Customer wants a reward!!!

[prozacnation.livejournal.com]

Customer comes into our tech support chat and states this -- all spelling mistakes are his:

Luser> When my cable and internet was intalled the service technician had left his meter. As a good samaratan I returned his meter. I know this meter is extremely expensive and would have cost the company a great amount of money to replace. Is there anything you might be able to do for me in return for what I have done for your company? Anything would be of great appreciation.

One word to customer: No.

Comments

[jecook]

What, they want a cookie for doing what's right? ::shakes head sadly:: greedy pigs.

Besides, if the company bought it, they'll declare it a loss on their taxes and replace it. If it's insured, the insurance will replace it.

However, if it belongs to the tech (most likely), he'll be quite pleased to get it back, because it's likely to be worth a paycheck or two to him to replace it out of pocket. Pester him for the cookies. :)

That's depends on the device- If it's a run of the mill signal strength meter, or a VOM, they run ~$100 or so. (And that's for a NICE off brand VOM. ~$300-500 for a fluke, depending on just how fancy pants it is.)

If it's one of those wacky T1 BERT testers, those run about two grand. You don't want to know what a DS3 BERT costs. :) Figure ~$1200 for a DSL/Butt set tester (according to the last Jensen catalog I looked at, anyway.)

A straight butt set lineman's set (friggen PC terms) runs about $250 - $300 depdning on brand and feature set.

[tothwolf.livejournal.com]

However, if it belongs to the tech (most likely), he'll be quite pleased to get it back, because it's likely to be worth a paycheck or two to him to replace it out of pocket. Pester him for the cookies. :)

With all the outsourcing done these days, there's a good possibility that it is indeed owned by the tech, or even the outsourced company the tech works for. In the later case, the tech might end up owing the company for the unit. Also, even if a company provides tools, its not uncommon for experienced techs to buy better stuff to make the job easier.

You don't want to know what a DS3 BERT costs.

No kidding...I was lucky when I bought mine that I found a really sweet deal on the surplus market. It was new in the box too.

[gremlingirl.livejournal.com]

Can you reward me for my honesty? Because even though its supposed to be its own reward, it isn't. Kthanksbye.

[ebtb.livejournal.com]

my dream reply to ths "samaritan": while we're being honest, you're a complete douche bag. kthxbye

[bekscilla.livejournal.com]

exactly what i was thinking - he kinda killed it by asking for a reward

[taleya.livejournal.com]

Stupid little bastard should have held it for ransom!

[ghostdandp.livejournal.com]

I had the phone company guy leave his toolbox behind once, a series of testers, some fancy looking equipment I've never used, etc. I called them up to tell them and got back "Well could you drop it off at our office in $Place30MinutesAway?" told them no, I couldn't, however I'd be happy to leave it outside for the tech to come by and pick up. Left it outside for a month. It's now sitting downstairs in my basement under my workbench. They never bothered to get it.

I regularly leave stuff behind at customers houses, I'm very forgetful. I always ask them if they can just leave it there (if I have a return visit) or that I'll be in the area on $ThisDay and if they could leave it outside I'd be more than thankful, and if they want it gone right away and it's important to me I'll typically take a ride down. Otherwise I tell them to throw it out.

[tothwolf.livejournal.com]

O.O

You're kidding right? Must have been company owned tools... I know what *my* bag/gear cost me, and I can assure you, I'd make an immediate trip back to get it if I forgot it somewhere.

If you can, drop me an email with some details, as I'm very curious what carrier this was.

[wyldthyng.livejournal.com]

"Sure Sir. In exchange for your 'kindness' we will NOT call the police (which we would've done had you kept the meter. We will also NOT hire goons to come over and beat what brain cells you have left out of your puny little head.

How's that? ~big beaming grin~"

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Hah, beat me to it. :-)

[tothwolf.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a technician, *I* would have given him something, before he even asked. Its not uncommon for "lost" test equipment and tools to end up on eBay or at a pawn shop (and then on eBay). If this was something like an Acterna (Wavetek) Stealth, a USED unit runs $3000-$4000. Retail on these is in the neighborhood of $5000-$6500. To me, it would have been well worth a $50 reward or even a credit of a months service for broadband over cable.

Now, had this been a butt set or something along those lines, I'd have still given the guy $20 or at the very least offered him a beer.