Business-related question - hey Baz and others

[mpierich]

I entered the world of small part-time business late in life. Being of a certain age, I do have a lot of experience with people, but I ran across something new to me and thought I'd get input from people who have been doing it longer than I have.

I polished a set of Honda m/c drum brakes and lower forks for a guy. I did them for probably half of what I should have, because work is a little slow right now and he seemed like he didn't have a big budget. I also do that occasionally to get word around and bring in new business.

This, like 99% of my business, was mail-order. When I sent the parts back, he said he was happy with the polishing, but that some areas on the back of the backing plates were bent and actually broken! He says he is positive it wasn't like that when he sent the parts. I am equally positive that I didn't damage them. He says it wouldn't have happened during shipping because the box was intact. I responded asking for photos of the damage and said if there was any chance I could have done the damage, I'd refund a small portion of the fee as a goodwill gesture. I also told him I'm not dumb enough to send back damaged parts and think he wouldn't notice (but in a nice way). He hasn't gotten back to me yet (it was only yesterday).

What to do? My reputation is more important than the money since I plan on doing this for a long time...but, I'm not going to be taken advantage of, either. Since neither of us can prove who's right, what would you do?

I will say that from now on I'm going to be extra careful to take detailed before and after photos of _all_ sides of the parts - if I had those in this case there would be no dispute.

[FigureLLC]

before/after photos are a good idea. hopefully, if he's not sure they weren't damaged before he sent them to you, he won't try to stick it to you. i suppose your actions would depend on how much you think his bad word could damage your rep.

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by FigureLLC

before/after photos are a good idea. hopefully, if he's not sure they weren't damaged before he sent them to you, he won't try to stick it to you. i suppose your actions would depend on how much you think his bad word could damage your rep.

Actually I think if I never answered another one of his emails there'd be no effect. I don't know how he'd stick it to me without proof of anything...if he sued me it would cost a lot more than the parts. I guess it depends on how crazy he is.

Having said that, I do have a well-developed sense of fairness, and if I screwed up I'd want to make it right. I guess I'll see if he sends pix, then decide if it could have been something I did without realizing it. But...actually _breaking_ parts? I think I would have noticed that.

[baz]

over the years i have had a few things like this happen . couple of them were my fault so i either fixed or paid for it. i had a customer once that said someone switched is transmission case with one that was useless ,and at that time i had only 1 of those case in the shop so it was imposible but the customer being a bike shop that was doing lots of show bikes i didn t want word going around that i was switching parts with older ones .i told the shop i would pay for it as a good will but that it was imposible that it could have happened in my shop, so i paid for a new case plus i had to polish the new case ended up costing me 500 $ for a 100 $ job , sounds expensive but this is like 10 years ago and that shop still gives me business all year round .
what would have happened if i would have refused to pay ?
i would have lost that customer (10 years x $$$$ per year) + probably some other customers that would have heard his side of the story
i m not saying you have to take the blame but like Figurellc says i suppose your actions would depend on how much you think his bad word could damage your rep
i don t like taking the blame for something i did not do but i have to look at it as a business decision .$$$

taking pictures of all parts is too complicated for me but i try to go over the parts when i receive them and take pictures only if i see some damage .
before you do some parts for 50% ofthe price remember that if something goes wrong you will pay 100% of the repair
being a mail order thing i would sure want the customer to send me clear pictures of the damage and also clear pictures of all sides of the package
or shipping box it was in .
sorry for the loooong post

[mpierich]

Thanks Baz. In this case I doubt it will have any effect on my business...I just want to do the right thing while not being taken advantage of. You're absolutely right about the case you mention, tho.

Taking pics is no biggie for me, I just have to remember to do it. You can bet that I will from now on.

[FigureLLC]

oh, when i typed "taking before/after pics is a good idea" the rest of my thought was, "because if nothing else, you can show customers, use them for a website, etc."

i think it might be impossible to be an honest business and not get burned (purposfully or accidently) by a customer every so often. like baz said, in other words, you're in business to make your customers happy so they come back and spread the good word.

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by FigureLLC

oh, when i typed "taking before/after pics is a good idea" the rest of my thought was, "because if nothing else, you can show customers, use them for a website, etc."

i think it might be impossible to be an honest business and not get burned (purposfully or accidently) by a customer every so often. like baz said, in other words, you're in business to make your customers happy so they come back and spread the good word.

I do use them...but once you do a number of the same part you have no need of more pictures - you see one shovelhead rocker box, you've seen them all. As well, the areas he's claiming damage to are not in polished areas, which mean they wouldn't have shown in my normal before/after pics anyhow.

In any case, was just getting opinions and anecdotes. Clearly there is no commerce without risk.

[baz]

i think if the guy can t really hurt your business,then just wait and see if he goes any further with this .
even if we are small businesses full time or part time we should cover ourseleves
like bigger places do , we should always add a small amount (we don t have to tell the customer about it)when we make a price list or give a quote to a customer . an extra 5 $ or 10$ on a 150 dollars job
won t scare the customer away but for us at the end of the year it could cover for those situations .

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by baz

i think if the guy can t really hurt your business,then just wait and see if he goes any further with this .
even if we are small businesses full time or part time we should cover ourseleves
like bigger places do , we should always add a small amount (we don t have to tell the customer about it)when we make a price list or give a quote to a customer . an extra 5 $ or 10$ on a 150 dollars job
won t scare the customer away but for us at the end of the year it could cover for those situations .

Well, it's been a few days and nothing further from him since my request for pictures. Maybe I scared him off. I just have a feeling that this guy is a cheapskate on a fishing expedition...

[mpierich]

Well it's been over a week, and not a peep out of this guy since I asked him for photos of the "damage". Musta been a bunch of B.S., eh? Glad I called his bluff - I have no probelm taking responsibility for my screwups, but I don't want to get scammed, either.