Since my last review of smaller projects/repairs (experience was good), I've brought them more…read morebusiness, thousands dollars' worth of business. Everything is good when they are TAKING your money and business. But, once it goes the opposite way (refund), Roger gets NASTY -- I didn't see this side of him before, always with a smile because while taking money in.
I brought some parts to be replicated; 1" shaft with the center with a 2" diameter cylinder with 1" flanged bearings. I was suggested another way to "make" the part that would make everything more "simplified" for me, okay, sure. I wasn't sure what he meant, but after minutes of trying to explain to me, I just went with whatever Roger suggested since he would know better about the mechanics of machine parts, etc., He just told me that I would have to source the bearings myself, which is what I did. He asked me if the diameter could be smaller and I said yes. So I trusted his word and went with it.
When I picked up the item, he said, "If it doesn't work out, just bring it back". The thing is, I complained after because what he sold me for almost $400, was NOT SOMETHING HE "MADE". It was a part that could be bought online (~16", 1" shaft with 2 shaft collars), which can be found on Amazon for $35 (shaft) + $10 (2 collars). He then said that he bought it McMasterCarr, then quickly changed his wording to "WE MADE IT". So which is it? (I will never know, but my assumption is he got it at McMasterCarr, as he first stated, or another retailer). Then he said, "I'M NOT HERE TO SAVE YOU MONEY." JUST WOW!!
It's my fault for not understanding what he was trying to sell me, but it's obvious my lack of knowledge was taken advantage of--I let Roger do what he does. I believe there is a big difference between MAKING something and up charging for labor, etc., vs. buying $40 dollars worth of parts and CHARGING 9X-10X more!! Especially, to someone (me) whom he kept calling "friend" after all the visits/business I gave him.
When he did this "work", I also dropped off a small part that had a broken screw stuck in it. He said it was FREE OF CHARGE to extract it. Anyway, when he agreed to refund me for the $400 (16" piece of 1" shaft), BUT he charged me $85 for the screw extraction that he told me that was free! From ~$400 refund, I received $85 less. This costs him nothing (almost literally) to fix easily. $85 FOR A SCREW EXTRACTION--HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!!! He gave it back to me, with a new screw, "I also gave you a screw". (Oh, gee, Thanks, I guess.)--But I didn't need that screw as I have 100's (if not 1000's) of these screws for my parts -- so he acted like giving me this screw in place of the broken one is a huge hook up, after I spent thousands and thousands of dollars here.
I paid for this with my personal credit card, but he made out the refund check to the company I work for. So I asked him if he could cut the check out in my name since I'm the one who paid for it. He said, "just give it to your company and have them pay you." I explained to him that I can't do that because of accounting issues, etc.
He got mad and he snatched the check out of my hand with an attitude. This right was the last straw. I was still going to give him more business (which I even told him, thanks for the refund and making this right, I'll be back). He told me, "I DONT CARE ABOUT MAKING THINGS RIGHT AND WHAT YOU THINK, I DONT NEED TO RESTORE FAITH IN YOU OR YOUR COMPANY". Okay, fine.
^Great attitude, perfect way to lose business after the fact that I stated that I hope this one issue won't affect future business and that I would be bringing more business.
Roger shouldn't be interacting with customers on the front line if that's his attitude and represents your company.
On the other hand, Alex is very polite. While Roger was deflecting the situation, blaming it on me, arguing who said what, this and that.
Alex is the one who apologized on behalf of C&H Metal with a smile on his face, while Roger was steaming mad at the situation -- just the way he snatched the check out of my hand says it all.
ALEX IS THE REAL MVP at C&H Metal, too bad he's not at top management, because management up top is clearly lacking customer service skills and lacking know-how to keep the customer acquisition costs low. I can bet they'll see this review and Google what CAC is because they don't know. Or maybe, they are making so much money, they don't care how they lose a few customers the way they do. Roger (mgmt) just knows how to take money with a smile on their face until you complain about something, then it gets nasty.
This is the type of business you don't want to give business to.
If you do give business to them, good luck. Hopefully, it's a short stint because eventually an issue will arise, and Roger has a short fuse, and you may not like the way he handles it.
This experience was a blessing in disguise because I found a better and CHEAPER shop to do work for me.
