What does the customer want?

I feel as this whole month of April has been April Fools Day and it is only the 11th of the month! It all started two months ago with the water and sewer utility bills having to be averaged due to inclement weather. Of course an average is just a guess of what you ‘think’ the water consumption will be. The program we run, Keystone, does the averaging for the customer, but again it is only an estimate.

Before I get into the situation too deeply, I would like to say for the last few days I have thought of (Shelley’s much older brother) Scott McKain’s words more than once. I love to read his blog, watch his videos and watch little bits and pieces of his speeches. If you have ever heard Scott speak, you know what I mean, if you have not heard him you need to get with the real world and find out what you have been missing. Scott asks several times to think about what the customer wants . . . then deliver. Well, I try to do that each day I am collecting the utility payments. I am thinking I want to be cheerful, accurate and quick. In and out quickly and make the customer glad they came in and were lucky enough to have me wait on them. I thought most of the time I had succeeded with doing that the past eleven years. Then the utility bills go out on March 31 and the customers begin to come in and call starting on April 1.

IF I could have gotten a break from it, maybe that would have been helpful, but with every call that came in, they would be directed toward me to help sooth the irrate customer got old really quickly. By April 4, I was glad it was the weekend. I was dumb enough to think that everyone who had a question about their bill had already called and talked to me or had come into the office and raked my butt over the coals. I was thinking come Monday, April 7, everything would be back too ‘normal’, especially, after I had figured and calculated and figured some more on what seemed to be about 8,000 bills! Hmmm . . . was I ever wrong!

This week was not even comparable to the first. I think this is the first time in the eleven years a customer has belittled me to the point of tears. Thanks Mr. Jackson!

With as often I had to calculate the consumption of the customer’s bills this week, I know I could do it in my sleep. In fact that is all I thought of Thursday evening while trying to sleep, so I KNOW it can be done! With Mr. Jackson’s bill along with the 8,000 others, I took the reading from March and subtracted the reading from January. This gave me a two-month water consumption. I ignored the February reading as it was the estimated one. Mr. Jackson’s consumption was 9,420 gallons, divided by 2, gave him an average consumption for a month at 4,710 gallons. I multiplied the consumption with the water rate and got $37.07, $2.22 for tax, and $36.75 for sewer, making his total bill $85.04. The tax on his April bill would be 1% more, for the tax increase, raising it to $2.60, for a total bill of $85.42. Adding these two amounts, you get $170.46. This is the amount Mr. Jackson SHOULD have paid for utilities for the two months. Instead he was charged $63.39 for the month of March (instead of $85.04) and for the month of April his bill was $107.19.

Now to the ‘average’ person, this seems like a BIG difference.
$63-$107, it sure does. Well, let us take this one step further. Adding what he paid in March, $63.39 and his April payment of $107.19, that equals $170.58. The difference from what should have been ($107.46) and what is due ($107.58) is 12 cents! Four times I tried to explain this to Mr. Jackson and five times the customer told me I did not know how to figure or subtract, nor did he know where I got the number from. He had no idea where I was coming up with these numbers. I have each step wrote down on a piece of paper and in order, I explained the black and white figures to this blind man only to have him point his finger in my face repeatedly, claiming I was taking advantage of him and having him pay more than he should. Finally, exhausted, I gave up, and had him talk to the office manager while I went to the restroom.

For what seemed like hours of the same story being repeated over, and over, and over again, he finally gave up and said he was taking my figures, going home and giving it to his wife for her to call and speak with me on the matter. He paid his bill, the total $107.19. I could not tell you if the wife called or not because after Mr. Jackson left, the next customer also wanted their bill checked. I figured her bill by what it should have been and what it was, the difference was .23 cents!

I took her money, gave her change back and with a smile said, "Have a nice day."

I turned around, picked up my keys and left for the day.

Referring to the title of this blog, 'What Does the Customer Want?", the customer expects the best, but in the end, do they really appreciate it or are they willing to pay for it?

I know my outlook toward the customer is now different. It sure makes you think twice when you have a little, sweet, 70 year old woman rip your ass over .58 cents, and then have another request an adjustment to their bill for $3.14 for something they figure is MY mistake! Is the customer always right . . . ?

Thank you and have a nice weekend . . .