You have been awarded my “Cow Patty of the Month” award!
Way to go Leith Roofing!!!
Not.
Jeesh … I have now actually lost count of the number of times I have called your company, only to be told each time: “What is your name and number, someone will get back to you.”
It’s been w-e-e-k-s since I first started calling you and I am STILL waiting for that call!!
I KNOW you are busy. I understand that it’s the middle of winter in Cape Town and that you must be flooded with work, but I am NOT asking you to come out right now and fix my leaking roof. Hells, I am not even griping about the fact that you haven’t come out to give me a quote yet. I just bloody want you to return my calls!!!
Is that REALLY too much to ask?
No, seriously. If you are too busy and you DON’T want my business again (yes, we’ve been through this before you know!), just TELL me. I’m not going be all offended – I just want to BLOODY KNOW!! What happened to simple courtesy?
Instead of getting your receptionist to flipping LIE to me all the time, why don’t you just have her tell me: “Sorry, no-can-do!” Huh?? Then at least I know not to waste my time trying to follow up with you and I can move on …
Why am I following up with you? Because you’ve helped me out before and I would have liked to give you my business again. Silly me, there I was thinking that we had some kind of “relationship” going. Hrmph.
Oh, and BTW, hearing her say “hmmmm, let me just check back in the ‘Book’ is pretty damn scary. Do you know what century we’re in? A ‘Book’?? For heaven’s sake! Get yourself a decent CRM system if you’re so damn busy.
And to the lady I’ve just spoken to on the phone: Honey, Sweetie-pie, I don’t care if you ARE just the book-keeper filling in for the regular chick. Hoo-bloody-rah for you! What do you want, a Noddy Badge? You could be the Tea Lady or Oprah Winfrey for all I care right now. Stop making excuses for yourself or trying to explain your inadequacy to me. As far as I am concerned, YOU are the frontline representative for the company at the time of my call and you need to hear me out and deal with the situation effectively. You have a VERY unhappy (almost) customer on your hands and I DO NOT want to be fobbed off with another “someone will get back to you!”
Honestly, I know I’m impatient, but hells … what do I actually have to do to get these guys to just return my call(s)?
I went through the same leaking roof problem last winter and I eventually had to replace the bloody ceilings because the water damage was so bad. I do NOT feel like going down THAT road again.
So, that’s it. I’ve given them ample opportunity. Some companies don’t deserve to be in business, and they certainly don’t deserve my money. Time to move on …
If you are looking for a reliable, customer-friendly company to come and repair your roof in Cape Town, DO NOT call on Leith Roofing, because apparently, they don’t give a shit.
BAH!
*fires up iTunes to look for some angry music and flips open the Yellow Pages*
Hi justB i want to let u know that as a small company we battle to get the work cause clients go for the big names in the buss.Next time try one of us (small comp.) we will def. not dissapoint. For a FREE nd PROMP quote call me on 0846885765
Dear Andrew
Thank you for your response and for your offer to look into the matter further.
I shall email my details through to you.
justB[coz]
Dear justB(coz)
We have been notified of your blog rant and must initially apologize for our below average service in this particular case.
We have discussed your concerns and complaint at senior management level and take it very seriously and even though we cannot put it right with an apology we can try to make sure that this does not happen to other prospective clients in the future.
Please forward your name and contact no. so I can look into this matter further.
Apologies from Leith Roofing
ANDREW GILBEY
B, I tend to agree with you too – why SHOULD they care? It’s not like they’re going to run out of roofs to sort out! So is it worth taking this further? I dunno so much …
My experience with most companies in the home building/maintenance industry is absolutely revolting … and that’s before even a minute of labour is actually done, urgh. Totally “horizontal” – good one Dad 🙂
It’s an ongoing struggle for me – things get fuxored you know? But to find skilled people who are reliable and honest is crazy hard!
If someone could actually create and run a DECENT property management service, they’d clean up …
So true what B says. Methinks it is also very much a Cape Town thing.
It is all very well being laid back but these guys are horizontal.
Wait ’till things really get tough then lets see how they react.
By the way the blog is now ranked no 2 if you google Leith.
I think they a bunch of tossers who at present have more work than they can handle so dont feel compelled to put anything into customer service.. in fact the building industry in this here country is so uncustomer friendly it is beyond a joke.. in fact most politicians will ignore their congress but will NEVER ignore a call from their plumber because they know that he wont phone back.. your complaint falls on deaf ears because his attitude is that he doesn’t need you.. you need him.. he wont bother with CRM systems.. or websites.. or customer care.. their business is not the customer… they dont need us.. they have enough work…for now..
Email the director, B. His name is Andrew Gilbey. His email address (according to the Master Builder’s Association) is leithgilbey@mweb.co.za and his cell phone number is 0823769555. Go get him!!!
Already??? Jislaaik!
Just a note, I’ve just Googled them and your previous post about them came up 4th. So word will get out.
http://www.leithroofing.co.za is still available. You should register it and just write up your experience with them. They may get the hint.
@SaulK – I wonder if they have email? “The Book” implies otherwise. Hmmm … will hunt around.
@BigFriendly – Thanks, I would REALLY appreciate his details!!
It really annoys me that companies seem to grow too large to provide decent service. I have been running into this A LOT lately grrrr
When we bought our little cottage about 2 years ago we had a bad leak in the kitchen and we called and called the large roofing companies with no luck. We then found this guy with one laborer who came around the same day and he charged us R800.00 to fix the roof. When it rained again there was still a leak so I called him and he came back and did some more work, and when I asked how much he said it’s covered in the original job and that he will keep on coming back till we are happy. And he did, and we are still happy. I don’t think he can sort out your staffing problems or unpack all the boxes, but maybe he can take this one thing off your plate.
Sorry for the long comment, just feeling verbose this morning. I’ll try and find his details and send them to you ASAP.
I’ve had a lot of good responses when complaining on my blog so definitely just send them this link.
I hear what you’re saying … I just feel like I’ve wasted so much time and energy on them already and they aren’t worth it!
That’s probably not the best attitude to have right now, I know. Doing nothing won’t fix anything in the long run but I’m so pissed off. I should calm down a bit and then take it further …
Hear, hear!!!!! to StevenMcD. I would also send it to the Argus & Burger.
sweety, give them the finger and tell them exactly where they can go! If I was you I would call, demand to speak to a director or a manager, get their email address, email this link to them and demand a response!