Customer states driver was rude!

[rod]

Paybacks are hell. I once had my wife call the furniture store up to come and get a dinning room set (18 hundred bucks worth) because the manager was a jerk and his favorite passtime was "screw with the UPS driver". She had bought this when I was on a fishing trip with the promise that if I didn't like it she could return it. I told his guys that picked it up that I didn't know what I didn't like the most- the furniture or their boss. After realising I was their UPS driver I'm sure the word got back to him because he didn't say boo to me from then on. He disappeared from the store about a month later. It's always nice to get the last laugh. I made a habit of informing my friends and family about jerks like this guy. Word of mouth advertising works both ways.

 

[DS]

Leddy,in my opinion you did the right thing by wheeling it though the front.Try this next time you are in the mall,go into the store and talk to the manager.Tell him (sir)I have some packages for you,but someone complained the last time I went through the front,and nobody will answer the back door.
What do you want me to do next time this happens?
I've had my share of these complaints,but luckily I'm not a cover driver and for me its only for the first few deliveries until a new customer/manager gets to appreciate my sense of urgency.Forming a "we can work together" mutual attitude that will best accomodate both partys.
imo
Just explain to your center manager what happened,if he was ever a driver,he should side with you.

 

[LeddySS98]

Thanks for the replies guys... I do have a couple corrections to make..

One it is not a guy manager that called me in, it was a Female manager...

Two, yes I am a cover driver, but I was'nt covering another drivers route... The mall is part the base routes. I'm told that having a bid route vs a baseline is night and day difference... on a bid route if the customer has a problem with the driver, they confront the driver problem solved... base line they go straight to the 800 number and driver is to blame.

Okay, today I had the same base route again, and the same shop (Victoria Secret) had 4 little packages. My center manager talked to me this morning wanting my side.. I told him, and he said that despite what I said he still had to treat the complaint as a complaint and the customers always right. He told me he was'nt going to tell me what to do, but he said I should try and talk with this manager and see if we could work out or differences.

When I went in there today I asked for the manager, but she had the day off, so nothing got said.

I asked dispatch to make this stop a floor stop with foot locker RDL since both mall doors are pretty close to each other... I hit foot locker every morning 10 - 10:30ish, so I'm going to deliver Victorias' about 90 minutes earlier than when I have been. I'm thinking that since they're just opening shop arround then they should'nt have too many customers and they SHOULD be able to answer the door...

 

[rod]

Your having trouble at the Victorias Secret store? And here I was feeling sorry for you

 

[DS]

I'm thinking that since they're just opening shop arround then they should'nt have too many customers and they SHOULD be able to answer the door...

Yea,what kind of girl is thinking about sex at 10:00 in the morning?

 

[brownmonster]

I thought it was in the driver handbook to deliver Victoria Secret thru the front. Judging by some recieving packages at home from VSC maybe not.

 

[Cementups]

My previous route (4 years ago) was a mall route. The only time I ever delivered to back doors was when there was bulk. Even then I would go to the front of the store and inform them of the mass deivery and have them meet me at the backdoor. Heck even alot of the stores I never even knew they had backdoors for the first year that I delivered the mall.

sometimes you have to be firm but maybe you were taken wrong. I have been in smilar situations (Staples) and the manager will bark at me, "Our deliveries go to the back door!" My response was always, "then maybe you should answer the door when I ring the bell," and just keep on walking to the back with their delivery. Before you respond, I too am surprised that no one ever called in on me for this. I think people actually appreciate you being able to stand up to them and not being a petty wuss.

 

[soberups]

My center manager talked to me this morning wanting my side.. I told him, and he said that despite what I said he still had to treat the complaint as a complaint and the customers always right. He told me he was'nt going to tell me what to do, but he said I should try and talk with this manager and see if we could work out or differences.

Bad idea. This lady already called in a complaint on you and was dishonest about you beating on the door etc. Whatever you say to her will be distorted, taken out of context or otherwise manipulated. No matter what you do, it will be wrong.You need to give this problem right back to your center manager. He needs to talk to her on your behalf and get SPECIFIC delivery instructions, times, how long to wait at the door etc. and you need to follow them to the letter. Get a shop steward or witness to verify what you are being instructed to do.

 

[JustTired]

When I deliver to back doors at businesses, I give 3 short rings of the buzzer. If nobody shows up after a couple of minutes, I lay on the buzzer til someone comes. Most places it only takes a couple of times and when they hear those 3 short rings, they come running. Works for me!

 

[mattwtrs]

Bad idea. This lady already called in a complaint on you and was dishonest about you beating on the door etc. Whatever you say to her will be distorted, taken out of context or otherwise manipulated. No matter what you do, it will be wrong.You need to give this problem right back to your center manager. He needs to talk to her on your behalf and get SPECIFIC delivery instructions, times, how long to wait at the door etc. and you need to follow them to the letter. Get a shop steward or witness to verify what you are being instructed to do.

Make sure it is put in CPad notes too so everyone has access to this info whenever they deliver to this "special customer".

No one should have to put up with customers that have integrity issues. I used to deal with some of them by asking them who I could complain to after they treated me like dirt for no reason. Their attitude changed after they thought about it.

 

[PassYouBy]

Yea,what kind of girl is thinking about sex at 10:00 in the morning?

My favorite kind!

 

[feeder53]

I try do deal as little as possible with the takers, Life is too short, and the customer is always right..........

 

[toonertoo]

I love Walgreens to shop, but not to deliver, they are the absolute worst. I ring the bell with 3 quick buzzes, look at my diad for the time, start writing out the note, slap it on when clock hits 3 minutes, and leave. The really annoying part is I can hear them in there, they just like to make me wait.
I am not allowed through the front so when they tell me to wait while they go see if the pharmacy has anything going, if they have made me wait, I tell them to call for a pick up. I take ARS pkgs when they are in the delivery area. They will occasionally tell me to go to the pharmacy and see, and I say no. Simply I am not allowed in the store, and I dont check at every business to see if they have anything going outunless they are a regular scheduled pu or call for a pick up. And thats just the way it is.

 

[soberups]

I am more than willing to ring a bell and be patient, the problem is when there is no intercom and you have no way of knowing if they heard the bell or when or if they will ever bother to come to the door. Limbo is not a fun place to be.

 

[brownmonster]

1st ring is hello I'm here
2nd ring is just in case you may not have heard 1st ring
3rd ring is open the GD door for the love of God

 

[Griff]

I got a message on the board today informing me I had been 'rude' at a stop 2 hrs ago.

I'm a cover driver, and today I was doing the mall. I had 12 boxes on the hand cart and I went up to there back recieving door, hit the buzzer and waited for the door to open... waited for awhile.. hit the buzzer again... waited, buzzed, waited, buzzed... When your standing there waiting for the door to be opened, time seems to drag, but i was honestly there for a good 2 minutes easy just standing there... SOOOO I head for the service hall entrance, enter the mall, go down a ways turn the corner and down some more mall I go. I get to the stop, roll the cart through to the back, unload everything back in the recieving area where I have always put them, came out, got a signature, asked for her last name, said thanks typed it in, and I left. I was annoyed at the fact they could'nt take 4 seconds to open the back door, but I never said anything about it, got the signature and left.

Well when the call came in, the store manager stated that the ups driver was banging on the back door trying to break in, that he looked like a blur coming into the store and went to the back of the store 'where people are not allowed to go without management, and that he shoved the board in the a little girls face and forced her to sign...

WOW! The story just kept building up... my favorite part was the 'little girl' who i was mean to and forced to sign the bored... the little girl is in her mid 30's I'd say, she had a customer, she rang the girl up handed her the reciept and then handed her the board to sign...

So what do you do? Should I confront the manager of the store and ask her what her problem is? Managment will not back me for 2 seconds, customer good driver bad... So what do you do?

Don't worry about the complaint, just forget about it. Part of being a driver, almost all of us have a wrap sheet of complaints. Most of them are bogus just like yours, people with nothing better to do. Don't confront the guy about the complaint itself, but tell him exactly how it's going to go down in regards to delivering there. Explain to him that his store isn't the only store on your truck and you have a schedule to maintain. Tell him that you'll wait a reasonable amount of time for the door to open, but you aren't waiting there for 5 minutes everyday. Start sheeting them up as NI commercial and they will learn very fast, especially if it happens 3 days in a row and the stuff goes back to the shipper. I'm all for customer service, but businesses like this have absolutely no respect for your time and quite frankly need to be taught a lesson. I've never ran into a business that didn't straight up and fly right after 2 days in a row of not getting their stuff.

 

[toonertoo]

Don't worry about the complaint, just forget about it. Part of being a driver, almost all of us have a wrap sheet of complaints. Most of them are bogus just like yours, people with nothing better to do. Don't confront the guy about the complaint itself, but tell him exactly how it's going to go down in regards to delivering there. Explain to him that his store isn't the only store on your truck and you have a schedule to maintain. Tell him that you'll wait a reasonable amount of time for the door to open, but you aren't waiting there for 5 minutes everyday. Start sheeting them up as NI commercial and they will learn very fast, especially if it happens 3 days in a row and the stuff goes back to the shipper. I'm all for customer service, but businesses like this have absolutely no respect for your time and quite frankly need to be taught a lesson. I've never ran into a business that didn't straight up and fly right after 2 days in a row of not getting their stuff.

Well said, and I agree 100%.

 

[brownrodster]

I had a business a few weeks a go that basically just ignored me. I was in the business and no one was willing to sign for hte package. I sheeted it not ready 1 and took off. Needless to say they've been more prompt since.

 

[trplnkl]

I had a walmart store that was very bad at getting the back door open. They were getting 20-25-30 packages a day so not getting them delivered was not an option. I talked nicely with three different managers and the gal that actually did the deceiving to no avail. One day, out of frustration, I rang the bell once, waited, second ring, waited and on the third ring I leaned on the bell for a very extended time (seemed like forever but was probably only about three minutes). Then I heard them rattling the door I got off the bell and prepared to wheel in the first load of packages. A manager that I had not seen before threw the doors open and was pi**ed, yelling at the top of his lungs that I was to never ring the bell for that long again. When he stopped yelling, I calmly told him that I had been waiting for 10 minutes. HE said, " leaning on the bell doesn't help any", I smiled and said, " yeah, it obviously does, you are here." After that day I never had to wait more than 3 minutes.

 

[JustTired]

I had a walmart store that was very bad at getting the back door open. They were getting 20-25-30 packages a day so not getting them delivered was not an option. I talked nicely with three different managers and the gal that actually did the deceiving to no avail. One day, out of frustration, I rang the bell once, waited, second ring, waited and on the third ring I leaned on the bell for a very extended time (seemed like forever but was probably only about three minutes). Then I heard them rattling the door I got off the bell and prepared to wheel in the first load of packages. A manager that I had not seen before threw the doors open and was pi**ed, yelling at the top of his lungs that I was to never ring the bell for that long again. When he stopped yelling, I calmly told him that I had been waiting for 10 minutes. HE said, " leaning on the bell doesn't help any", I smiled and said, " yeah, it obviously does, you are here." After that day I never had to wait more than 3 minutes.

I would have said....
"Look, ultimately the time I spend waiting for you is making me $40+/hr. Surely Walmart, the largest and richest retail company in the world, can afford an additional minimum wage employee to help the receiving dept. keep on top of things. If not, maybe you could pay them out of your $12/hr."

Might not get the door open any faster....but it feels good.

Actually, the shorter version of this, and one I use quite often is......"The longer it takes.....the more I makes". This usually gets people moving a little faster.