Good Intentions Go Awry
I worked in a photo lab and we were required to do spec enlargements on a certain percentage of orders. The customer could buy them or turn them down.
This one customer came in to get the film developed. She mentioned that she owned a restaurant and there was a few pictures of her grandbaby in a cauldron and if there was a good one, she was going to have it enlarged to put up in her restaurant. Perfect spec opportunity!
So, I found the obviously best one, even cropped it to get some crap out of the background, and put it with her order. Her husband came to pick up. I mentioned our earlier conversation and told him he didn’t have to get the enlargement. I even offered to save it if he wanted to send her in later to make the decision. He decided to buy it.
Later, I get a call reaming my a** about that stupid enlargement. How dare I take it upon myself to go through her pictures and make that enlargement. I explained it was company policy to do that anyway and pointed out our conversation. Could not make her happy with any explanation so I told her when my manager would be there.
She came in when he was there and reamed me out to him. He also explained it was our company policy to do spec enlargements.
She goes, “It’s like if I took a dress to a seamstress and asked to have it let out and they took it in instead. This is not good customer service when you don’t give the customer what they order!”
I said, “But you got what you ordered (the prints from your roll of film). It’s more like if you went to a seamstress, she did the dress exactly how you wanted, plus she had a necklace that would go with the dress perfectly and offered for you to buy the necklace when you came to pick the dress up. Your husband didn’t have to buy the enlargement, but that was his choice. I’m sorry he’s not allowed to make choices like that, but it’s not my fault.”
She wasn’t happy about that either, obviously. We offered to refund the enlargement (as we had all along) but no, she wanted to keep it.