# Lady drops bottle of honey and wants me to replace it.



## frankthomas (Aug 2, 2012)

By now you'd think we'd never be surprised by how some people think and act. It speaks to your hope for humanity ESBuzz that you're surprised yet again.


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## merince (Jul 19, 2011)

The only thing I can say is Wow!


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## fieldsofnaturalhoney (Feb 29, 2012)

Sounds like you need to talk to the bakery and get on the no call list.


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## westernbeekeeper (May 2, 2012)

fieldsofnaturalhoney said:


> Sounds like you need to talk to the bakery and get on the no call list.


That's what I'm thinking. Wow!


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## rmcpb (Aug 15, 2012)

Be nice to get the same deal when you bend a car. Supplier just gives you a new one! How good would that be.

Amazing what some people expect.


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## 66thstreetbees (Sep 26, 2013)

Next time someone does that tell them they are more than welcome to pull some frames extract a bottle.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Now that's a new one. Never heard of that before.

I was stocking a grocery shelf today w/ Squeak Creek Honey and thought about what would happen if I dropped one of the 5 pounders while putting them up on the shelf. I bet the store owner would want his money back. But that's completely different from where I am sitting. He sure wouldn't replace something I took home and destroyed.

It's not like droping an ice cream cone right outside the stand. I've seen that happen.

Well handled.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

I had a lady come to me at the farmers market a few weeks ago. She'd just bought a jar of honey vinegar and dropped it in the parking lot. I offered to replace it....she said...'no...I dropped it but it sure smelled good so I'm buying another.' And she did.

Ya just never know what folks are gonna do.

Adding to this...my situation was quite different that that of the op. My commentary is on the response of the customer.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

EastSideBuzz said:


> So just got a call from a customer of my customer that sells my honey. She bought it for 10 bucks from the bakery that resells my honey..


You did notice she said Freddie's would have replaced it. Kind of strange don't you think that she didn't even dare mention the dairy farmer supplying the milk to Freddies. In this equation you are the same as the dairyman in the supply chain. The bakery is the equivalent of Freddies. I think the true issue is with the schmucks who own the bakery. They are your customer and she is theirs. Next time you make a delivery you might want to bill them for 100% of their retail price as they seem to expect that you will be taking the hits but not the profits. Look for another place to wholesale at........... someone who takes care of their customers instead of trying to pass the problems down the chain to someone whose problem it really isn't. 

:scratch:


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## RudyT (Jan 25, 2012)

Sell her honey in plastic no-drip containers.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

That's right. What the supplier gets from the retailer in return for wholesale pricing is that the retailer deals with customer service. Your warranty agreement with the retailer should be well defined, and they shouldn't even consider sending such a customer to you. If she just used the contact info on the jar to call you it would have been completely fair for you to simply refer her back to the bakery. This is just a case of "can't blame me for trying." What a schmuck. But what you did is better no doubt. Better than just calling her a schmuck that is.


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

Hey Eastside! Thanks for loaning me your new forklift and trailer, but it seems that I misplaced them.
I left them somewhere but can't recall where.
So when are you going to get a new one?
WELL HURRY UP!!!! I NEED TO BORROW IT!!


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

I had a customer let quart jars roll around in her trunk, also came back wanting me to replace them.


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## westernbeekeeper (May 2, 2012)

HarryVanderpool said:


> Hey Eastside! Thanks for loaning me your new forklift and trailer, but it seems that I misplaced them.
> I left them somewhere but can't recall where.
> So when are you going to get a new one?
> WELL HURRY UP!!!! I NEED TO BORROW IT!!


Very nice! :applause:


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## Genemiller (Jul 21, 2013)

Sorry but the good will is worth the free honey. I get calls like this in my job every once in a while and we take care of it regardless how silly it is. I own a carpet cleaning company. A lady called last week that we cleaned June 4 and said it didn't come out as good as the previous time. I asked her what he would like us to do and she said reclean it so we did. You could see all the new food stains but I just smiled and took care of it. My cost for the lost 1.5 hrs was plenty but it gets made up in referrals. 

Gene


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I can see that in your case Gene. But I would not replace a jar of honey someone dropped on their kitchen floor. The profit margin isn't there to make up for it.


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## Shouse (Jul 1, 2010)

Just ask her who was responsible for dropping the Jar.

Does she have any children, hope not, need to stop that gene pool.

Had a lady take a wrong turn down our farm road, at night, in the rain, she ran off the road by over 25' hit out harvester that has been sitting there for 6 months. Sued us for the damage to her car. No she didn't win, but what was she thinking.

Nuff Said!


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## Spark (Feb 24, 2011)

Yeah Gene "suckers are born every minute" even in business. One thing to be able to prove your guy didn't get the stain out of the carpet the first time but who dropped the bottle of honey not the producer. I would have replaced the honey for free and charged her for the damaged bottle three fold inch:


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

I would've just given her a block of crystallized honey and say it's because you don't trust her with containers.....


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## rmcpb (Aug 15, 2012)

JRG13 said:


> I would've just given her a block of crystallized honey and say it's because you don't trust her with containers.....


Why don't we have a like button. This one is gold


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## rbees (Jun 25, 2012)

HarryVanderpool said:


> Hey Eastside! Thanks for loaning me your new forklift and trailer, but it seems that I misplaced them.
> I left them somewhere but can't recall where.
> So when are you going to get a new one?
> WELL HURRY UP!!!! I NEED TO BORROW IT!!


Wait your turn Harry! I have it the next three weeks.

I have dibs on the extractor too!


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## rbees (Jun 25, 2012)

Seriously Mike...Just replace it. The goodwill shown will serve you well down the road.


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## beehonest (Nov 3, 2011)

I think you handled it well, that's why I don't do retail. I came home from the store the other day and my son dropped the milk and spilled it in the parking lot. Who's fault is that? Did I get free milk? It was my fault for letting a three year old carry the milk, "even though he wears five year clothes, I have to remind myself he is three". If they had nothing and scrapped to buy it and that was their food for the week, that would shed a different light on it. I don't know what goes through peoples heads these days.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

beehonest said:


> that's why I don't do retail.


And yet....in the last two years I've sold countless hundreds of jars of honey and vinegar at the farmer's market....and have yet (knocking on wood) to be asked to replace a single one for any reason.

At the retail level, this sort of thing is so unusual that I can't imagine it ever becoming a significant issue. In such a case, as a retail seller I wouldn't have any problem replacing the rare jar of honey to maintain goodwill with one of my direct, face to face customers. On the other hand, if it were a jar I sold wholesale, I'd let the retailer choose what value any goodwill might be for them...and they can act accordingly.

In the op's case...it would seem to me to be an exceptionally persistent customer who would pursue the supplier for a replacement. As a supplier, not even acquainted with the customer....I'd simply say no.


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## Edymnion (May 30, 2013)

I'm not surprised at all.

We own a family business that sells costumes year round (while October may be the busy season with Halloween, Christmas is actually our most profitable, because nobody else within a couple hundred miles rents Santa costumes), and the stuff these people try to pull over on us makes you wonder how dumb they think we are.

One woman tried to bring a costume back because she didn't get to wear it in the parade she was supposed to be in. Luckily, that parade was in the paper that morning, guess who was on the front page of the lifestyle section, wearing the dress, and waving to the crowd? Yup. We showed it to her right there on the spot since we had just been admiring the picture a couple hours earlier.

One guy tried to bring a costume back for a refund because he didn't get to wear it. We took it out and it reeked of sweat and beer. He still claimed he never put it on.

One tried to bring something back because they had ripped it full of holes trying to put it on. We offered to sew the holes back up, but they weren't getting their money back.

We kind of miss Blockbuster Video being around, because they gave us the best analogy. "Would you rent a video from Blockbuster, keep it for a week, then take it back for a refund because you didn't get to watch it? No, because your rental fee was for that video not being in the building to rent to someone else. Same applies here. We don't care if you got to use your rental costume or not, it wasn't here for other people, you're not getting a refund."


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## rweaver7777 (Oct 17, 2012)

I disagree fully with the "good will" argument. The commodity industry we're in doesn't make it worth it. And since you aren't the face the customer sees, an attempt at good will won't produce any results that matter in the end.

I'm a photographer, and good will is paramount to me. Even if a client ruins a print I make for them, I'll cut them a deal on replacement, because I want them back as a customer (because they spend thousands). If all the profit I got from them was $3, I wouldn't bother, because I would have to have a multitude of customers to turn a profit, and losing one due to their ineptitude won't matter to the bottom line.

If you had a service business, good will is important. But here we're talking about widgets on a shelf. How many people do you really think this lady will tell? And after a month, do you think the people she tells will even remember what brand she complained about? Especially when the people she tells will look at her funny for expecting you to replace it after SHE made the mistake.

There are times that good will matters. This isn't one of them.


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## Slow Modem (Oct 6, 2011)

rmcpb said:


> Why don't we have a like button. This one is gold


I agree!


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

rweaver7777 said:


> But here we're talking about widgets on a shelf.


I'm sorry you have such a low opinion of your honey.
Good luck.


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## rweaver7777 (Oct 17, 2012)

Lighten up, dude. Anything you line up on a shelf for sale, be it watches, crankshafts, cereal, batteries, 5-hour Energy, or honey is a commodity, thus a "widget", as opposed to a service offering.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

rweaver7777 said:


> Lighten up, dude. Anything you line up on a shelf for sale, be it watches, crankshafts, cereal, batteries, 5-hour Energy, or honey is a commodity, thus a "widget", as opposed to a service offering.


I'm plenty light....
You can add photographic prints to your list of widgets....I see stacks of them at any number of hobby and gift shops...on the same shelves with all the other widgets.


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## beehonest (Nov 3, 2011)

I guess I need to clear up I don't deal with retailers or sell wholesale. I sell it myself.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

Shouse said:


> Just ask her who was responsible for dropping the Jar.
> 
> Does she have any children, hope not, need to stop that gene pool.
> 
> ...



was her husband's name Ronnie? LOL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_vPeKBIF_E


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## Genemiller (Jul 21, 2013)

The good will would be to the store which does buy his honey and gets her off their back. I realize she is way off but I would of still given it to her. Customers routinely reach into my pocket and take money. The previous mentioned job took a total of 3 hrs which I made around 17-18 dollars total. Who calls 3 months later to complain. Some people expect me to return to clean out a new stain just because we just cleaned it. We do and never complain
Life is just to short and while my job is different it is all money coming out of our pockets. Most local companies handle it just like you did and that's fine it's just not my way. 

Gene


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I sell honey to an IGA near here. One time in all the years I have sold honey to them a person brought a Honeybear back to the store because the safety seal came off in the cap when she took the cap off rather than sticking to the mouth of the container. Seemed silly to me. But the customer is always right, right? I replaced the bear. I don't know if the customer got another one. She sure didn't call me and ask for one from me. Even though my phone number is on the label. Had she called me I would have traded w/ her.


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

sqkcrk said:


> Even though my phone number is on the label. Had she called me I would have traded w/ her.


 If she had scooped it all up and gave me the pile of glass and honey I could have open fed it to my girls to recoup the honey. That would have been different.



sqkcrk said:


> I can see that in your case Gene. But I would not replace a jar of honey someone dropped on their kitchen floor. The profit margin isn't there to make up for it.


If I thought that she was going to be a regular customer I would have made her a deal. But, if 10 bucks was to much for her then she was not going to be regular. She told me that her husband gambled and she was a single mom etc. I felt bad but, she is not my customer but, the bakery's customer. I cant circumvent them. 



HarryVanderpool said:


> Hey Eastside! Thanks for loaning me your new forklift and trailer, but it seems that I misplaced them.


As for the fork lift I might rent forklift and operator to you "harry". I don't lend equipment out. Learned my lesson a couple times with my Kubota. This baby is not loaned or left out of my sight. I use her every day to pick up something. Cant figure how I did without her before now.



66thstreetbees said:


> Next time someone does that tell them they are more than welcome to pull some frames extract a bottle.


Wish I had thought about that earlier. Good idea.



rweaver7777 said:


> There are times that good will matters. This isn't one of them.


I agree. She wanted something for free and was trying to see if I would do it.


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## LeonardS (Mar 13, 2012)

I just do this as a hobby and not for the money, so I would have given her another one, but I do understand that the answer might be different if this was my business. It would just be because you are trying to be nice, if you gave it to her.


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## frankthomas (Aug 2, 2012)

I think it would have been wrong to replace her jar of honey at any price. It's good to be kind and generous but this person made an unreasonable and irresponsible demand. Do we want to encourage that behavior?


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## imthegrumpyone (Jun 29, 2013)

We have a lot of business's that rather shell out the money than take a stand. I say no, the customer is not all ways right ! I say if you screw up fix it, if they screw up (or deliberately trying to get something for nothing) they own there own. Just look around and take a good look at what our world has become, a bunch of people with there hands out demanding that they are entitled to what you have and worked for, than everyone wonders why prices are like they are, someone has to pay for there freebie's.


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## Dave1958 (Mar 25, 2013)

Genemiller said:


> Sorry but the good will is worth the free honey. I get calls like this in my job every once in a while and we take care of it regardless how silly it is. I own a carpet cleaning company. A lady called last week that we cleaned June 4 and said it didn't come out as good as the previous time. I asked her what he would like us to do and she said reclean it so we did. You could see all the new food stains but I just smiled and took care of it. My cost for the lost 1.5 hrs was plenty but it gets made up in referrals.
> 
> 
> 
> Gene


Most likely the best you are doing is getting referrals that are similar to her. Like refers like. 20% of my customers take 50% of my time.


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## merince (Jul 19, 2011)

Dave1958 said:


> Most likely the best you are doing is getting referrals that are similar to her. Like refers like. 20% of my customers take 50% of my time.


I have to agree. There is a line between being nice/providing customer service and enabling people. The situation in the OP is way beyond that line.


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## angryhippie (Mar 11, 2010)

I had a guy at a farm market drop a glass jar on the way back to the car. He came back and told me what happened sounding like he expected me to replace his accident. Even though I didn't have to, I went ahead and gave him a new jar; that seemed like the good customer service thing to do. It's not about producing widgets, it's about customer service. Just give 'em the pickle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISJ1V8vBiiI


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## RiodeLobo (Oct 11, 2010)

I do know that the one time I dropped a case of wine (walking out the store with it), the retailer insisted on replacing it. I tried to pay and they would not take the money. The closest of their outlets to our new location is now several hours by car. I assure you if we are ever in the area where they have a shop we stop. For a case of cheap wine they won a costumer for life.


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