Being a local seller in Singapore and the customers you meet
I am a shopowner running a small business relating to house renovation.
Recently I have met with a customer (a couple) who purchased their electrical fixtures from me. As they have no interior designer( for a condo) ,they requested me to provide them with a contact number of installation company .
As I have been in this line for a couple of years ,I know of an electrician whom I have worked with (we are not partners and I don’t take a single cent from him for introducing his service) , just that I saw it’s a first time owner ,I told them to contact the installation company themselves and check with them on the price themselves as my company doesn’t do installation. (I wouldn’t know the cost of the installation as I do not take a cut from introducing and I just do it out of goodwill)
In the end , there was some extra works to be done and there was extra cost incurred .I replied I’m in no way involved in the installation as I purely only sell the product itself and if they are not comfortable with the extra charges ,they can choose not to use the installer and find someone else.
But they probably find it too troublesome and proceed with the installation. At the end of the installation ,as they have no outlet to vent their frustration,the customer called me and scream at me and message me to inform me they left me a very bad review of my business on google .
Sometimes I feel very baffled and puzzled by the fact that people can make use of our kindness to their advantage. The feeling is like ,you thought u were doing a kind deed to help someone by going out of your way to provide a contact point ,but they blame it on you when there is a charge incurred from them not communicating properly with the installer.
I feel like telling them that if they don’t use an interior designer ,at least make the effort to ask the installator to come up and view your house and give you a proper quotation instead of blaming it on others when things didn’t go their way. And you can’t expect someone to do this work for you as this is your own house.
I feel like after this experience ,I have the fear of helping others again.
Can someone please enlighten me ?