Customer Service 101
Just been forwarded an exchange of e-mails, which is doing the rounds, The two key e-mails are these:
From: Steve Hausman
To: ‘Events Team’
Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 4:06 PM
Subject: RE: Quote #00002417; from The Great Marquee Company Ltd.
Hi Klaus
Paula and I went and viewed your marquee setup at Devonport the other weekend and unfortunately we did not like it.
So this is just to let you know we will not require your services on 7 April 2007.
Thanks for your assistance and we are sorry that it turned out this way although we are glad we looked at the marquee prior to booking as that would have been a huge disappointment.
Regards
Steve Hausman
Now get this reply. Incredible:
From: Events Team [mailto: events.team@thegreatmarqueecompany.co.nz]
Sent: Wednesday, 15 November 2006 6:30 p.m.
To: Steve Hausman
Subject: Thank You From The Great Marquee Company
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your reply. Your wedding sounded cheap, nasty and tacky anyway, so we only ever considered you time wasters.
Our marquees are for upper class clients which unfortunately you are not. Why don’t you stay within your class level and buy something from payless plastics instead.
Kindest Regards
Katrina
Office Manager
The Great Marquee Company
Almost too nasty to be true but I have checked the names and contact details of those involved and they are actual people – it is genuine. The e-mail has already gone through around 15 forwards so must be wellspread.
November 17th, 2006 at 4:02 pm
I got this too and automatically thought ‘viral marketing’. But after a flurry of email with mates, it seems it actually is genuine.
Egg on face, huh.
DenMT
November 17th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
obviously some of your lot dpf..
wot with ‘upper-class’ clients..and all..
wannabe toffs…currently working as lickspittles..(sad..eh..?..)
are invariably national party supporters/voters..
(anything else would be too ‘lower-class’ for them..eh..?..)
feckin’ onanists/idjits..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 17th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
I got it as well.
I think someone might be looking for a new job shortly.
November 17th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
Ouch
November 17th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
Phil – fuck off with your stereotypes please.
November 17th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
Phil,
He may be rude and have a very poor understanding of customer service & word of mouth advertising … but at least he can find the ‘shift’ key on his keyboard
November 17th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
Duncan – LOL
And a correction, its a she – Katrina, to be exact.
No doubt her fan will be working overtime when it hits.
November 17th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
Phil…Zzzzzzzzz
Yes this also arrived in my inbox this morning. Comedy Gold.
November 17th, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Whoar Phil, you really got a response there mate!! Bit too close to the bone eh DPF? Stereotypes exist for a reason!
November 17th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
Amazing. I can’t help smile about the small amount of irony, DPF, the first post you make after celebrating the supression order slapped on the stolen emails is to release details of a private email. Of course there are differences…I am just saying there’s a dram of irony in this.
November 17th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
I bet Katrina felt GREAT for the time it took to compose and send her cathartic rant.I’ve bitten my tongue so often it’s probably blunter than normal but hell it can feel bloody good to unload sometimes.Also she will probably get another job in NZ if she changes her name. har har
November 17th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
I’m just impressed anyone actually reads and/or comprehends phil u’s posts. I still haven’t decided whether it’s affliction or affectation.
November 17th, 2006 at 5:12 pm
Decentre – no what I object to is wankers who try and bring cheap politics into non political threads.
Craaster – no irony at all. One party to the e-mail has forwarded it on. That is allowed.
November 17th, 2006 at 5:25 pm
Actually I liked the cut of her jib and if anything it has encouraged me to send some business heir way. Here’s the mail I’ve just sent to the The Great Marquee Company Ltd.
Katrina,
Thanks in advance for taking the time to field my enquiry.
I enclose a picture of my current bivouac (left foreground) which although made from quality PVC, lacks a certain je ne sais quois and is hardly the envy of my neighbours.
With that in mind I was looking to upgrade to something a little classier and I heard through the grapevine you were just the people to talk to.
Kind Regards,
Kisekiman.
November 17th, 2006 at 5:39 pm
Her employer had better tread warily on dismissing her on this one. She’ll probably take a personal grievance action on account it was her ‘time-of-the-month’
Atrocious customer relations of course, but brilliant sense of humour! (Think I might offer her a job…)
November 17th, 2006 at 5:39 pm
Sorry, but I don’t find this funny at all. 2 reasons: 1) This is the sort of service I’ve got before. 2) When I worked in customer service, those were the kind of customers I served. They probably did want something cheap and nasty.
November 17th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
Spot the irony.
Previous post: Dr Don seeking an injunction on the publication of HIS private emails, presumably because some of them may be damaging.
This post: The publication of a private email….that is damaging.
November 17th, 2006 at 5:51 pm
Wow RedRag, you’re on the ball today.
November 17th, 2006 at 5:51 pm
i don’t see what the problem is – Steve could’ve just said: “we’ve decided to look at other options” or something, but he was a dick, so there’s nothing wrong with her reply
November 17th, 2006 at 6:04 pm
Craaster said: I’m just impressed anyone actually reads and/or comprehends phil u’s posts
While Phil has breath there will always be a need for rehab centres.
And he must do battle with dictionary.com for hours to turn up some of the reefer-length words. Hope he keeps posting. They are quite simply the best on-line reason why not to vote for the Greens.
(Sorry DPF, cheap political-shot in an apolitical thread …)
November 17th, 2006 at 6:04 pm
Hmm having just visited http://www.thegreatmarqueecompany.co.nz I’m smelling a vague scent of rodent…
November 17th, 2006 at 6:05 pm
I see the reply was sent at 6.30 pm. Just after office drinkies? Was it the boss him/herself, using a fictitious ‘office manager’ to take the flak?
An excellent response, I thought.
November 17th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
Red Rag obviously has no problems with theft and can not tell the difference between stolen e-mails, and an e-mail one party has willingly circulated.
Some people are so morally challenged.
November 17th, 2006 at 6:35 pm
This was a wind up I’m sure of it. One of those evil viral campaigns perhaps…. Do I smell a Vestey?
November 17th, 2006 at 6:46 pm
Although I wonder if it is this wedding
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wedding/1WCCT83FIGB5M/103-1748252-0142257?ie=UTF8&reveal=all
and she may be a lawyer
November 17th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
not much happening in auckland,i take it
November 17th, 2006 at 7:13 pm
wot’s that david..?
the class system is apolitical..?
go figure..!..eh..?..who knew..?
and i do prefer onanist over wanker..
a tad classier..?..don’t you think..?
esp if u r upwardly aspirational..eh david..?
i’m bog-working class you see..and a celtic mix too boot..!
that’s quite liberating really..
‘cos u can laugh at the self-deluded wannabe-pommy onanists (vainly) trying to ‘climb’..and the real hoot comes from watching their insecurities on offer as they strive to prove to all and sundry they are ‘there’…
in some colonial sub-set class-system..
(talk about self-deluded..eh..?..)
also amusing how many of them are ‘in service’..yet have attitudes (above their stations)to burn..
(tee.hee..!..)
and..sorry david…but those who cleave to the class system..(esp aspirationals)…invariably vote tory..(it’s part of their aspirational..’the working class (c.f..labour)can kiss my arse..’..persona..eh..?..)
you know that..!..i know that..!
why the vipurative reaction..?
to what was a gentle nudge..?
the truth can’t hurt that much..?..surely..!
and to that person who reckons i scour the dictionary looking for words..
um..no..noddy..it’s called an education…and you get it from reading..
and trying not to watch things like..oh..i don’t know..fox..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 17th, 2006 at 7:29 pm
David, I thought you were going to screen responses, so why is phul still harping on? My comments on an earlier thread were kicked back by the system because (it said) I had made too many comments. I have no problem with that, but can the system run the same check on phul? Cheers.
November 17th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
What a very odd person this ‘phil u’ is – can anyone else understand his posts?
November 17th, 2006 at 8:13 pm
I find them unreadable and just skip them. Sorry, phil, I’m sure you’re a likeable enough fellow.
November 17th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
You guys are so predictable and boring.Is there nothing that you cannot turn into a love/hate political fest?ZZZZ.Do you all secretly wank one another?This is a serious question?
November 17th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
…and she may be a lawyer
Posted by insider | November 17, 2006
She is.
November 17th, 2006 at 8:33 pm
Mara
It is a bit weird, in a politically-oriented blog, you’d find politically-oriented comments. Like you, I was expecting friendly discussions about recipes and gardening. Of course the question whether the hundreds of people around the globe who participate in these discussions regularly meet for a wank session is a serious one. It’s not designed as a troll, I am sure.
November 17th, 2006 at 8:37 pm
@span: Do you mean what is on their website now?
“Statement
If you are emailing us or visiting our website because of the recent (inappropriate) email communication we had with a customer we would like to advise that we regret the exchange. We have apologised to the customer concerned and put processes in place to ensure it won’t happen again.
With a long history in Auckland of supporting events with our marquee hire, we know that planning a wedding is one of the most stressful times in a person’s life and we do what we can to make it easy. We most certainly do not condone rudeness on the part of any of our staff or endorse the views in this particular response.
You may be aware that the email that was forwarded by our customer has now reached some thousands of people. We do not believe it is fairly representative of the service that we usually provide, and perhaps more importantly it is generating many calls to the former customer which is stressful for him.
We would rather not comment any further but move on having learned from this situation. Again, we pass our apologies on to this customer.
Klaus Jorgensen
CEO
The Great Marquee Company”
November 17th, 2006 at 9:25 pm
Span,
Why do you smell a rat? I’m sorry but so many posts here involve the phrase “I smell a rat” invariably followed by an enigmatic “…” without sharing any more
November 17th, 2006 at 9:30 pm
Sorry Span, why do you smell a rat?
Sorry but so many posts seem to include the phrase “I smell a rat” invariably followed by an enigmatic “…” without spelling it out for simple folk like me
November 17th, 2006 at 9:52 pm
Phool has been at the crack pipe again and for God’s Sake get the fullstop key unjammed.
November 17th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
Paula and Steve have had their sweet revenge, big time.
I could almost look forward to getting an Email like that now.
November 17th, 2006 at 10:17 pm
Could this possibly be a fantastic piece of marketing ?
I wonder how many hits the company site has recieved ?
I can’t believe anyone would hire a marquee for a wedding without viewing it first (on line etc)
I think its a set up…just a thought!
November 17th, 2006 at 10:29 pm
yes… (eh?) it’s like not me eh(?) it’s some crazy fucker called phil u. eh?
but.. then… perhaps.. not .. but kind of… eh(?) yeh like im really weird (eh?) and its cool eh(?) because im all fucked up on drugs eh(?)
what was i saying… like really.. eh?
November 17th, 2006 at 10:56 pm
its lucky that these guys (the events team) can’t pass retrospective legislation (eh?)
just imagine… if you will… you don’t like my tent… all other tents are now illegal (eh?) since… 1918. funny (eh?) politics is everywhere (eh?)
November 17th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
If you go to their website they have a pretty good apology posted. Seems genuine.
November 18th, 2006 at 5:03 am
so whale-blubber…
not content with..in forums… calling me ‘a fucked up drug wreck’..
you are now accusing me of being a ‘crack-head’…
(btw…whale-blubber..why don’t you try addressing the arguments occaisonally..?..you may find it rather liberating/refreshing..eh..?.i’m sure the rest of us would..)
(what’s that you say..?..u only do insults..?..oh..ok..)
and just for the record…many years ago..in another place…i hung off a crack pipe for a grand total of three months on the trot…..
(that’s real’crack’..ie cocaine..not
the local bath-tub speed u r referrring to ..whale-blubber..)..
i (literally) ‘ran-away’ from it..to jamaica..to dry out..with the help of a large bag of jamaicas’ finest….
horrified at the power of that particular drug..(the one i reckon is the most addictive)..and one which really fucks people/users up..(even more than booze does..)
(i cd knock out a little thesis on that for you..(the ‘evils’ of crack)..but whos got the time..?..eh..?..)
so whaleblubber…sorry to burst that little fantasy u r trying to build up..about ‘phil the crackhead’..
but good old-fashioned local pot..and organic tea..are my poisons of choice…
btw…whale-blubber..how are your life-long ‘issues’ with the demon-gin coming along..?
(you risk (even more) serious brain damage with that particular evil..eh..?
should be banned..!..eh..?
so..i realy wd appreciate you not making up lies about me hanging off crack-pipes..
eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 18th, 2006 at 8:20 am
I’m thinking Katrina would be a fun person to know.
Steve sounds like a bit of a sh*t stirrer and a pompous ass. Why would you write such an email? Just say thanks but no thanks rather than put the boot in at the end by saying you think their product is inferior. Then to ensure that the news media, and all and sundry know about it. What a vindictive man.
November 18th, 2006 at 8:59 am
Oh poor phool, did the nasty man blow your cover.
Didums.
November 18th, 2006 at 10:02 am
The day Phil doesn’t use “eh” in a comment is the day I vote Green.
November 18th, 2006 at 10:46 am
I bet all of us who have ever worked in Customer Service has wished to say those words to a customer who really deserved it – but we bit our tongues because we had to.
November 18th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
Oh dear oh dear Phool.
You really are a sad case aren’t you?
Don’t know what you are wailing on about Gin for, anyone who knows me knows I don’t drink alcohol or take drugs.
Crack, speed, Dope, pot ,P anything else you want to use or have used does only one thing. it turns you into a drug fucked wreck andr you posts and ranting and over punctuation simply prove my point.
If anyone is an onanist it is you, perhaps you and chronic could form a frotteur-ists club.
Now there is a good boy, off you go, light another dooby and drift off into oblivion whence you came.
November 18th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
gee..funny about that…whale-blubber..
anyone who knows me knows how virulently anti-speed/crack/p i am..
go figure..!..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
btw..whale-blubber..u r someone i would really recommend should smoke some industrial-strength pot..
u and yr alter-ego/toxic-twin muzza..(have u 2 ever been seen together..?..)..u cd both do with a good ‘stoning’..methinks..
we cd get really optimistic..and hope it might rub some of yr nasty bits off..eh..?
you cd both do with a dose of something/anything..
seriously tho’..i’d recommend a good dose of ‘e’ for you both too..
(y’know it was a therapy tool..eh.?..b4 the hysterical prohibitionists had their sway..)
and u 2 cd certainly do with some therapy..eh..?
wot with yr anger..and all..eh..?
and muzza with the ‘guns’…and his anger..love of warfare.re-enacting massacres..
sheesh..!
go fix yr heads..!
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 18th, 2006 at 1:27 pm
From the apology on their website listed earlier:
“and perhaps more importantly it is generating many calls to the former customer which is stressful for him.”
He must have forwarded the email on so serves the pompous git right if he’s getting heaps of phone calls.
I agree with previous posters that he could have simply said thanks but no thanks.
November 18th, 2006 at 1:39 pm
Phil we have funny little mushrooms that grow around here ( March, April). There were some skinheads sitting in a paddock a the road a few years ago, funny thing was they thought they were one the moon or something like that. The men in blue had to come and take them home, it was a circus. If you think these would be beneficial in enhancing you greative jucies happy to send some as the cows won’t touch them.
November 18th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
Judging by the latest message on the marquee website, Katrina has been fired. She probably gained for her ungrateful employer at least half a millin dollars free publicity. Employment tribunal, anyone? Pretty quick due process with natural justice and all, by the look of it.
What an idiot.
November 18th, 2006 at 2:45 pm
Priceless
November 18th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
um..side show bob…thanks but no thanks on the ‘shrooms’…
my days of pschedelic adventures are long gone..
i tell ya..
good pot and a cuppa tea’ll do me.. !
going to the pub..just to go to the pub..just bores me rigid…
being drunk…bores me rigid..
hangovers bore me rigid…
you don’t get hangovers with pot ‘n tea..eh..?
and the high/stone is much more pleasant than alcohol..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 18th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
and interesting how whale-blubber has noted a connection between a miss-spent drug youth/adulthood…
and lapses in (his) standards(?) in punctuation…!
i wonder if he has told the scientists about his new findings..
btw whale blubber..my tertiary studies were long after that miss-spent drug youth/adulthood…
so i’m not sure how that fits with your colourful theories of ‘you’ve seen my drugs intake..and the damage done..’
‘cos i managed to go (academically) from 15 yr old drop-out to masters (hons)(2nd class) in five years..the shortest time possible..
(ahem)..about the second class honours..
you could blame the pot..or the raising of a little nipper at the same time…for that lapse from the potential of (hons)1st class..
this is all just to disabuse yr misinformation/abuse of the gift that is marijuana….
and brace yrself..whale-blubber..
all going well..it’ll be legalised/decriminalised under the next centre-left govt..
and that will remove the taint of control by common-garden crims..and gangs..
you might even ‘spark-up’ then.eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 18th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
MSM has now gotten hold of this story. Good to see Craig Dale being brought back into the mix too
November 18th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
Having a degree only proves you can regurgitate what it is that Universities want to hear and that you can sit exams.
I rate people with degrees at the same level as people who have had a lifetime of bludging. Most of the time they are the same.
You only need a degree if you want to be somebodies slave.
From the looks of your typing the degree was in Txt Spk.
That is about all I could decipher from your rantings and ravings.
November 18th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
i would agree that a degree only shows you can get a degree..
but..y’know..if i’d drunk piss to anything like the degree i took other substances..
there’d be no way i’d have got past first year..
i only raised the subject..blubber..(can i call u blubs..?)
as a gentle riposte to your (usual) scurrillous insults/allegations..
anyway..whatever..
fuck you’re boring..blubber..
i don’t think i’ll bother any more..with you..
eh..?
see ya..!
and say goodbye to yr toxic mate muzza for me..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz
November 18th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
Klaus.
Looks as though you have just learnt customer relations 101.
All the good work can be undone by one dubb ass staff members comment.
November 18th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
crasster,
you are half correct,but I do get titted-off always seeing political capital being attempted out of thin air.Of course I take a passingly passionate response to politics in NZ.I also get bored with the Pavlovian response of the over-educated twats who assume that the media should be alerted every time they pass wind.BTW..I have a really great,no fail quiche recipe that everybody should know about.Kiss,Mara
November 18th, 2006 at 8:42 pm
Sorry, my bad, that statement wasn’t up when I looked at their website, there was just some music and a grey box in the middle of the screen. Obviously I was on a crap connection or they were having some problems at their end.
And now that I’ve seen the website, I remember seeing this company at several wedding shows in Auckland a few years back.
November 18th, 2006 at 9:23 pm
Sounds accurate.
The revenge of the cheap and nasties.
November 18th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
It’s true..
My dad says he saw this story on Prime news, and they followed it up and contacted the company etc, etc, and they said it was wrong of the woman to write that and it would never, never happen again.
Far from being ‘tacky’ and ‘cheap’, the woman getting married was supposed to be a lawyer or something…
November 18th, 2006 at 10:11 pm
“Far from being ‘tacky’ and ‘cheap’, the woman getting married was supposed to be a lawyer or something..”.
Blogs are a wonderful thing, ya just don’t know when your baseline is going to get recalibrated.
)
November 19th, 2006 at 10:11 am
The Herald picks up the story. Poor Klaus had to fire his own wife.
http://subs.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10411458
November 21st, 2006 at 9:48 am
I honestly don’t feel a shred of sympathy for the couple who got that email. Their initial email was rude and unnecessary, and dare I say it classless. They were cheap and nasty in their initial email, showing a complete lack of manners and tact.
Then they get offended because the recipient responds in kind, only with a little more flair? Crybabies!
February 11th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Wow.. I totally disagree with you there @krimsonlake. Where do you get “rude and unnecessary”? I would say the email was quite necessary considering they no longer wished to use the services of the great marquee company. And rude would have been to not send an email at all. People’s weddings are understandably important to them, and they deserve aboslutely to have things the way they want them on their big day. Katrina was way out of line responing like that, with comments that were quite hateful, speaking of the couple’s “class” as though she is something special herself. I own and operate NZ Marquee Hire in Auckalnd and I can assure you my customers would never receive such treatment, whether they went through with the purchase or otherwise.
February 11th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
Wow.. I totally disagree with you there @krimsonlake. Where do you get “rude and unnecessary”? I would say the email was quite necessary considering they no longer wished to use the services of the great marquee company. And rude would have been to not send an email at all. People’s weddings are understandably important to them, and they deserve aboslutely to have things the way they want them on their big day. Katrina was way out of line responing like that, with comments that were quite hateful, speaking of the couple’s “class” as though she is something special herself. I own and operate NZ Marquee Hire in Auckalnd and I can assure you my customers would never receive such treatment, whether they went through with the purchase or otherwise.