Complaint from a customer

[ukpartydj]

I don't know if that's true anymore, either. I think the rules changed so costs aren't awarded anymore. During my equal pay claim against my employer last year we certainly weren't allowed to have costs included even though we won our cases.

I included the £25 with my last case not sure if further costs can be claimed though.

I've been both the DJ and the agent in situations like these and it's quite surprising sometimes the complaints you get! I think it's easy for DJs that don't multi op / subcontract to say maybe they thought it'd be you and find fault with the way we operate due to lack of communication.

For me it's: I'm genuinely sorry you weren't happy however we don't believe that we breached our contract. Many other clients have been satisfied with the same service. Whilst we don't like to leave our customers dissatisfied we do not see reason for a refund. We will evaluate your feedback in an attempt to improve our service further in the future.

The more legal looking approach might irritate. Allow the complainer to see you as a person rather than a company. I used to get praise for sounding like I really genuinely cared about each complaint when working on customer service when I first started... Nowadays I can see right through all of their lies and over exaggerated claims.

My thought process:

Will the client will hire again?
Yes = consider discounting further bookings
NO =

Is the client likely to recommend you based on your service?
Yes = consider partial refund
NO =

Did you breach your contract?
Yes = consider refund
NO = end communication with client.

[funkymook]

Josh - do you think the 100% refund policy on your website might be leaving you open for people to try it on?

It’s also ‘all or nothing’ so if you did admit liability for anything, however minor, then you can’t offer anything less than a total refund.

There are various caveats in your T&C’s about liability/complaints etc but if tie it up so tightly that there’s little possibility of anyone being able to make a claim you might find the courts/trading standards will view it as unfair if it ever goes that far.

Personally I’d recommend taking the 100% off, it’s enough to advertise you have a complaints process, the 100% comes across as a bit of a 'marketing gimmick' especially with all the T&C’s around it.

[jonezyr1]

Josh - do you think the 100% refund policy on your website might be leaving you open for people to try it on?

It’s also ‘all or nothing’ so if you did admit liability for anything, however minor, then you can’t offer anything less than a total refund.

There are various caveats in your T&C’s about liability/complaints etc but if tie it up so tightly that there’s little possibility of anyone being able to make a claim you might find the courts/trading standards will view it as unfair if it ever goes that far.

Personally I’d recommend taking the 100% off, it’s enough to advertise you have a complaints process, the 100% comes across as a bit of a 'marketing gimmick' especially with all the T&C’s around it.

Thanks for the reconmendation.

They can only "Try it on" if they complain during the night. If they do, we will then have a chance to address their concern (If it is reasonable). If we fail to satisfy their concerns during the night and they feel we did not deliver, I would expect to refund their money, 100%.

As with anything anyone offers, there will be terms and conditions. I don't think we shouldnt be offering it just because there are terms and conditions.

It may come across as a marketing gimmick, but is that a bad thing? Does't everyone have marketing gimmicks one way or another?

[rth_discos]

Totally disagree on this one. When I do work for a multi-op, I have no agreements signed with the client. The client has their agreement for the provision of services with the company and I have my agreement with the company to also provide services to the company. It's two separate agreements and it's always worked that way. Even with other agents I've worked for it's been that way.

The contract may have done, but it's all about how everything was presented up to that stage. If the impression was given that you were going to be performing at the event, then you're going to end up with a disgruntled customer. Yes, it won't stand up in court, but you've still got someone going round saying negative things and not recommending you when asked, so the long term cost can be quite high. It's really easy to handle situations like this, simply by communicating with them in advance, so that they have the name of the DJ on the night etc in advance.

I don't know if that's true anymore, either. I think the rules changed so costs aren't awarded anymore. During my equal pay claim against my employer last year we certainly weren't allowed to have costs included even though we won our cases.

I think that's the case when you win, but this is when you take someone to court and you LOSE. So now there is a risk in taking someone to court - before, you either won or you lost, and the only cost was the court fee. Now, the fact that you could be hit with the costs of the person you took to court will make people think twice about court action.

[TONYTIGER]

The contract may have done, but it's all about how everything was presented up to that stage. If the impression was given that you were going to be performing at the event, then you're going to end up with a disgruntled customer. Yes, it won't stand up in court, but you've still got someone going round saying negative things and not recommending you when asked, so the long term cost can be quite high. It's really easy to handle situations like this, simply by communicating with them in advance, so that they have the name of the DJ on the night etc in advance.



I think that's the case when you win, but this is when you take someone to court and you LOSE. So now there is a risk in taking someone to court - before, you either won or you lost, and the only cost was the court fee. Now, the fact that you could be hit with the costs of the person you took to court will make people think twice about court action.

Totally agree with you ,i have been supplying customers for 50 years and the contract is always signed by the person who is going to be there on the night and dealing with the customer not some faceless person who is not there.Secondly the fee for small claims is £ 25 but if you want to get a ruling then you have to pay another £ 70.00 even then you are not certain you will ever get paid ,in the end communication is the key.

[funkymook]

Thanks for the reconmendation.

They can only "Try it on" if they complain during the night. If they do, we will then have a chance to address their concern (If it is reasonable). If we fail to satisfy their concerns during the night and they feel we did not deliver, I would expect to refund their money, 100%.

As with anything anyone offers, there will be terms and conditions. I don't think we shouldnt be offering it just because there are terms and conditions.

It may come across as a marketing gimmick, but is that a bad thing? Does't everyone have marketing gimmicks one way or another?

Everyone uses marketing of course, I’m using ‘gimmick’ as in if it’s nearly impossible to fulfil the criteria.


I can see a scenarios where complaining on the night might not be an option - negative feedback from the guests to the client the day after for example, therefore the client wasn’t aware there was a problem on the night itself. How do you handle that?

And this seems to be at odds with your refund policy:

'III) In the unlikely event the event is delayed or terminated due to major equipment failure i.e. music is unable to be played, liability is limited to providing the client with a pro rata rate discount/refund of the booking fee from the time of termination.'


'If you are not 100% satisfied with the service TFN Events provides, within 30 days from the event, we will fully refund the cost of the service.’

Having the music end early due to your equipment failure is only a partial refund despite your full refund if not 100% satisfied offer?

What would be a realistic scenario where a client was entitled to a 100% refund apart from you cancelling on them?



(I know I’m being pedantic but it’s nothing compared to how a solicitor would examine every single word in your contract and T&C’s - I think they’d run rings around you).

[DazzyD]

..

I think that's the case when you win, but this is when you take someone to court and you LOSE. So now there is a risk in taking someone to court - before, you either won or you lost, and the only cost was the court fee. Now, the fact that you could be hit with the costs of the person you took to court will make people think twice about court action.

Just to point out, I won my case and last year I received a considerable amount of compensation. However, this didn't include costs as we were told they couldn't be claimed for.

[rth_discos]

Just to point out, I won my case and last year I received a considerable amount of compensation. However, this didn't include costs as we were told they couldn't be claimed for.

I'm not talking about winning - I'm talking about LOSING the case.

If you take someone to court and LOSE, you risk having to pay THEIR costs too!

[jonezyr1]

Everyone uses marketing of course, I’m using ‘gimmick’ as in if it’s nearly impossible to fulfil the criteria.


I can see a scenarios where complaining on the night might not be an option - negative feedback from the guests to the client the day after for example, therefore the client wasn’t aware there was a problem on the night itself. How do you handle that?

And this seems to be at odds with your refund policy:

'III) In the unlikely event the event is delayed or terminated due to major equipment failure i.e. music is unable to be played, liability is limited to providing the client with a pro rata rate discount/refund of the booking fee from the time of termination.'


'If you are not 100% satisfied with the service TFN Events provides, within 30 days from the event, we will fully refund the cost of the service.’

Having the music end early due to your equipment failure is only a partial refund despite your full refund if not 100% satisfied offer?

What would be a realistic scenario where a client was entitled to a 100% refund apart from you cancelling on them?



(I know I’m being pedantic but it’s nothing compared to how a solicitor would examine every single word in your contract and T&C’s - I think they’d run rings around you).

If by the end of the night the client is happy with the service we provided, how would this change later on? Even if a guest complained to them the next day..... "they didnt play enough Garage for me i think the DJ was crap" for example. I doubt the client would suddenly change their mind. If the client had seen no problems on the night then there is no issue. I garuntee that at every party there is one guest who would disagree with other guests about the quality of the music. Most people enjoy "Party Music" Which is what most of us will play. But there is always someone who doesnt like any music other than their very specific neiche.

The snippet you have taken from the T&C's is very good point! I am going to change that paragraph to reflect our refund policy more.

[funkymook]

If by the end of the night the client is happy with the service we provided, how would this change later on? Even if a guest complained to them the next day..... "they didnt play enough Garage for me i think the DJ was crap" for example. I doubt the client would suddenly change their mind. If the client had seen no problems on the night then there is no issue. I garuntee that at every party there is one guest who would disagree with other guests about the quality of the music. Most people enjoy "Party Music" Which is what most of us will play. But there is always someone who doesnt like any music other than their very specific neiche.

The snippet you have taken from the T&C's is very good point! I am going to change that paragraph to reflect our refund policy more.

Some people don’t like making fuss, it’s a very British thing, how often do people complain about anything while it’s happening but talk about if afterwards.

The client could be happy at the end of the night but if a guest (or several guests) told them the next day they had their requests refused by the DJ and they thought he/she was rude about it then or one of the tables had lights shining in their eyes all night but the DJ refused to move them when asked...then the clients level of satisfaction could change with this new information.

I’m not saying they’re right not to bring it to the client attention straight away but I can understand how and why it could happen - does that type of scenario exempt them from your complaints process?


(and it’d be a good idea to spell/grammar check the site as well, I spotted quite a few errors).