about.

So now I'm my own boss, I have in my T&C a simple thing that says no refunds except at my discretion.  Which means if someone is being a prat, I just refuse to budge - no explanations needed.  But if someone's nice to me, they get their money back in a jiffy.

BTW

The email.

I definately wouldn't send it.  Why bother arguing with a pain in the arse like her.  She knows shes wrong.  She knows you know shes wrong.  All you're doing by sending that is prolonging the situation.  Sort out the refund ( by cheque or by refunding to card ) - attach it too a comp slip, and just say ''As agreed''.

Then draw a line.

[cia260895]

offer a credit note to her personally that way she can choose if she wants to rebook or not.

[Rod Paradise]

This doesn't make sense to any sane person, but if it's cheaper to you to refund the money, than not, then obviously a refund is the way to go.   Presumably her payment was less than £60, but is it worth making the refund less a reasonable 'admin charge' , say £10 - £20 ?

I've worked in retail for far too long.  I used to work for a guy that would let people walk all over us, and I felt bad refunding money when it was blatently not our fault.  Later I worked for a guy whose policy was no refunds unless you died ( seriously - and in theory he expected the next of kin to show a death certificate ).

Both of these attitudes caused me more personal grief than the job is worth - it's the sort of thing that you take home with you and spend far too long thinking about.

So now I'm my own boss, I have in my T&C a simple thing that says no refunds except at my discretion.  Which means if someone is being a prat, I just refuse to budge - no explanations needed.  But if someone's nice to me, they get their money back in a jiffy.

BTW

The email.

I definately wouldn't send it.  Why bother arguing with a pain in the arse like her.  She knows shes wrong.  She knows you know shes wrong.  All you're doing by sending that is prolonging the situation.  Sort out the refund ( by cheque or by refunding to card ) - attach it too a comp slip, and just say ''As agreed''.

Then draw a line.

Both good ideas.

[ripple11]

She knows she's lying.You know she's lying. I would not offer a refund., Just offer a credit note to rebook if she wishes.
Given the nature of you're business, if i was her I wouldn't be re-booking in a hurry!

[ShatnerPants]

offer a credit note to her personally that way she can choose if she wants to rebook or not.

Sound if you don't mind seeing her again, but sometimes it's best not to deal with them again.