“I didn’t get what I paid for”
Social media can make or break a small business! You can get several amazing reviews one day and the next someone who hasn’t utilized your services can post a negative comment based entirely on the words of a friend. Is it unfair for people to negatively post about a business if they have never had a personal experience? Is it possible that the friend is spreading falsehoods about the business? As a business owner I say yes to both!
I can’t speak for every small business but for mine I believe in complete transparency and giving 100% to each and every customer! I find myself trying to go above and beyond to make sure that my customers are completely satisfied, even if it means adding in an extra flower or three! If there is ever a problem with one of my designs, I do my best to rectify the problem as quickly as I can. Of course, there are those among us that will never be satisfied and that’s okay. I’ve learned over the past 4 years to not take it too personally!
There is a saying that you get what you give, which brings me to this situation that presented itself over the weekend. I provided the flowers for a wedding almost 2 years ago. This is where the over accommodating side of me bit off more than I was aware I was biting! I was asked if I could bring lanterns, stands and LED candles to the church with me when I went to bring the flowers. Of course I said sure I’ll be going anyway! Little did I know that the lanterns were approximately 2ft tall and there were 20 of them along with 20 stands and 20 LED candles! I had to enlist the help of a friend to provide transportation to the church for the customers equipment!
I know you may be thinking that was my own fault and you are absolutely correct! I learned a lot of hard lessons with this wedding!! The best part is I didn’t charge the customer to bring her equipment to the church and set it up!!! That is the number 1 lesson right there, never again! In trying to satisfy the customer I caused more problems for myself and my staff! I learned that no matter how good of a job that you do one minor thing will forever tarnish your name even if that one thing was not on the sheet of paid for items!
Proof of that lies in the fact that after 2 years this individual and friends continue to harass me and my business. Until now I refused to participate in this nonsense but when the phrase “I didn’t get what I paid for” was thrown into the mix I had to speak on it! Contrary to what this individual would like the friends and everyone else to believe, I did in fact provide every item for this wedding that was paid for. As ugly as this individual was on our last phone call and on every voicemail that followed, I still provided gorgeous flowers for the daughter’s wedding! That is the kind of person I am!