ARGH, damn businesses

[Drum]

Dont want an overzealous company owner to get upset and cause hassels with KB Drum, but check your rep

Yeah, fair enough I suppose.

I can never understand why businesses (particularly large scale ones such as this) are prepared to piss customers off over such small amounts of money.

Especially if they are repeat customers - as I assume you are.

[onearmedbandit]

Sniper, I had feeling that might be the reason. I've struck this in business before, boss finds out about quoted price and doesn't agree and you incur hidden costs. I'd tell the manager/owner it is not your responsibilty that his staff member stuffed up. To make matters worse his employee tried to deceive a customer by adding extra costs and going back on his word, despite you confirming the price twice. Tell him to either put it down to bad training, or take the matter up with the employee. Harsh I know, but it is not your fault, and by him making his problem your problem you have to face up to your emplyer.

[Sniper]

Especially if they are repeat customers - as I assume you are.

Spent over $12000 with them in the last 6 months. I would expect a blind eyed to be turned.

Thanks OAB, I never thought of it that way so I think I may have a word with his boss tomorrow. I had another conversation where I told the guy that he was a liar and was told to, "Come down and say that to my face." He was quite put out when I said OK and to make sure his boss is around because this needs to involve him too.

[Winston001]

Horses for courses. Do you normally have a good relationship with this company? $100 doesn't sound unreasonable for freight on a large machine especially if the hire rate has already been discounted. And a compromise at $50 seems fair.

The guy you are dealing with is caught between a rock and a hard place. He has done you a good deal only to be put in the vice by his boss. Have some sympathy for him. The boss is who you should blame but don't get agro. Just point out the amount of business you do with them and I'd be surprised if they don't just write the freight off.

The other thing is - what is the job worth? How valuable was it having a decent machine on site? It can save a lot of time instead of having a cheaper not-quite-big-enough machine. $100 might be pennies compared to the work achieved.

[Deano]

Sniper, I had feeling that might be the reason. I've struck this in business before, boss finds out about quoted price and doesn't agree and you incur hidden costs. I'd tell the manager/owner it is not your responsibilty that his staff member stuffed up. To make matters worse his employee tried to deceive a customer by adding extra costs and going back on his word, despite you confirming the price twice. Tell him to either put it down to bad training, or take the matter up with the employee. Harsh I know, but it is not your fault, and by him making his problem your problem you have to face up to your emplyer.

Agreed - also Sniper, I don't believe the Privacy Act applies to businesses, only individuals. But you would need to be sure everything said is the truth to avoid any claims of libel.

[Sniper]

I understand your point Winston001, but the problem I have is the guy decided to add charges without telling me first.

Anyway, went down there this morning to have a chat with him and his boss and it turned out to be rather civil. Conversation went along the lines of I can understand why freight was charged and understand that I got a discounted price, but the fact freight was never mentioned and then suddenly appearing on an invoice after on 2 separate occasions being quoted a price was annoying.

Its sorted now with me paying the quoted price and the guy having to pay the freight out of his own pocket which he didnt like, but his boss wasnt impressed with the way he handled the situation and he didnt want to lose a customer that was setting up a branch at queenstown airport, Greymouth and fixing things in Picton and was about to spend a fair bit of money with them.

[Drum]

Score one for the consumer.

Bit of a bastard boss taking it out of the employee's pay though.
If it was me I'd be looking for a new job on principal!

[onearmedbandit]

I see where you are coming from, but the employee should've checked first before quoting the rate. I manage a decent sized business, and I know what I can and can't do. If I'm ever in doubt, I talk to the man who writes the cheques and pays my wages (ie the owner) so that I don't make that mistake. I have a pretty good picture of the business, but the boss has the complete picture.

[MikeyG]

I had a similar problem with the bike shop I got the Aprilia off. Got the exhausts fitted shortly after purchase, originally the exhausts were supposed to be opened up as part of the purchase price but that plan couldnt go ahead, so after market ones were sourced. I was quoted a total price that was minus labour to make up for the original stuff up. Confirmed the price several times (this is with one of the owners of the business, not just the guy behind the counter) and the deal seemed the best way out of the situation so I went ahead with it. When I went to pick the bike up after fitting, labour had been added. Had no choice but to pay the extra (his word against mine and I needed my bike to get home), so I paid up and vowed never to give that shop another cent as this wasnt the first time they had reneged on parts of the deal.

They cannot legally hold your bike or any other property even if waiting for payment. If they say you can't have the bike until; paid just tell them they can't do that and if they persist call the cops.

Exceptions to this are police (impounding vehicle) and possiblt towies.

[ManDownUnder]

Pay the agreed price up front. You agreed to pay the $255, you took receipt of the vehicle on that basis - so pay it.

They can chase you for the rest. Be warned - if it goes to Baycorp you need to be prepared (and I don't know what you'd have to do) but as a first step, write an email to them explaining what you are paying and why. When they respond... KEEP THAT EMAIL AS EVIDENCE

You will then have on record what you were said etc and could use it as basis for any future defences.

Keep a diary too. This crap can drag out... h4e said and she said are all very clear now - but in 8 months time it's really easy to get things out of sync.

ANyone here have access to www.consumer.co.nz and able to ask them the legal position on all this?

[Beemer]

I wouldn't pay it, I'd say I wrote down the charges on my desk pad (easily done now) and that I confirmed them in a second phone call. Say that the price of $255 was budgeted for and if you had been told that it was actually $355 at the time, you would not have gone ahead with the hire. Tell him you are HAPPY to pay the quoted $255 but NOT the additional $100.

I bought some software the other day and got the invoice by email so I could pay the money directly into their bank account. Cunning sods had added the freight charge to the price and THEN added gst! It was only about 75 cents more but I thought 'what a cheek!' And then they didn't bother putting my name, c/- my husband at his work address, so it arrived at his work, was opened by the mail room woman, put on his boss's desk where it sat for two days, then his boss opened it and thought "what the hell would I need Photoshop for?" Luckily Andy was walking past his desk at the time and said "that's Faye's!" Can you imagine if it had arrived in some large organisation with no name on it? You can guarantee that would never have been seen again.

[Motu]

Huh,ALL my freight is plus GST.

[QUOTE=onearmedbandit] but the employee should've checked first QUOTE]


Sniper is the employee dealing with a product he obviously knows not a lot about,a first time hire for him perhaps.He hasn't reshearched enough,he has ''asumed'' the freight is free,as far as I'm concernd a cock up on his part...he has been given the responsability and dropped the ball.The guy at the hire group obviously deals all day with customers who know about the delivery charge,they already know and don't need it repeated every time they order a lift.Through Snipers lack of experiance he has put the problem onto the hire employee,and made him pay from his own pocket so his boss doesn't lose face.Sniper has learnt from this and won't make the same mistake next time - but I think he should pay for it first time around....

[Sniper]

Fair enough Motu, but I have always picked the equipment up from them and when they said they would drop it off I never once thought that it would incurr a freight charge as he had the oppertunity twice to tell me if there was one.

I do feel bad that he had to pay out of his own pocket as I would have just said that a lesson had been learnt, dont do it again.

[Motu]

Yes,who has learnt the biggest lesson here - you or the hire guy.You will never make this mistake again,lesson well learnt.The hire guy is just pissed off,he hasn't done anything different in this hire than the 20 he did before - and he got a dressing down from his boss and had to fork out of his own pocket.In about 5% of his future hires he'll ask ''you realise there is a delivery fee?'' You made the blunder....he paid.

[Sniper]

You made the blunder....he paid.

I never made any blunder. Like I said, I have picked up equipment from them before and on two separate occasions I asked him for a total. And also I was told by himself and the boss that he wasn't going to charge me freight until the boss noticed and told him to sort it out. Had he rung me and discussed it, I would be happy to split the fee. The problem is he didnt and just added it to an invoice and hoped I wouldnt notice.