Oh, I was so mad the other day about a phone call and email I received that I have to offload – so forgive me for my ranting!
To give you some background, we introduced a gardening company to some clients around the end of last year, up until recently they had done some good work however with the last couple of jobs there were a few problems. One was that amongst other things they had promised to kill the weeds in a garden box, they were meant to use proper weed killer to get rid of the weeds however within less than 2 weeks there were loads of weeds back. The job also entailed trimming back trees. The owners were not impressed with the photos any of the work, so we spoke to them. They said they would go back and sort the garden box out for us. Several months later we received an invoice for 15 euros. I felt this was out of order as we were not advised at the time that there would be an additional charge and felt that it should have been done as part of the existing job as the customer was not happy so we didn’t believe they should have to pay again.
The other case was that they had done a large job with other owners which they were paid for but the irrigation system that they put in failed to work after a very short period, and a lot of the plants that they put in a garden box died within a short timescale. They discussed the problems direct with the owners but throughout this the irrigation system was always a problem. We asked them several times if they could fix it and they said they would but we did not hear anything for around 6 months – in the end the owners had to have the system repaired themselves so refused to pay a bill that was outstanding for 35 euros. The owner emailed the company direct and told them so.
I received a phone call Wednesday morning from the lady of the company asking if I had received her email, at that point I had not, she then proceeded to say she wanted paying for the outstanding 15 euros, I tried to explain that this should never have been an invoice and it was no way indicated at the time that the work would be charged for so why should the owner pay again when they had already paid for the work to be done in the first place. She didn’t seem to get this but insisted on repeating very loudly to me that it was 15 euros, 15 euros, 15 euros, in the end I had to simply ask why she kept saying that?
Then she hung up.
Several hours later I received a copy of an email she sent direct to the owners who owed 35 euros, I was the cc. In it she stated that they did not put in the watering system and it was not on their invoice (it was on their invoice – but they contracted that part out to a friend) and then she tried get back at me by saying “as they did not give commissions to agents, as they had been asked to do by us, she was therefore unaware of the amount that they refused to pay”. (Little did the woman know I have extremely good relations with my owners and we had given the owner the bill direct from this company and asked them what they wanted to do) However, I could not get over the fact that this woman was trying her best to stab me in the back! She also went on to say that as they had another unpaid debt from a client of ours (the 15 euros as above) they wouldn’t do any further work for us.
It was the next paragraph which particularly got me, she then went on to say that as a bonafide company they were sick of owners going back to England and leaving unpaid debts. She then chose to state that property offered for rental whether through an agency or not was liable for tax (what has this got to do with the unpaid bill!!!!!!) and then we got an insight into her recent career move – she has been involved with the town hall, ayuntamiento (she chose to put this in English and Spanish so we were not confused) and now works voluntarily for Manilva TV. She then informs us that the town council have been helpful in the matter of unpaid bills and there is now a local organisation set up for the non-payment of bills and she is passing over details to them.
I couldn’t believe it! The fact that she has, in her opinion, two unpaid bills is one thing and although I don’t believe they should be paid due to the lack of customer satisfaction, the unprofessional approach of her email and the tax statement was too much. What is it with people!!! Of all the underhanded ways to go about things. There is normally a procedure to be followed in these cases – however I have a hunch that they are not registered so it may make following the correct procedure a little difficult – I doubt that they have a complaints book/procedure in place!
I did reply to her email, it wasn’t the nicest of emails I have ever written but I am sick of people calling themselves “bonafide” companies when they are not, she may have a chip on her shoulder about English people not paying her but what if they had good reason? If I do something wrong I will go out of my way to put it right and make sure the customer is happy and I don’t see why anyone should have to pay for shoddy workmanship! I will stand up for my owners when I feel that they have been short changed and I won’t let this woman try and intimidate them. I have yet to have a response back - so who knows, perhaps I will have a mention on Manilva TV!