I was called 'RUDE' today...

[WillParkinson]

We were doing business with a company called "Eagle Imports". We purchased knives from them. We had so many problems with the company that I finally decided to cut off relations with them. This is a copy of the letter that I sent them and CC'd to my partner and a few other people who we know that sell knives. I got a letter back saying that I was 'unnecessarily rude'. What do you think?:

*********************************************************************
As of this message we will no longer be doing business with Eagle Imports.

To say that your company lacks customer service skills would be gracious on our behalf. Your service is terrible. I was told that you were going to credit our account on March 30, 2004. To date that credit has not been put into our bank account. My efforts to contact you regarding this have gone unanswered.

We are very disappointed in your service and your company. We overlooked the errors with our orders in the past despite not getting the items that we paid for. This, as they say, is the last straw.

All that is required is for you to credit our account as you promised. After that we will not contact you or purchase items from you. Since our initial purchase from your company we have had to deal with errors, damaged goods, poor service and promises that were constantly broken.

For the sake of your company I hope that you will learn that your customer is what keeps you in business. If you don't keep your customers happy they will find other vendors. That is what we have now done.

Will Bowden
Hearth & Home Gifts
"Knife Haven"

[Goldmund]

1. I think you were unnecessarily diplomatic.

[WI_DEM]

2. well if you have had lots of problems with this company

in the past--I wouldn't say it was "unnecessarily rude". You may be doing them a favor in the long run by being so frank with them. I'm sure if you got terrible service from them--others are too.

[aintitfunny]

3. Its businesslike

and how are they going to improve if no one points out where their failings are? I vote honest, not rude.

[powergirl]

4. NOT RUDE - BUT FACTUAL

I'm a divorce lawyer, I know all about rude - that's my job! Your letter was not rude. It would be rude if you called them names or told them their products were stupid or commented on their mother's appearance or something like that. You just gave them the facts. Sometimes the truth hurts. Buy your knives from someone who doesn't whine about the style of your letters. But no rudeness here!

[Aristus]

5. That was actually a very gracious, professionally worded letter.

Certainly far better than Eagle Imports deserves. I've heard of them and there are members of my own family who have done business with them, to their everlasting regret. You're lucky to be out of it. I hope your money is refunded.

[Commendatori]

6. Nothing rude about this, and

if their service was bad enough to motivate such a letter, they probsbly deserved a lot worse. Since you're blowing off steam, would you care to tell us how they screwed up? It might lead to a few posts of "why the hell were you so polite" from us :)

[WillParkinson]

11. Our problems...

Every order that we have placed with them has had errors. Either items that we didn't order in place of the items we did order or there was damage to items or there were items missing.

The last order (the one that caused me to stop doing business with him) I specifically said in my order that I wanted "NO SUBSTITUTIONS". When I recieved the order I found that the tractor knives I ordered were not in the box but there were several Civil War knives. I do not want to deal in Civil War merchandise. There were also other items missing even though we were charged like they were there.

I wrote him several times and finally sent a message telling him we were going to take our business elsewhere. Then he called and left a message to me saying that he would credit our account for the missing items and errors but that never happened.

And that brings us to this letter.

[Commendatori]

16. Call the Better Business Bureau

even if you're done with them. Companies like that shouldn't be allowed to screw the rest of us.

Oh, and having heard more of the story, I definitely think you were excessively polite. My letter to such a company would have included a whole lot of suggestions, most of which would actually be anatomically impossible.

[Loonman]

7. That's the price of doing business

Hardly rude.

[LynzM]

8. I think it's fine

Sometimes it hurts to be told you're doing a sucky job, and they just need to suck it up and deal. That is, if they were the ones saying you were rude. Was it them, or one of the other people you mentioned, who you do business with? They need to get a thicker skin, if they're gonna be in business ;)

[WillParkinson]

12. It was another person...

I've yet to hear back from them. (Hardly a surprise.)

[livetohike]

9. This is not a rude letter

simply feedback. If they can't take constructive criticism, then their business won't be around too much longer. You gave them an opportunity to improve. They should thank you.

[ihaveaquestion]

10. Looks fine to me, but then I've been told I'm rude.

I can be blunt and that's sometimes considered rude.

[TXlib]

13. Not rude, but blunt.

Some things that would flag it as rude:

To say that your company lacks customer service skills would be gracious on our behalf. Your service is terrible.

Better to say: "I have been repeatedly disappointed with your customer service."

[WillParkinson]

15. Oh, believe me...

I tried that tactic!

Several times.

I have written MANY letters to Eagle Imports. Almost none of them got answered and, when they finally DID, it was all promises that were never kept.

You are correct, I could have been a bit more tactful but believe me, I'm worn out trying to be pleasant.

[no_hypocrisy]

14. Not Rude. To the point and blunt, but not rude. Take the "Am I Rude Test"

Designed for telephone customer service reps or operators.

1. Did I raise my voice to you at any time during this conversation?
2. Did I use profanity when I responded or asked for more information?
3. Did I insult your intelligence in any way or manner?
4. Did I interrupt you when you were speaking or did I wait for you to finish before I began to talk?

I used this test whenever someone wanted to "start something" with me by changing the topic of discussion to put them on the defense. The charge of "rudeness" came up whenever I firmly denied the caller what s/he wanted (e.g., wake up the doctor at 2:30 a.m. to see if s/he could change his/her appointment for next week).

[MsUnderstood]

17. Vague, not rude

I've gotten ruder e-mails from my boss (who is unecessiarily rude).

I think it might have seemed rude because the specifics were not in the letter (I talked to X who said Y on Z).

[truthspeaker]

18. think like a Republican

"You're rude" means "You're telling me things are my fault and I don't want to hear it."

Very similar to when Repugs accuse Democrats of "attacking" and "being negative."

[GOPFighter]

19. Hell, you were doing them a favor!

Most companies would have just stopped doing business with a company like that with no explanation.

You actually took the time to tell the company what it's doing wrong. If I were an astute company owner, I would write back and apologize profusely for my past transgressions, thank you for bringing this to my attention, and tell you that I would do everything I could to straighten up my company, and humbly ask you to try doing business with me again sometime in the future so I could show you that I have changed.

A good business owner -appreciates- complaints as an early warning that something might be wrong.

Something tells me Eagle Imports ain't gonna' be around for long.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

20. Who called you that, Jar Jar Binks? (nt)

[histohoney]

21. Direct

but not rude, Friend. If it was my business, I'd thank you for the heads up on the problems. They just don't seem to be a quality minded company, better off to leave them to self nuke.