Quality Complaints

It would appear that customers don't read this blog. A number of the things I have complained about here still happen on a semi-regular basis, such as people trying to use the photo lab as a checkout. I've also mentioned at least once that there are certain ways to go about complaining to us, well me in a particular, especially where image quality is concerned.

When people complain about the quality of the pictures it can obviously be cause for some concern. Often it's simply because of the camera they have used (in the case of film), the settings they've used on their camera (if it's digital) or it can be due to a problem with our machine. The latter would result in a number of complaints from both film and digital customers. Therefore if someone makes a complaint and we haven't had any others the logical conclusion to reach would be that it's more likely to be the former. It can be quite difficult to tell these people the reason for the poor quality of their pictures. Telling them simply that it's their fault or that it isn't ours doesn't seem to go down well and sounds like we don't care.

To get round this I always offer to reprint the order, or part of it, to see if that makes any difference. It almost never does so I also warn them of this. At least by doing this we look like we care, even if we're really busy and it's the last thing we need to be doing. If, for whatever reason, the customer prefers the new prints then of course we'll print the complete set for them. More often than not, however, they're still not impressed and then the next step is to offer them a refund and everyone I've come across is happy with this. Some customers will just ask for a refund when warned that reprinting often makes no difference and that's fine too. In fact that's a lot easier for me to deal with because it's not only faster but it means I don't have a customer standing there for five minutes watching my every move.

The customers who annoy me though, and I had one this evening who inspired this post, are the ones who come back to complain about the quality and who also claim that they've printed them at home or somewhere else with better results. This is fine if they've actually brought some of the 'better' ones with them, but the annoying ones don't. I don't know about you, but if I had printed the same pictures at company X and company Y with significantly better results at company Y, I would take at least one of company Y's pictures to company X when I went to complain. It would not only prove that I wasn't taking the piss but it would help me explain where company X was lacking. Perhaps it's just me that would do that (let me know in the comments).

Anyway, when this happens I don't bother offering to reprint them and just go straight to the refund. After all, if they've had better results somewhere else they don't need another set do they? That should pretty much be the end of the matter (unless we were getting persistant complaints) right? Well, no. Even offering a refund can bring further problems, namely:

• If the customer doesn't bring all of the pictures back I can't give them a refund for all of them, only the ones they have with them. This is the companies policy rather than me being well, me, but I do agree with it. After all, you wouldn't try and return a six pack of Pepsi and only bring one can. This can often result in a lot of bitching and general slamming around (it's amazing how many of our customers will behave like a child when they don't get what they want) when they're told that a full refund needs all the pictures. Some people even ask for extra compensation for having to come back again another time to which the response is always no. Use your brain next time.
• When we give a refund on pictures we MUST have the pictures back from the customer. This is part of the reason why we need all of them to give a full refund. If it's a film then the customer can keep the negatives, but we keep the pictures (we're supposed to deduct a development charge from the refund but never do). Again this shouldn't be a problem because if you have/can get better results from somewhere else you don't need the ones we did do you? It's amazing the number of people who complain about having to give back the pictures. This makes me think that they were just taking the piss and trying to get a refund for no real reason.

I think the reason why the people who claim to have obtained better results elsewhere but don't bring at least one of the 'better' pictures with them annoy me is that I immediately think they're trying it on. The number of people who bitch about having to give us back the pictures in exchange for a refund would seem to support this in the majority of cases. It's annoying because it immediately makes me suspicious of anyone who tries the same thing and simply because lying is just so unecessary. As I outlined previously if you say you're unhappy with the quality it's fairly easy to get a refund. You'll still lose the pictures but you'll get one and there's no reason to make things up.
I don't just want to see the 'better quality' pictures as proof that the customer has been elsewhere. If I can see the ones the customer thinks are better I can make a note of the differences (are ours too dark, are the colours less vibrant etc.) in case this complaint is the first of many. It also allows me to see if what that particular customer classes as better would be what the average person would class as better. I've had people come back with pictures they thought were better quality but which had a horrible blue hue to them or over saturated colours.
I realise that there may be some people who have genuinely received what they perceive as better quality prints elsewhere but haven't thought to bring those with them. Unfortunately they're placed at a disadvantage by those who are just after some free pictures. It's sad really because once again the people who try and take advantage who spoil it for everyone else.
In other news, I'm training the new member of staff we have as our shifts overlap the most. It's an excellent chance for me to pass on my bad habits knowledge and a useful opportunity to refresh myself as to how things should be done rather than the easiest and quickest ways. She's progressing well so I must be doing something right, it's not very often you'd feel confident leaving your trainee for 45 minutes on a Saturday afternoon but she was absolutely fine.