Current mood:

frustrated

Aaaarghhhhh!
From Merriam-Webster: Business
Activity concerned with the supplying and distribution of commodities. Business may be an inclusive term but specifically designates the activities of those engaged in the purchase or sale of commodities or in related financial transactions.

Ok, so to be in business one needs to purchase and sell commodities. Services are also commodities. Seems simple enough.

SO WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO DAMN HARD?

I have a 3 year contract with a local trash service and we have outgrown our dumpster size after the contract has been in effect for 1.5 years. Solution: I would like to either get another pickup per week or a larger dumpster. So, I call our weasel of an account rep and tell him that I need to increase our service. After listening to several minutes of how busy they are because some competitor has failed to pick up trash in the past three weeks, he finally tells me he'll call me back tomorrow at the latest. This is on a Monday morning. Late Wednesday afternoon and still no response. So I call into the main office and tell them that I need to increase our service. So, they put me through to my rep again who then spends another five minutes telling me how horrible his life is and that his wife is having a baby and how impossibly busy he is. So he says he'll call me back as quickly as he can. Monday late afternoon, I call again and he swears to call me first thing in the morning with the information. Tuesday I finally call him again at 2:00 pm.

Finally he shuts up for a couple of minutes while I reiterate the problem and detail the possible solutions. We have a 1.5 yard dumpster so I ask about 2 yard and 3 yard options. His response when I ask about price is that I have a contract for a 1.5 yard at $40 per month (pretty good for this area) so a 3 yard dumpster is supposed to be twice that price or $80.

WHAT! That isn't how it works. Just because something is twice as much or twice as large doesn't mean that it is twice as expensive. In the $40 per month price I am also paying for the truck expenses, the labor expenses, and the dump fees. So, how do these double with the larger dumpster? They don't. He already has said the typically smarmy, " I just don't think that is right and while I'll probably catch some flak for it from my supervisor I'm gonna knock ten bucks off the cost and say we'll do it for $70. God, I despise stupid salespeople.

Having already done my homework. I tell my weasel of a rep, "Well ok, but (the other local trash company) will do it for $59.95 and they provide the same services." Silence........"Let me go talk to my supervisor and I will call you back tomorrow.”

So, it has been over a week and I still haven't gotten a company that I have dealt with for over a year and a half to bring me another dumpster. Oddly enough, the savings that I would see by going with the 'other' local trash service would just cover the costs of breaking my contract with the first company.

All this for a larger dumpster.

Why do companies make it so difficult to buy their products and services?

It certainly reminds me to and inspires me to be better about sales at Petwerks. Simple pleasant responsiveness would go a long ways in creating a better business environment for everyone.

Stepping down off my soapbox now. I have to go and cram stuff into the dumpster.