I work as an appliance repair technician, servicing household appliances such as refrigerators, dryers, and washing machines. Most of my work comes through home warranty companies, so the homeowner isn’t paying me directly. My responsibility is to diagnose the problem and perform the necessary repairs.
Every so often, you encounter a customer who has convinced themselves that a particular part needs replacing, and no amount of professional explanation will persuade them otherwise. As a technician, I have a few options. I can simply refuse to replace a part that isn’t defective and justify my decision to my supervisor, or I can replace the part the customer insists on having replaced without actually changing anything. I can bring in a component, make it look as though I’ve performed the replacement, and call it a day.
Sometimes, people just want to feel vindicated. They want confirmation that they were right all along, regardless of whether they actually were. And occasionally, it seems easier to give them that satisfaction than to spend an hour arguing with someone who has already made up their mind.
I’m amazed any of your clients actually let you repair anything. Field service is the norm in my (day job) industry and customers just do nothing but bitch and moan and whine and tantrum and threaten and obstruct because they think it’s going to get them a new product delivered instead of a repair. “You mean now I need to wait for parts? That’s unacceptable!” “I paid for a new product, not a repaired product!” “I paid a ‘lot of money’ for this [obvious convenience item] and I can’t live without it, you need to get me a new one immediately or I’ll charge back my credit card!” Etc., etc., et-fucking-cetera. If I took another drink every time I heard any of the above in one day, I’d be dead before quitting time.
Yes. It’s a home warranty. Parts requests take longer to process. If you want it fixed quickly, you can pay me out of pocket, and I’ll be back tomorrow.
“Why won’t they just replace it? It was repaired once ten years ago!”
I have absolutely no influence over whether your home warranty company decides to replace your appliance. If I did, I’d have them all replaced.
“But they said you have to recommend it for replacement!”
I have no control over the decision-making process at your home warranty company. I can diagnose the problem, recommend the necessary repairs, and provide my professional assessment. What the company chooses to do with that information is entirely up to them.
These people don’t seem to understand that they’re paying into a multibillion-dollar industry for what amounts to a contractual gamble with some very significant limitations.
I have to spend an absurd amount of time explaining to customers that they’re not necessarily being ripped off or scammed. They voluntarily signed a contract agreeing to a particular kind of service, with specific terms, exclusions, limitations, and a claims process that is often considerably less convenient than they imagined.
The home warranty industry isn’t designed to provide you with the fastest, most convenient, or most comprehensive solution to your appliance problems. It’s designed to provide a service within the financial and contractual limits established by the company.
You can argue about whether the contract is worth what you’re paying for it, and that’s fine. But you cannot sign up for a product without understanding what it actually provides and then act surprised when the company delivers precisely the kind of service its business model is built around.
And somehow, I’m the one who has to explain all of this while standing in your kitchen with a toolbox.
As someone that has sent the literal exact same robot-vacuum-cleaner about 10 times for repair (because they just keep sending it back without doing anything): sometimes the customer is actually right.
Sometimes, people just want to feel vindicated. They want confirmation that they were right all along, regardless of whether they actually were. And occasionally, it seems easier to give them that satisfaction than to spend an hour arguing with someone who has already made up their mind.
I work as an appliance repair technician, servicing household appliances such as refrigerators, dryers, and washing machines. Most of my work comes through home warranty companies, so the homeowner isn’t paying me directly. My responsibility is to diagnose the problem and perform the necessary repairs.
Every so often, you encounter a customer who has convinced themselves that a particular part needs replacing, and no amount of professional explanation will persuade them otherwise. As a technician, I have a few options. I can simply refuse to replace a part that isn’t defective and justify my decision to my supervisor, or I can replace the part the customer insists on having replaced without actually changing anything. I can bring in a component, make it look as though I’ve performed the replacement, and call it a day.
Sometimes, people just want to feel vindicated. They want confirmation that they were right all along, regardless of whether they actually were. And occasionally, it seems easier to give them that satisfaction than to spend an hour arguing with someone who has already made up their mind.
I’m amazed any of your clients actually let you repair anything. Field service is the norm in my (day job) industry and customers just do nothing but bitch and moan and whine and tantrum and threaten and obstruct because they think it’s going to get them a new product delivered instead of a repair. “You mean now I need to wait for parts? That’s unacceptable!” “I paid for a new product, not a repaired product!” “I paid a ‘lot of money’ for this [obvious convenience item] and I can’t live without it, you need to get me a new one immediately or I’ll charge back my credit card!” Etc., etc., et-fucking-cetera. If I took another drink every time I heard any of the above in one day, I’d be dead before quitting time.
Oh my god, dude. Every. Single. Day.
“You mean I have to wait a week?!”
Yes. It’s a home warranty. Parts requests take longer to process. If you want it fixed quickly, you can pay me out of pocket, and I’ll be back tomorrow.
“Why won’t they just replace it? It was repaired once ten years ago!”
I have absolutely no influence over whether your home warranty company decides to replace your appliance. If I did, I’d have them all replaced.
“But they said you have to recommend it for replacement!”
I have no control over the decision-making process at your home warranty company. I can diagnose the problem, recommend the necessary repairs, and provide my professional assessment. What the company chooses to do with that information is entirely up to them.
These people don’t seem to understand that they’re paying into a multibillion-dollar industry for what amounts to a contractual gamble with some very significant limitations.
I have to spend an absurd amount of time explaining to customers that they’re not necessarily being ripped off or scammed. They voluntarily signed a contract agreeing to a particular kind of service, with specific terms, exclusions, limitations, and a claims process that is often considerably less convenient than they imagined.
The home warranty industry isn’t designed to provide you with the fastest, most convenient, or most comprehensive solution to your appliance problems. It’s designed to provide a service within the financial and contractual limits established by the company.
You can argue about whether the contract is worth what you’re paying for it, and that’s fine. But you cannot sign up for a product without understanding what it actually provides and then act surprised when the company delivers precisely the kind of service its business model is built around.
And somehow, I’m the one who has to explain all of this while standing in your kitchen with a toolbox.
Sorry. Rant over.
As someone that has sent the literal exact same robot-vacuum-cleaner about 10 times for repair (because they just keep sending it back without doing anything): sometimes the customer is actually right.
The customer is always right in matters of taste.
Is the full saying.
If a customer wants to buy an ugly sweater, for example, they should be able to do so.
You’d go far in politics.