First Time for Everything, "Bad Review"

On my web site, Facebook page and Google add, I've had nothing but glowing, 5 star reviews.

So imagine my surprise when Square Points sent me an e-mail to inform me of negative feedback from a customer.

It read as follows:


Unknown Charge

The customer service was fine. The concern was that I was quoted $285 when I submitted my credit card for payment I was informed that the bill was $368.50. A difference of $83



Okay. Here’s what really happened. A lady called me to come remove the gray squirrels from her attic. They had gained entry through the facial boards behind the gutter.

But she asked what would it cost? I informed her that my squirrel jobs STARTED at $285. But it could go up from there depending on what I may have to do or how long it took. She agreed and I went out on Monday to set it up, positive sets in the entry points. I had Momma squirrel the next morning. But there were still young in the nest. It took a good couple days before they got hungry enough to venture out and I took the last one from the trap on Saturday morning. I left my traps in place for a couple more days to be certain that we had them all. That Monday morning, a full 7 days from beginning the job, I took out my traps, sealed the entry points and presented the bill.

Long story short, it took 3 days more than the original $285 starting price at an extra $150, bringing the total to $435. To help her out, I GAVE her 2 trips, saving her $100. I wrote the bill for $335.

Then she asked if she could pay with a credit card. I informed her that would be fine but I would have to charge an extra percentage to cover the cost of processing as I get charged for each card I take. She agreed and so I added 10% brining her final total to $368.50, still a bargain for removing a family of squirrels and sealing entry points to prevent further problems.

I charged her for no materials and GAVE her a $100 discount right off the top! But, sadly, you just can’t make some people happy, no matter what you do.

Once in a while I will give a price to trap mole. Some yard are real big and they do not want to pay for the hole yard so I give them a price from point A -B.
Well a mole pop's up in point C and they want the trap for the same price. So I make it a point to let them know what the limits are from the get go.
But some of those jobs can take a long time when there are family's involved. But you know you give her a good price for a good job.

Negative reviews suck. I would reach out to her and see if you can find common ground. She might be willing to remove the bad review.

Here are my two cents, so ignore if that’s not what you’re looking for:
Wait a day or two, you saying “you just can’t make some people happy” makes it sound like you are still heated about it. That won’t help. Maybe there was just a miscommunication. Generate an invoice that shows the original charges plus the discount. Explain that you are sorry (or you feel bad) that you didn’t sufficiently explain the breakdown of work that you performed that led to the charges. Let the blame fall on yourself. If you want to win her over, it won’t work to argue that she heard wrong. I have no doubt that you provided professional work and the charges assessed are fair. If she truly just misunderstood, then you may be able to win her back over to a favorable review, or at least removing the bad review.

This is a very true statement once someone feels wronged.

X 2

How is the contract written up? Is it written in a way that covers any additional costs that may be incurred?

Joe,

Thanks for the advice. I will take it into consideration.

limestone,

Unfortunatly, there is no contract. At least nothing in writting. Small jobs useually get a verbal agreement and I get it done. But, it is something for me to consider for the future. Maybe get a standardized contract printed up where all we have to do is fill in the blanks and sign it. I'll be checking in to that. Thanks.

Contracts are great if both parties honor them. There are lots of folks out there who don't even if they are in the wrong. Always best to get $$ upfront and have a feel for ones ability to price the job to come out ahead. Adc work can be challenging at times.

If that is your first and only negative review, I won't worry about it too much. Speaking for myself, when I see a single negative review among many glowing reviews, I ignore the negative completely. It's an outlier that doesn't reflect the trend so-to-speak. I would let it slide and chalk it up to a learning experience.

Also, I wouldn't bargain with her regarding the review -- just not a good practice.

I have a location in my contract where I right in a good faith estimate. Here I put my total I think it could come to the high number

So say set up fee $145 up front
Per animal fee $65 after completion

If I think I will catch up to 6 animals I write in $ 535 estimated

Then if when I’m done it was less than 6 animals they are happy

If I think from my discussion with them that they want a straight fee. I would take off one charge and have them pay $ 470 up front

Not perfect. But it works out in the averages

I love the bird lovers that feed the birds and then have me catch the coins and opossum. Set up fee with 13 captures are
$$$

The way you write the above sentence, it sounds like she may not have known the additional charge was 10% for using a card.
10% would tick me off if I didn't know that before handing over a card.

In my mind- 3% seems normal, 5% seems stiff but it is what it is. 10% is making money on the bank charges.

I never understood the concern over card charges. Why not assume everybody is going to pay with a card and charge appropriately? Be pleasantly surprised when somebody busts out a checkbook or cash. People don't go with us because we're 3% less, or more, than a competitor.

On a $350 bill it's around $10. If they like your solution best, do you think they aren't going to pay $10 more for your expertise?

About the card percentage. She was fully aware of it when she asked about paying by card. I recomended check, cask or money ordey that would not cost her extra but she insisted on card. And as far as the amount of percentage, Square Points charges me more than 3 percent..

No. What she was upset over was the job went over starting price. I never gave her a quote. Just an idea of what it could cost.

Anyway, the only place that negative feedback will show up is in my Square Points records. Not on my web page, not on my Google add and not on Facebook. No one will ever see it anyway. Besides, I did a good job at a fair price and even gave her a deduction. I could not have been more fair. If she wants the job done for free, then let her call somebody else.

What does Square charge you? Their website says the fee is 2.75%.

I have used Square recently, and it was around 3% so I'm not sure where the 10% fee comes from either. Not hating on you Muddawg, because I think she got one heck of a deal for what all you did, but 10% for using a credit card seems STEEP! Probably not her only issue though.

10% credit card fee does seem steep. I've never heard of one that high. Not saying it warranted the negative review though.

Should use a service agreement even a short paragraph on a service slip. All our quotes say "Not to exceed amount" if we reach that we talk to client and get change order. Every job has always been signed by us and client. The slip is in duplicate.

Do not trust Square. They always side with the consumer. They owe me some money.
Chargeback after the job was completed. Reason: the customer changed his mind.

That was after signing an agreement which detailed the work along with the beginning and ending date. After completion and a thank you, the next thing i heard was the chargeback.
I called the customer who hid behind square.

What sucks is no matter what bad reviews stay and not every happy customer posts a review

If the job is not worth doing paperwork and using your form contract, then the job is not worth doing at all. If you proceed without a written document, you are asking for trouble.

Your comprehensive fill in the blanks contract must document everything and very clearly states the terms. Design your document for how you price jobs then give it to your lawyer to create into a contract.