Customer didn't like the "feeling" of strings

[scrappydoo]

Originally Posted by tbuggle

you did your job. dude needs to go pound sand or pay up for another stringjob. if i was so inclined to re-string his racket at a "deal" i'd likely
inform him that his business was not needed at my "shop" (machine) again.

ask him what he does for a living and if he'll do you a job for free.

This gets my vote, but unfortunately was not an option. The client is a real estate agent, so maybe he should give me a house? That's fair right?

[scrappydoo]

Originally Posted by Bud

So, he played with the original strings for three weeks and then wanted another string .. paying only for the difference in string cost?

If he's a repeat customer, charge him full price for the X-cel string and knock $5 off the stringing portion. Explain to him that you only did that because he's a great customer and you can only do it once.

That is correct. I believe he only plays once a week in a drill at our club, and maybe played twice with the racquet in those three weeks.

When I talked to him on the phone there were a few "Sports Authority would do it for free" and "This is not good customer service" quotes thrown in. Dude is a nutter butter.

[themitchmann]

Don't deal with "Nutter Butters." Life is better that way.

Then again...if you don't like Nutter Butters, maybe TT isn't the best place 0_o

[themitchmann]

Oh, and tell him to enjoy his Sports Authority string job...they are really all about quality there...

[Lakers4Life]

Though, three week is a long time, to bring a racket back and say he did not like the feel. I get rackets back in a two weeks to be restrung. I'm with Steve on this, make him pay for the string and comp the labor, if he's going to be an ahole about it.

It's like going to the mechanic to get an oil changed, then comeing back 3000 miles later and saying you wanted synthetic oil instead of regular oil.

[scrappydoo]

Originally Posted by Lakers4Life

Though, three week is a long time, to bring a racket back and say he did not like the feel. I get rackets back in a two weeks to be restrung. I'm with Steve on this, make him pay for the string and comp the labor, if he's going to be an ahole about it.

It's like going to the mechanic to get an oil changed, then comeing back 3000 miles later and saying you wanted synthetic oil instead of regular oil.

I like your car analogy, although I think it would be more akin to getting new tires on a car. Different tires like string will have different feeling on the road, but you can't really tell which ones you like until they are on your car. And like tires, if you come back with 1,000 miles on them asking for different ones, they are going to tell you to get bent.

[Irvin]

Time to move on don't let this guy in your head. Did you ever wonder how he knew to ask for Xcel? A month is a long time to decide you don't like the feel of a stringbed.

[fortun8son]

Originally Posted by themitchmann

Oh, and tell him to enjoy his Sports Authority string job...they are really all about quality there...

Careful now. There is at least one of us that cares about doing a good job.
SA doesn't see sports service as a big part of their income.
They will gladly give a free restring so that the customer doesn't leave without buying shoes or clothing.
To them, the restring costs $2.60 for PSGD and the stringer is paid hourly anyway.
The customer is happy and brings his kid in to buy football pads instead of going to Dick's.

[Irvin]

Originally Posted by fortun8son

Careful now. There is at least one of us that cares about doing a good job.
SA doesn't see sports service as a big part of their income.
They will gladly give a free restring so that the customer doesn't leave without buying shoes or clothing.
To them, the restring costs $2.60 for PSGD and the stringer is paid hourly anyway.
The customer is happy and brings his kid in to buy football pads instead of going to Dick's.

Aka loss leader strategy. Had I known the facts beforehand I would have said let the guy have what he wants.

[themitchmann]

Originally Posted by fortun8son

Careful now. There is at least one of us that cares about doing a good job.
SA doesn't see sports service as a big part of their income.
They will gladly give a free restring so that the customer doesn't leave without buying shoes or clothing.
To them, the restring costs $2.60 for PSGD and the stringer is paid hourly anyway.
The customer is happy and brings his kid in to buy football pads instead of going to Dick's.

Generally, the company does not employ knowledgable (or properly train) stringers. Of course, there are exceptions to this.

I've seen a number of botched jobs out of SA/Dicks.

[coachrick]

Originally Posted by fortun8son

.
To them, the restring costs $2.60 for PSGD and the stringer is paid hourly anyway..

When I was a manager for SA(back in the olden days), the stringer was a 'contract' employee, paid by the string job. How ever you look at it, the store is 'out' > $12 if they 'give away PSG in a racket.

Not a ton of money in the overall scheme of things; but worth some consideration by the decision-maker. I'll agree the switch from syn gut to Xcel is an odd one...and the difference may not satisfy the customer, especially if he actually likes the feel of syn gut. As a one-off, I'd charge him the actual cost of the restring with no mark-up. If he doesn't understand that, then he's not likely to be a 'customer' anyway.

[coachrick]

Originally Posted by themitchmann

Generally, the company does not employ knowledgable (or properly train) stringers. Of course, there are exceptions to this.

I've seen a number of botched jobs out of SA/Dicks.

No doubt that this is true; but in Atlanta in the '90s, SA had some of the best stringers around. Our guys were paid by the racket; so time was of the essence. However, it fell into 'tournament' mode for most of the guys...quality had to be maintained while stringing with great efficiency. 'Back then', SA stringing could provide a decent income, especially on rainy days when there was no lesson money to be made. There were plenty of days that our contract stringer made more money before lunch than I made as the manager of the 'team sports' dept. for the day.

[max]

Life is interesting. In the past, before I strung, if I had a string job I didn't like, I'd just chalk it up to experience and try to find the right combination the next go round.

People.

[ricki]

Originally Posted by Lakers4Life

I agree with everyone else. I've had a similar situation last month. A client gave me a Prince EXO3 Black to string with NXT 17 for a friend. I always ask new clients where they previously had the racket strung. This racket was strung at a shop that exclusively on Neos 1000 machines. Since I have Sensor, I wanted to match his previous tension. It was previously strung at 61 lbs. So I strung it at 55.5 lbs on my machine. A few days after stringing my client calls me up saying his friend did not like the tension. They had played on a cold night. His friend was not happy with his play and blamed the recent string job. His friend complained that he needed hit it harder. I told him to keep playing with it, because it could be a caused by a bunch of factors. His friend insisted that the tension was not high enough. I quickly replied, If I had strung it at 61 lbs on my machine it would lose even more power. This went back and forth, he had 61 lbs in his head. My client agreed with me. My Client brought the racket back to me after some discussion with his friend, and some internet research. He now asks for 54 lbs, on my Sensor. I told him since it's been sitting for a week, it's probably at that tension right now. But hi insisted it be restrung at 54 lbs. He never tried playing with the racket after the first time. Finally I relented and re-strung the racket for the price of string. I've heard no complaints since then.

The cleint I string for had no complaints about he previous re-string, his friend had the problem.

I would sue you for the last cent! He wanted 61 so you had to string it at 61. You should have re-done the stringing after his complain.

[tbuggle]

Originally Posted by ricki

I would sue you for the last cent! He wanted 61 so you had to string it at 61. You should have re-done the stringing after his complain.

not once in the entire post you are referring to does it say that.

it DOES say the racket was previously strung at 61, maybe that's where you are confused.
glad i could save you a few dollars on lawyer fees. you're welcome.

obviously, the client fella was equating tension with power. he wasn't the first, won't be the last.

[MikeHitsHard93]

And this is why I'm not working retail customer service anymore...for idiot customers that think they know everything and think they know what they want. 90% of the time THEY DON'T.

[pvaudio]

Originally Posted by scrappydoo

I strung a racquet for a client on the 20th of January. He had requested syn gut at 58 lbs. I strung the racquet with Babolat syn gut at 58 pounds. Three weeks later he dropped off the racquet to be restrung, claiming he didn't like how the string felt and wanted to try Xcel. I contacted the client and explained he would have to pay full price for the Xcel and stringing. He felt like he should only have to pay for the price difference in the strings for the upgrade. The quality of the string job was not in question, but rather the "feeling" of the strings.

What would you guys do in this situation?

The situation has already been resolved, but it would be interesting to hear what some of the other stringers do.

Thanks!

Exactly this. If someone goes for my recommendation, I give them two hits with it. If they don't like it after then, I'll restring it (MUST restring it, just like you have to give back something with a money back guarantee) for something they know they want or have already used. If they do like it, then they pay the string cost at that time. Lets clients try new strings and lets me build a relationship. To date, only one person has not liked their recommendation, and that was due to TE problems. I never recommend something that I'm not fairly confident in i.e. a natural gut to someone who likes 15g poly just to get more money.

If it's THEIR request, then there are no special incentives for anything.

[pvaudio]

Originally Posted by scrappydoo

The customers racquet was prestrung with syn gut. This was the first time that I had strung his racquet so I didn't have any information on the previous string/tension. I do have the tag which reads "syn gut 58 lbs". I am racking my brain trying to remember what brand of syn gut was originally in the racquet, but I always try to string with the same brand syn gut that was previously in the racquet.

Typically I will not contact the customer prior to stringing unless they have questions, if I have questions, or if I do not have the string they requested.

I agree this situation could have been avoided if I had taken the order and talked to the customer prior to stringing. In this case the tennis desk staff took the order and the racquet was waiting to be strung when I got in later that day.

Wait so you work in a club/shop and have no control over the order? Then no, it's not even your problem since you're not in contact or in control of the business.

[Lakers4Life]

Originally Posted by ricki

I would sue you for the last cent! He wanted 61 so you had to string it at 61. You should have re-done the stringing after his complain.

I think you need to read CAREFULLY before having diarrhea of the mouth. There is a big tension difference between Constant Pull and Lockout.

[Steve Huff]

pvaudio--I actually do that too. If I recommend a string and they don't like it, I'll put their their original string in for free. If it's someone I haven't strung for, I'll ask about their playing style, what they like and don't like about their current string, etc. before I recommend. I tell them if they don't like it, I'll replace it. I've had 1, maybe 2, out of well over 20,000 who didn't like the string I recommended.