I mean granted I could have written this monday night because after the hullabaloo(shut it I know old word so what) of a flat tire, a flat spare, a drained battery and then still taking my tired dusty(actually my cousin decided he wanted to go and to hell with what me or the boss said) behind to jackson and gloster monday night I had made it to Tupelo(you know evil red under squigglies if I don't want to capitalize a letter I won't and if I want to make up a word, I like squigglies better then squiggles, I will) but since I still had car trouble I don't really count that. Now today we made it all the way out there with absolutely no car trouble so HUZZAH! On the way back we got a service call, one of our customers has a problem with his surveillance system(of his own making).
Now ladies and gentleman I am a fair man, I live by a simple creed if I don't work I don't expect to get paid(unless the reason I can't work is because you dragged me out somewhere and then forced me to wait for you all damn day and your taking you sweet old time, yes there was gonna be a 3 letter colorful metaphor there but I caught myself, showing up my time is money respect it or pay for it) but if I do work SHOW ME THE MONEY. Now while the customers system is under warranty so that anything system wise that goes wrong by no fault of the user then I have to show up with my trusty cd case, screw driver and other tools to try and fix it. Now if I show up and you've been on the internet have a bunch of viruses, registry errors, new programs on it, have filled up the boot drive to almost no space left and have 50 things trying to run at system start up, that is not system error but user error and just like anybody else I am charging you for the convenience of fixing your errors. May I cut you a deal sure, if you wish to call my boss you MIGHT get a better deal, but don't talk to me like hey lemme get that, or start trying to hustle me for some free, talking about how it broke down once I left or while I was here. I don't leave unless your system is working or else I tell you what is not working and we agree to come back in the morning. Period I am a professional, I'm human but a professional I do not like leaving you with shoddy workmanship period, looks bad on me and my company.
Now if I can get on the phone with you and talk you through it fine, I will no harm no foul, no fee. But if I show up it's a service call and unless you called the boss first and he said no fee, your paying at least the basic service fee. And depending on what you need done you may or may not have to pay more for it. Sometimes it is something simple, takes 15-20 minutes and I'm in and out the door small fee. But if it's something that is extremely complex and I gotta sit there and either start playing with the registry, removing and reinstalling programs, or completely reloading the system that costs more. And by the way unless you just completely bug the hell out of my boss I am not doing a reload onsite. Uh uh, I do not know what I'm gonna need that you don't have and I know I have or can get most of it back at the "shop" you wanna buy my tools from me fine, just like anyone else there will be a slight mark up but I will give you a free lesson. Again don't insult me by once I finish the work trying to talk me out of our already agreed upon price, two things are going to happen, if I do take less then we initially agreed upon it's gonna be extremely hard to get me to pick up the phone again when you call my number. Second any of the things I was willing to do because you were just a nice customer nope now I gotta get paid for every last thing. You play nice you get nice, there are customers who because they have such a great rapport with us I show up I work and I walk away without even worrying about collecting a dime. They scratch our back and I am glad to scratch theirs.
You are dealing with me trust me that is the list you wanna be on. You call and get through when I answer hell I will come out on a sunday for you(and yes I complained to my boss about working sundays but I have gone out for our better customers), because I understand you appreciate and understand how important my work is to you. You bought a surveillance system for you store because your trying your best to protect your property I appreciate that. You're not always sure who is gonna be the one to cost you money, or cause shrinkage but you would like me to help you manage it if possible. This isn't a problem, we are glad to help if you have a problem with me give me a call or give my boss a call and we can talk it out. Misunderstandings happen and we are all adults here, and like adults if we let cooler heads prevail we can talk it out.
Now I won't lie between dvr's and the various dvr cards we deal with sometimes I might be a little slow in remembering exactly what card you have or how your dvr in particular works but once I ask a few questions boom it usually helps me get right back up to speed. And while one of my coworkers may not be the worlds most patient don't worry I'm not gonna blow up on you, I understand if you were the most computer literate you probably wouldn't be calling me. You have a business to run and you want me to help you make things easier, and I am dedicated to doing that. Just don't think that me being nice means I'm a fool. You can call me buddy, pal, my friend whatever little pet nick name you have for me but once you start trying to screw me over, I'm blocking out the bull and focusing in on the business. My time is money, and if I'm not getting paid in some capacity for my time then I can spend my time elsewhere. By the way if I gotta drive more then 2 hours to get to your site be there when I get there I drove there I have to drive back and I don't wanna spend all day waiting to get my work done. If your not understand when I leave if I leave without working it's gonna cost more to get me to come back PERIOD. I've already wasted time and gas to get out there and for those past 2 hours that is pretty much my entire day dedicated to your site and your problems, now possibly there is other stuff I can do out there but if your the furthers drive you are my reason for being out that day and past you my schedule is clear unless there are other customers on the way back from you that I might be able to get to. No guarantees because you might need me for 5+ hours and travel time is included in my day.
And please don't nickel and dime me cause again you want me to pick up the phone when you are having a problem and might need me to make a long drive, or talk you through it. If you can't afford something that is okay I try to be honest with you up front, I don't like springing large bills on people I want you fully aware of what is happening, and aware of anyways that you can get things done efficiently and cost effectively.
Okay got rambley so yes, made it back to tupelo cleared up some business, on the way home cleared up one of two problems a pair of different customers had. One I need to go back to tomorrow and drop off some merchandise and give him a lesson while he decides what he wants to do about some system problems he is having. It's of a sensitive nature to him and I understand and respect that and will do all I can to help, but it is a slightly expensive process because of all the steps it is going to entail. He is gonna get my best effort and is going to hopefully be satisfied when I am done.
aiight I think this bad boy is long enough thanks for stopping by and reading and congratulations to the new york yankees 2009 world series champions my phillies just didn't have it in them this year, but it was a hell of a year and wow did they give me some great memories
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