Context: I work at a corporate frame shop. I'm going to try and be somewhat vague to protect the identity of the customers and employees involved. We custom make (aka cut to size) frames, mats, and glass for customers. It usually take 2 weeks to receive fully custom made materials. For quicker turnaround time, we can use ready-made, store bought frames, or even frames customers find at thrift stores or wherever, and put new matting and glass in. Our process revolves around being archival- so we use acid-free foamcore and backer paper for both the aesthetic and the protection of their piece, thus we don't use any cardboard, chinese-formed MDF backer boards, etc that many ready-made frames come with. The company standard is 48 hours for in-house mat & glass cutting, we have a standard mat cutter and glass cutter- it's not fancy, it's enough to cut your single opening mats. Outside of that, most matting (>70%) is laser cut and shipped to us from the DC with that 2 week turnaround, and those can be more specialized in the cuts.
Now for the story:
Weeks ago we had a customer come in and inquire about making a gift for their spouse. The art was a grouping of newspaper clippings and they took some pictures as reference of a triple mat combination they liked (black-gold-black). They ended up picking a classy brown&black ready-made frame off of the sales floor and got their desired mat samples together, but an obstacle arose when the customer insisted on having the multiple openings on each article cut. Despite us speaking with them weeks ago and telling them of the 2 week turnaround time, the customer showed up 4 days before the event expecting us to do these two orders.
Part of our difficulty here is the customer did not seem to grasp English well, they spoke it fairly fine but they somehow didn't understand our English, and I don't fault them for that in the least. Custom framing can feel confusing and strange to most people even if we're communicating in a common language. After hours of trying to communicate that we could not cut this combination as designed within 4 days, my colleagues got confused over how a float mat solution might work. A float mat is when the art goes on top of the mat instead of an opening being cut for it. This does solve the problem of putting multiple newspapers onto 1 sheet of matboard, but not the gold and black additional mats they wanted... after a while of trying to explain a tangible problem a dozen times over, my colleagues ended up taking the order with the 3 mats- two mats and a bottom float mat- knowing I would do everything possible to make it work.
I'm the manager of the shop, so I come in and find the order on Sunday as I'm prepping for Monday. Uh-oh. Nope, there's no way. I get some information and get in touch with the customer. My solution was simple: I would get the 1 mat, a float, ready with the newspapers, and I would mount it with stylish black photo corners. I put in the upgraded, museum glass and fully finished the 2 frames with multiple newspaper clippings. This was exactly as the customer paid for except the only thing not received are 1 gold and 1 black mat which I could not cut on my matcutter*.
I got them ready in time and they arrived early Monday morning. I showed the customer the finished work and explained that everything was reversible from this state, I told them that I submitted their intended design with paid expedite out of the store's expense ($75 per order, btw). The earliest I could get the mats in is Friday, but they could leave with these 2 gifts ready to present for their spouse's birthday for Tuesday. They could return after Friday and I would happily swap out the design that they really wanted... or, their spouse can pick a new design to their heart's content, as a courtesy for the inconvenience. I gave them all of these options, and the customer seemed to understand and appreciate the gesture. They left with the two frames satisfied.
Friday came and their mats arrived. I called and the customer said they would come by on Saturday. Cool, I'll see you then!
...Then, a couple weeks pass. I mean, at least more than a month. I've been pretty busy with lots of customers, and I don't intend to pressure any individual with phone calls or obligations of their own decision making process. After a month of no contact from the customer, though, I decided it might be a good time to touch base. I still had these mats that I needlessly paid $150 just to receive as quick as possible and now they're collecting dust. At minimum, I needed to know if the customer's spouse was satisfied, so I could toss them and move on.
I call up on Thursday, everything seems well! They're very happy to hear from me. I told them that the mat combo they wanted was here. They seemed a little hesitant at first about the design, but I reminded them that I offered to change the design to whatever their spouse wants if the first intention wasn't ideal. They said once again they would come in on Saturday, and I told them my availability so I could help them with it. The conversation was pleasant and fairly short, I was left with the impression they would bring the spouse with them on Saturday to pick a new design.
Saturday comes, three days after the call. They come in and I happily fetch their leftover newspaper and the expedited, triple-cut mats from my shop. I start to inquire what changes they would like, and they reply, "Oh no, I am here for my refund."
????????????????????
Uh, what? No, really, what?? I ask them what they mean. The spouse finally rounds the corner with the frames, carried from their car. They explain they were under the impression that they could return the custom made framing they picked up weeks ago and presented as a gift, and just leave like nothing ever happened. We did not discuss returns at any point in our conversations. The customer's spouse kind of took over from there, from their attitude, I got the impression they didn't even want the gift. That might be unfortunate, but we still killed that tree making that mat, I still gave time out of my life making this personally for them, and my colleagues spent hours of their lives trying to get the customer to understand why their design couldn't be done in that time frame.
I called my Store Manager and told them he had to authorize anything because we don't do returns. This is true, when orders are placed, all customers sign a disclaimer about damage & liability and our return policy- it's limited to unprocessed materials. Not only have we cut all the materials, we cut extra materials (1 extra mat), paid $150 in extra shipping at no cost to them, but the customer left with their gift, presented their gift, and roughly 4 weeks have passed.
Now, being a corporation, we really do try our best to make customers satisfied. It's a big deal to us that they're happy. We're preserving memories here. But it's easier to fix any of their concerns than to give them money back, yet the customer's didn't voice any concerns. They literally had no complaints to me, they just didn't want the framing at all anymore. After hearing the details of the order and reviewing their receipt, my Store manager came up with a more than reasonable accommodation: we would refund the 2 mats they didn't leave the building with, the glass, and the ready-made frames. It came up to more than half of their money back. They could keep the framing as they wanted it, and still receive more than half of their money back.
Apparently, the money back part was fine, the 'keeping the framing' part was not. The customer's spouse insisted that they did not want the framing.
At this point, I step back in to help. My store manager doesn't run the shop nor has to explain how things work too often, so we're always a good tag-team. I inform them that the materials have already been cut and processed for this order, so I can't reuse any of it. To detail specifically: the frame is sold with different glass that was thrown away weeks ago, as well as a backerboard and barcode that was thrown away weeks ago. The mat had photo-corners sized for their very particular article and the adhesive from the corners ruin the mat for repurposing. Every part of these frames were useless to us mind the glass, and attempting to resell only costs the company more money at our location than it saves; these odd, mis-mashed frames take space of actually desired product and tend to become liability in clearance aisles were frames are rarely disaplayed. People come here to find what they want for their picture, not buy something second hand.
I reiterate that these frames will be trash if they do not take them. My store manager reiterates that they are receiving more than half of their money from the order regardless of whether they take the frames or not, so they might as well take the frames. As we like to meme, 'it's free real estate'! If they liked the frames (and one of the couple certainly did?), the frames could be repurposed for their own need or given to a thrift store even, I suppose.
The customer's spouse insisted that they were not leaving with these frames and they wanted the newspapers back. You don't want your custom-made gift anymore that you paid for? Okay, I'll destroy it for you! It's time for my malicious compliance.
As my store manager sets up the refund (the exact amount we quoted either way), I disassemble the frame, piece by piece, with exact precision in every motion. It starts nice and friendly, I'm smiling boldly, gathering a drill and then doubling back for a big 50-gallon trash can from under the counter. I lay the frame down and unscrew the wire, ditching it into the trash can. Next is the paper, which I rip but I know it can be jarring, so I was careful to not seem too aggressive with the process. After the first rip, I folded the paper outward to reach the secured 'nails' and slide them out of the wood.
Backerboard comes off- into the bin with you!
I flip over the mat and delicately extract their newspaper. I hold it out like a tender baby and the customer has the nerve to say, "Thank you!" I do not reply. I continue my bold smile as I pick up the glass and slide it into the trash can, swiftly moving on to their frame where I proceed to smash it with definitive force into the ground. CRACK! It essentially shatters at the joints. The customers go quiet as I give it a good hurtful twist to ensure complete destruction of the corner staples before popping them into the trash can too. They looked like they ate a fly. They've finally realized the bad bargain they just made, but they don't stop me.
I repeat dutifully on their second order, this time the glass doesn't fit into the 50 gallon bin. Truthfully, there's a different trash can for glass, so I decided this was a good time to have a bit of fun at their awkward, shameful display of trashing perfectly good custom-made framing that they still paid in part for. I took the glass to the work room out of sight- I put it away since we did refund the glass and it was reusable, but I wanted them to feel a little bit more for spending an hour of my life crafting this gift only to force me to destroy it. I took an already broken piece of glass and threw it into our metal glass can, echoing out a horrible SHATTER! Then, smiling the whole way through, I return for the glass in the trashcan, and smile at them with PP&E on. This time, I had an old piece of mirror too tiny to make into a new order sitting out, so I slammed that into the metal glass can. CRASH!
Evidently, according to my store manager, the customer's spouse bowed their head in shame when the glass was being demolished. It is truly a shame the customer refused to understand our point of view as a business, that we can't refund something custom made for them since it can't be resold. The customer was refunded the same amount either way, but instead of going home with a frame they liked and could do with as they wish, they got to have a jolly ol' uncomfortable time watching my destructive precision.
Now for some takeaway notes, specifically for other framers who might be reading this. If you don't know anything about cutting mats, feel free to skip the below addendum:
\ Cutting multiple openings on our matcutter is not technically impossible, but improbable to the point of being an impossibility. I've managed to do it before with great difficulty on single cut mats, in part because the cutting measurement- the bar level where you set the mat against- only goes up to 6 inches on my matcutter. As you might know if you are a framer who cuts multiple openings, you always need to have the side you are cutting closest to you with the other 3 sides facing away. If you don't, you get 3 sides with a bevel in 1 direction, and 1 side with a bevel in the other direction- it looks horrendous. So, I have to disassemble my own matcutter in order to make the final cut-- through free hand cutting along the guiding beam-- on 1 opening on a multiple opening mat... let alone assemble and disassemble my matcutter a minimum of 24 times to get these mats cut for their orders. Oh, and to do so with precision. It takes me usually 2 hours and a few attempts to get 1 mat cut with 2 openings. I had 8 hours to do their 2 orders, help other customers on our counter, and complete 15 other orders of customers who had paid and waited 2 weeks for their orders. I was the only employee in a minimum of 60 mile radius who had any experience doing any multiple opening on our mat cutters.)
Submitted October 20, 2019 at 02:43AM by dcdcdc26 https://ift.tt/31r7Kip
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