Have fought really hard not to let the quality problems we have had during the past three weeks set in and think we are gradually reversing the tide.
Most of problems have been sorted. Staff are living in fear of their lives and I am thinking that, should the issues kick in again, I will actually call it a day and either let someone else run the business, or disappear off into the sunset to do something else. For all the problems, we have yanked it back into good control. But the odd thing that goes wrong. And it is absolutely, butter side down, sod’s law the one customer on earth that you don’t want anything to go wrong for. We have had one recently, whom I know had a run of disasters back in the summer (some, if not all, of our making) and I was happy (well, as happy as anyone can be) to hold my hand up, apologise profusely and say we were guilty. Having instructed staff to give this customer absolute priority and the best possible treatment, one idiot puts the wrong handle on an order at point of despatch so drawer not ready on time. If that wasn’t enough, we did them a mirrored coffee table this week. So fussed was I that everything had to be perfect, that I had my Second-in-Charge do it himself and personally check it. This was on Tuesday, which just happened to be the major cold snap. One of our units is particularly freezing cold this winter (the health and safety boys banned the old form of heating and we have yet to find an effective alternative). Having delivered the coffee table safely and had it approved, I now hear that one piece of mirror has unceremoniously slid downwards – I can only assume that, in the extreme cold, some of the glue had not set sufficiently.
Have spent last hour bashing head hard against wall. If it had to happen, why them?!!
