It's not knowing that bugs me. In this case, not knowing why the plumber is not here when it's nearly 10:30 and he said he'd be here at 8:30. What makes this even worse today is that he was here - I saw him pull up at 8:20 so I ran downstairs to open the utility room and turn on the lights - and then he disappeared without ringing the doorbell. Huh?
He's been here twice before to work on the same problem - sand in the lines that keeps clogging up our pressure control valve - so I know he's a nice guy and does good work. The recurring problem is not his fault, and this time around he's adding a filter to our line to try to prevent it from happening again. We do have water, albeit at very low pressure, so perhaps he was called away on an emergency and figured we could wait.
I am willing to wait, but a 30-second phone call to let me know what's going on would be nice, and would instantly dispel my growing irritation. I hate to call him because I feel like I'm nagging.
I work from home, but I have errands to run, meetings to go to, a much-needed workout I'd like to squeeze in to my day -- and I'm stuck here. Not knowing.
So please, tradespeople, take those 30 seconds to let your customers know if your schedule changes. We can understand emergencies, we can understand traffic, we can understand a delay in sourcing a part. It's not knowing that weighs on the relationship.
Any business that takes the time to communicate, to keep its customers informed, will keep them happy.
Ah, a knock on the door. At last.
Posted by Paul at September 3, 2009 10:37 AM