Irate Contractor Feels Unreasonably Duped By Freight Price After Declining Estimate

Author image for kalila courban
kalila courban
Dec 1, 2021 7:00 PM EST

Redditor u/snakepeterman posted to r/MaliciousCompliance to detail how a contractor they frequently deal with at work called to order parts on short noticed and repeatedly said price wasn't an issue even as OP tried to warn that prices had risen and that it will be expensive. A few days later, the contractor called back to ask about the price again and freaked out when they realized exactly how much it cost to ship the order — upwards of $2,000 instead of the around $400 that the contractor thought. 

He even admitted that he could have waited a few days if the emergency shipping price was going to be that large — even though OP tried to warn him that it would be expensive. All we know is that this guy could use a chill pill and ASAP as in get it to him yesterday as in we don't care how much it costs to ship. We thoroughly enjoyed reading OP's recount of politely putting this unreasonably irate contractor in his place.

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  • 01
    Font - r/MaliciousCompliance + Join u/snakepeterman · 1d 2 3 S 4 You want the product shipped Next Day Air no matter the cost? Roger that! I work in wholesale distribution of building materials. I don't sell to the public, I only sell to established accounts. This is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, most of my customers are great people, we get along very well, occasionally even meet up outside of work with some l've known 15+ years. There is a minority that can be annoying. Some only u
    via snakepeterman
  • 02
    Font - One such character that only uses me as a last resort is Mike. Mike is routinely in a bad mood because he's been told Sorry we don't have that at least a few times before calling me. He often gets irate when I don't have whatever uncommon part he needs ASAP sitting on the shelf waiting for him. One day Mike calls and this is how it goes.
    via snakepeterman
  • 03
    Font - "Hello, Snake here. How can I help?" "Snake, I need to get four replacement trim pieces for this part. The f&$@ing contractor ordered it in the wrong finish (the contractor ordered it in the standard finish, this guy needs it in an obscure finish of course) and I need four of them yesterday. Please tell me you have them on the shelf." While l'm looking up the availability, he starts going on about how this is one of most expensive projects he's worked on and they have buckets of money, bl
    via snakepeterman
  • 04
    Font - "Snake I need these parts, please just send them over for next day air delivery. I don't care." "Mike, let me at least get you a freight estimate, shipping has gotten very expensive during the pandemic and I don't like shipping something without you knowing a ballpark estimate." "Snake, I told you / DON'T CARE what it costs get the parts on the way." "Okay Mike, I'll get them shipped today sure. Let me let you go because it's 3pm and I need to get on the phone with that warehouse so they
    via snakepeterman
  • 05
    Font - So l ordered the parts just as Mike asked. These parts were four pieces. Ground shipping would have ran 4-5 days and probably cost $25 each. Next Day Air? $386 each. (They weigh a decent amount, which makes anything going by air cost multitudes more). Shipping ended up costing almost as much as the product. I didn't hear from Mike for a few days. The product arrived as requested, he finished the job and got the contractor out of hot water. He didn't have time to wait on his bill to arrive
    via snakepeterman
  • 06
    Font - "Snake, how much was the freight for that stuff last week?" "Let me pull it up... Looks like it ran $1544. Plus the cost of the product at $2230." "You're f&%#ing with me right?" "No sir, overnight air shipping from across the country is very expensive. Can show you the bill from UPS if you'd like?" "I told the contractor it would probably run $400!!! Jesus Christ Snake! I could have waited a day or two if knew it was that much! Blah blah blah" I had to cut him off mid-rant.
    via snakepeterman
  • 07
    Font - I had to cut him off mid-rant. "Mike, I specifically asked you if you wanted an estimate. You declined. I don't know else you could reasonably expect me to do." He pretty much mumbled some more choice words and got off the phone. Interestingly enough, he did start calling me a bit more after that, but he makes sure to note the pricing a bit more closely. 4335 180 T, Share Award
    via snakepeterman
  • 08
    Font - SaneForCocoaPuffs · 21h "He pretty much mumbled some more choice words and got off the phone. Interestingly enough, he did start calling me a bit more after that, but he makes sure to note the pricing a bit more closely." Despite his demeanor, he recognized that you did absolutely nothing wrong and you did actually perform a miracle by having the part he needed in the quantity he needed in the time he needed. 6 Reply 1 Vote + snakepeterman OP · 21h You're right. He may not like it, but I'
    via SaneForCocoaPuffs
  • 09
    Product - vantablaxxX • 1d Because pausing for two seconds to confirm cost is just too much to ask, I guess. You handled this perfectly, though. Reply 1 93 3 snakepeterman OP · 21h Thank you. I'll admit it would have taken about 5 minutes to run to the warehouse and calculate the freight, but stilI. 4 Vote 3
    via vantablaxxX
  • 10
    Font - mcorbett94· 1d After many years working in sales and support I've noticed something similar. Most callers are great and I would be nice to everyone, even the few rude/angry customers. However as I got more comfortable with the job I started taking zero s became confident standing up for myself and company policies. What is surprising, in almost every case I did that those same customers became some of the most from rude customers, and loyal, long term and even friendly clients later on. I
    via mcorbett94
  • 11
    Font - arnott • 1d "Mike, I specifically asked you if you wanted an estimate. You declined. I don't know else you could reasonably expect me to do." Nice work standing up for yourself. 6 Reply 1 1.7k 3 snakepeterman OP · 21h Thank you. I do have the luxury of being an upper level employee and all the customers (including Mike) know I've been in the industry for 17+ years, so they can't pull newbies. Sometimes l'll even have a newer employee on me like they might be able to try on pass a problem
    via arnott

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