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atmilliways · 5 years ago

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On the 10th day of Dethmas this writer gives to thee…

Dec 22 - Metalocalypse but it's a cheesy Hallmark holiday movie

He’s a big city notary, only in town to clean out his deceased grandparents’ condo.

He’s a small-town metalhead pot dealer/part time taxi service with no one to hang out with for the holidays.

Is it fate, or is it Christmas?

Chapter one of a Murderface/Pickles, what-if-Dethklok-never-happened AU. I went heavy on Pickles' accent for this and I refuse to apologize for my crimes.

Deck The Halls With Ughs & F*ck Yous

When you boiled it down to the bare essentials, the first half of the letter basically said, “Merry Christmas, your grandparents are dead.”

Which, William felt, was kind of nice of the lawyer writing to him. He hadn’t liked his grandparents particularly much, for all that they’d raised him ever since the unfortunate murder-suicide that had claimed his parents. Everything he’d accomplished in life had been in spite of them. They’d wanted him to be a hubcap salesman like his grandfather; he’d gotten his notary license and done just fine. They’d wanted him to stay in the same kind of podunk towns they always lived in; he’d gone to the big city and landed a steady career notarizing deeds and titles for a huge real estate company. All they’d done was yell at him to make sure was still alive for seventeen years. Anyone could have done that.

It was the second half of the letter that was the problem. Apparently they’d had no money to leave him, just all the crap in a condo that needed to be emptied out by the end of the year so the next owners could move in. If he didn’t, there would be a ridiculously large fine due of some truly idiotic wording in the lease they’d signed.

A quick check online told him it would be cheaper to just fly out to this . . . Tomahawk, Wisconsin, throw all the shit in a dumpster, and be done with it. He had a couple weeks of vacation time coming up anyway, with Christmas and New Years, and no particular plans. Why not go? Maybe it would be . . . cathartic or something.

William sighed and reached to grab a credit card from his wallet. So much for a quiet Christmas to himself, holed up in his blissfully undecorated apartment with takeout from one of the best sushi places in the entire city.

Tomahawk was pretty much what he expected. Once he made it out of the four-gate airport with a baggage claim so slow that it might have been faster to walk instead of fly, it turned out there wasn’t even a taxi queue. He had to go back inside and call one himself. And it wasn’t so much a taxi service as something called “Pickles Cab” scratched in above the payphone.

As long as it had wheels and knew how to find the address, he didn’t much care. The dispatch guy had seemed kinda stoned on the phone, but hey, William figured, that just meant he might be able to find some to buy in the area.

The car was easy to spot because it was the only non-white thing moving in the snow-caked parking lot. William eyed the shitty old Vista Cruiser in shades of drab green, rust, and beat-to-shit wood paneling skeptically as it pulled up to the loading zone curb at an angle that was, frankly, terrible. The driver put it in park and popped out the driver’s side door with the engine still running, spewing thick steam out of the tailpipe in the frigid air.

“Hey dood, welcome to Wiscahnsin,” the guy called, waving. “Abandon hope all ye to enter here, heh.” He smirked. William recognized his voice as the person he’d talked to on the phone.

“Uh . . . hi,” William replied awkwardly, hefting his two suitcases,

“Trunks open. Lemme get it fer ya.” The driver hurried around to the back of the car and opened it for William to toss the suitcases in. He had a shock of red hair trying to escape from his black beanie in all directions, and park-job aside seemed slightly less stoned in person than he sounded. “Wanna sit up front? It’s warmer up here, I’ve had the heat blastin’ all the way here . . . uh, just let me clear some shit out first.”

‘Some shit’ seemed to be a lot of empty bottles and cans and snack wrappers, but William waited patiently because it’s not like this place had any actual taxis he could call instead. When he did climb in and buckle his seatbelt, at least it was warm, as promised, even if it did smell like pot and stale beer.

The driver popped back in, stripped the glove off one hand, and rubbed at his nose above a vivid red goatee before grabbing the wheel, “Okey, here we go. I’m Pickles, what’s yer name?”

“William Murderfasche,” William replied. What kind of a name was Pickles? But . . . it did explain the name of the ‘cab’ company.

“Murderface, that’s a fuckin’ cool name. Mind if I just call ya that?”

“. . . Sure.”

“Cool. So dood, Murderface, where to?”

William gave him the address. The car pulled away from the airport with a jerk and he stared out the window at passing snow banks and white-shrouded trees, starting to sink into all his misgivings about the decision to come out here. There was a certain smell that developed anywhere his grandparents inhabited for long enough that he hadn’t realized until moving out on his own kept him in a near-constant state of upset stomach.

“Hope ya don’t mind there ain’t no radio,” Pickles told him companionably, not appearing to mind when William didn’t react. “Tape deck’s broken too. . . . I’m tryin’ ta save up the money to fix it by givin’ people rides and shit. And doin’ some other stuff too, but don’t tell the cops, heh. All the local stations are pretty much shit anywey, all they’re playin’ right now is fuckin’ Christmas songs.”

“Hm,” William agreed.

“What kinda music you listen to?”

“Hm. Uh, what? Oh, schorry. Moschtly metal, I guessch.” He shrugged, shaking himself out of the funk he’d been about to sink into. Usually he would prefer to just be left to his own thoughts, but right now the chit chat was actually a welcome distraction. “It’sch good background muschic for conschentrating on not thinking.”

“Hey dood, me too!” In his enthusiasm, Pickles gunned the engine and sent the car into a brief skid on the wintery road, but corrected it with an ease that spoke to lots of practice. “There’s naht much of a metal scene here, fuckin’ sucks. What else am I supposed to get fucked up to, huh? People jest don’t get that. Is it any better where you live?”

William, braced for impact as he now was and would probably remain for the rest of the ride, shrugged again. “I don’t know. I moschtly keep to myschelf, but there are plenty of schtoresch that have deschent schtuff, if you’re willing to schort through all the other crap.”

“Well, cool. Hey if you wanna hang out at all while yer here, I got a pretty good collection on vinyl. Y’know, if you don’t have family shit to do. I’m avoiding mine due to sort of a . . . landlord tenant dispute. They won’t let me put a lock on the house-door to my basement-room, so I’ve got it barricaded and stopped payin’ rent, and now Mahm won’t let me eat anything she cooks. But it’s cool, I’ve gaht an exterior door so I can still get in’n out.”

It took a moment to digest all that, but William noted the invitation with the tentative optimism of a guy who’d moved a lot as a kid but never quite gotten the hang of making friends as a survival method.

But he was only planning to be in town for a few days, get the condo cleaned out ASAP, and go home, never to return. Not a lot of point in making friends.

“Thanksch, but I probably won’t have time.” He wasn’t looking directly at Pickles, but he saw the driver’s smile drop a few watts out of the corner of his eye. Feeling bad for the guy, he quickly added, “Schoundsch like you’ve got a pretty good schet-up, though.”

“Eh . . . it’s alright.”

The conversation petered out after that, and William had no idea how to get it going again. He’d always been shit at this sort of thing. Looking back, it was probably a miracle that he’d stuck through high school long enough to graduate, having alienated, avoided, or accidentally insulted enough of his peers that virtually no one on campus had ever willingly spoken to him. The only social group he’d ever successfully infiltrated was the lunchtime stoners that hung out in the park across the street, and that was because they’d mostly just sat around passing joints, trying to blow smoke rings, and napping before having to face sixth period.

Eventually Pickles put his turn signal on and announced, "Here we go, Christmas Mountain Avenue. Sheesh, that's a little on the nose, huh?"

Privately William agreed, but awkwardly swallowed the chuckle before it could make itself heard. As they pulled up in front of the building, he peered out the window at the gray, shitty condo building and felt his lip curl. Fuck, there was a fridge in there full of rotting food and cans of condensed milk that he was going to have to deal with somewhere in there, he just knew it.

“Is this where yer staying?” Pickles asked dubiously.

“No,” William said with a shudder. “Thisch isch juscht the . . . family schit I’m here to deal with. My grandparentsch died and I have to clean out their plache by the end of the month.”

“Ooh.” Scratching thoughtfully at his goatee, he leaned forward to get a better look at the building. “. . . You know, the nearest motel is a ten minute walk and it’s gettin’ dark soon. Yer gonna want a ride, prahbably.”

William blinked. “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.”

Pickles made a show of looking thoughtful. “So . . . want any help? I gaht reeeeal reasonable rates.”

“Well. . . .”

“And I’ve gaht weed, too,” he added.

“Done,” William said immediately.

Well. At least the ordeal would probably be over with sooner this way, and also a lot less horrible with something to blunt the edges (and cover the Smell).

#metalocalypse #12 days of dethmas #metalocalypse fanfic #metalocalypse au #pickleface #william murderface #pickles the drummer

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crystalwillow · 5 years ago

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Truly. Madly. Deeply. - Ethan x F!MC

Tagging a few people in this one: @vibrantlyjaz @tsrookie @schnitzelbutterfingers @queencarb @mrsvanderlinde

As the sun rose the next morning after they returned back to Boston, Ethan awoke as the sun streamed through the skylight above his bed, he smiled at Casey as he registered her sleeping peacefully next to him. Looking at the time on the clock he let out a small sigh. It was time to leave the blissfulness he had been feeling for the past two weeks, and go back to the chaotic world of Edenbrook. Gently he rubbed Casey's arm stirring her awake a little. "Cassie? We need to get up and ready to go back to work now." he whispered tenderly and was met with a tired groan in response to which he chuckled. "I know. I feel that way too. You've made me feel happier and open up more than I have with or to anyone in the past two weeks. I kind of hate you for reminding me what true happiness feels like. But the reasons I love you outweigh that one so..." he mumbled and kissed behind her ear softly. "Ethan..." she murmured, reaching for his hair and tangling her fingers in it gently. "Come on. Let's grab a shower." he smiled as he got up, pulling a sleepy Casey with him.

"You're going to have to open your eyes at some point in the next 5 minutes."

"No. Ethan's a comfy pillow. I'm tired."

"Casey.." he chuckled as he washed her body

"Shhhhhhhhh"

Shaking his head with a smile, he somehow managed to wash Casey's hair and himself before stepping out and wrapping towels around both of them. By the time Casey had woken up properly, Ethan was dressed in his usual formal wear for the hospital, but there was something different about him. Casey looked at his side profile as he riffled through his wardrobe looking for something. "I do believe you accidently left- ah! Here it is." he beamed as he turned back to Casey, his favourite knee length blue dress of her's in hand. "What?" he asked at the quizzical look on Casey's face as she studied him curiously. That's when it clicked. It wasn't his clothes, hair or anything like that which was different. He was smiling a genuine smile. His trademark scowl had gone, along with the wrinkles that normally accompanied the look. "I love you." Casey grinned happily, "I love you too. Now hurry up and get dressed or you'll be late." Ethan said as he gave her a quick kiss before heading to the kitchen. When he came back, he left some toast and orange juice on the dresser for her, explaining that he was going to leave now as so to avoid any suspicion that would arise from arriving with Casey by his side.

"... So I'll leave you to lock up the front door yeah?"

"Yeah sure. ... Ethan?"

"Cinnamon roll."

"When are you picking Jenner up from the kennels?"

"Why?"

"Because your apartment feels empty without him."

"... Yeah... it does. I was hoping to get him after my shift tomorrow. I finish just after lunch."

"But that means you're working all morning today. Having a late nap in the on-call room and working all night."

"You know me and my work ethic too well. It's scary sometimes. ... Did you not want to meet me there? We could get him together. I'm sure he's missed you more than me anyway. You seem to have a knack of getting guys to stare at you and love you more than others."

"Honey... are you.. jealous of .. your dog?"

".. ha! When you put it like that it does sound ridiculous."

"Ethan Ramsey, I cannot believe you're jealous that your dog likes my cuddles."

"Well he used to love mine.. but you stole him from me."

Casey looked up from the mirror as she smoothed out the creases in her dress and laughed at the pout on Ethan's face. Walking over to him, she wrapped her arms round his neck, tilting his head so that she could see him properly. He smiled at her lovingly before giving her a quick kiss. "I guess I should get going before I'm the one who's late." he chuckled and gave Casey a few more pecks before he left out the door. "Oh! ETHAN!" Casey called out, opening the door and sticking her head out in the hallway, catching him at the end, just about to turn the corner. Damn this man and his giraffe legs. "Can I put my stuff in here from the car and pick it up later?" she called out, "Yeah sure!" he replied and with a wave he was gone. After moving the bags from her car into Ethan's apartment, Casey made sure she had the spare key she had been given and left, making sure to lock the door behind her. She drove most of the way to work, parking a couple blocks away and walking the rest of the distance. When she arrived, she stepped through the doors into the main atrium taking a deep inhale as a smile grew on her face. "Man it's good to be back." she said with a smile as she walked to her locker and started with her day. She crossed paths with Ethan a couple of times in halls, giving him a smile which he returned. Soon she stopped seeing him a knew he had gone to catch some sleep, and had clocked out before he woke up. She had just finished unpacking her bags in her room when her phone chimed with a text notification.

- 10:43PM –

Ethan: Didn't wanna stick around and say goodbye to me?

Casey: You were sleeping

Ethan: So? I wanted to see you before you left.

Casey: stop your pouting, E

Ethan: I didn't even..

Casey: I make it a habit to know my boyfriend inside out

Ethan: is that so... 😉

Casey: Get your mind outta the gutter Ethan xD

You have work to do. Which you should probably get back to, by the way..

Ethan: Yes ma'am.

Casey: God you're whipped..

Ethan: I'm what?

Chuckling to herself, she shook her head a little placing her phone on charge before going to the kitchen and fixing herself some food before heading to bed. The next day she spent her morning reading some old revision cards to keep her mind sharp on medical knowledge and before she knew it was leaving out the door and heading to work. She was halfway through her shift when her phone dinged in the back pocket of her jeans as she was talking with a patient. Once she was done, she stepped out into the hallway, taking her phone out and unlocking it as she closed the door behind her. She chuckled at the message Ethan had sent her, then aww'd at the next message that popped up. It was a picture of Jenner in his bed, looking sadly at the camera. She sent a quick reply and then pocketed her phone returning back to work.

Things slowly started to feel normal again as she got back into the fast pace things moved around the hospital with ease, and soon almost three months had passed since she got back from her parents house with Ethan. She hadn't seen him in a couple of days but that was normal, he was a busy in-demand man after all. One day she was standing in a small queue in the cafeteria when Dr. Harper Emery approached her. Concealing the eye roll she wanted to do so badly, she put on a professional smile as the woman stood in front of her.

"Dr. Valentine."

"Dr. Emery."

"I have a question for you."

""Uhh. Okay?"

"You're friends with Dr. Ramsey yes?"

"We have a friendship, yes."

"I see. So you'd have his personal phone number?"

"What's it to you?"

"Do you have his personal phone number? Yes or no, Dr. Valentine."

"I don't see why I should tell you, quite frankly. Not after the stunts you've been pulling trying to ruin the friendship we have."

"Look. He hasn't shown up for work in two weeks and he isn't answering his house phone or his work number. We've tried almost every phone in the hospital, which numbers he may pick up but nothing. You're our last hope to knowing where he is and why he isn't at work."

".... Okay, fine. Yes, I have his personal number. I'll give him a call and see where he is."

"Thank you, Dr. Valentine. Find me later to report on his status."

"Yeah. Fine."

Casey sighed and moved forwards in the line, frowning a little as harper stalked off, heels clicking on the tiled floor. She purchased her snack and a bottle of water, making her way outside and pulling her phone out as she sat on a wall. Unlocking her phone she dialed Ethan's number straight away and waited anxiously as it rang.

".... You've reached the voicemail of Ethan Ramsey. Sorry I cannot take your call right now. Leave a message after the tone."

Sighing she hung up and tried again. But every time she tried she always ended up getting his voicemail. Sighing and with a sudden loss in her appetite, she pocketed her phone before scooping up her cookie and bottle of water. Heading back inside to finish her shift. As the end of her shift drew closer and closer, she made a mental note to stop by Ethan's and check on him. She may not like Harper, but she had to agree that this wasn't like Ethan at all. He always informed the hospital if he was going to be late or off sick. Anything, he always picked up the phone and called the people who needed to know. As she was getting ready to head off, one of the nurses approached her. "Dr. Valentine! I'm so glad I found you." she said breathlessly, "What's wrong? Has my patient gone into cardiac arrest again?!" Casey panicked, but the nurse shook her head. "I was wondering if you could cover the last hour of my shift? I just got a call from my neighbor that my house has been broke into and the police need me there ASAP." she explained. Casey swallowed, she needed to check on Ethan, but this was important too. Smiling she turned to the nurse. "Of course. You head on home. I hope everything's okay. Let me know if you need anything." she responded, and the nurse thanked her before running off. The hour passed by slowly as Casey watched the clock on the wall opposite the nurses station. Soon the nurse that was to take over arrived and Casey clocked out. She headed outside on the phone, calling for a cab. Arriving at Ethan's apartment building a few moments later, she paid her fare and scrambled inside as fast as she could. She reached Ethan's door and knocked first, waiting for the door to open but 2 minutes quickly turned into 10. Which soon turned into almost an hour. Having enough, Casey took the spare key to his apartment from her bag and slowly opened the door, walking in to a mess of takeout cartons and bottles covering the floor. "E-Ethan?" she called out hesitantly, walking further into the apartment. "Honey? Are you... Home." Her voice trailed off as she entered the kitchen and saw Ethan slumped in a chair, head on the counter with his eyes closed. A glass of whiskey next to his hand. She quietly moved the glass and sat next to him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Ethan.. Sweetie. What're you doing sleeping here in the kitchen? ... E?" she said softly as she continued trying to wake him and when he awoke, he startled at her presence. "W-what are you d-doing here? How.. How did you get in?" He exclaimed leaping up and away from her. She frowned at him. Something was definitely off here.

"Ethan it's okay. I'm here to make sure you're okay. Like all good girlfriends do."

"G-girlf-friend?"

"Yeah. We've been dating for almost 3 and a half months now. ...Ethan? Are.. Are you okay?"

She watched him cautiously as he looked at her, panic rising in his eyes and becoming more intense by the minute, until he eventually started shaking his head causing Casey to frown.

"Baby, what's wrong? You can talk to me."

"Y-You.. You're going to hate me. I-I can't lose you Casey. Please!"

The pleading in his voice and desperation that was now mixed in with the panic in his eyes pulled at her heart. He was in so much distress and what was he on about she was going to hate him. Knowing she had to calm him down, she stood up from her seat and slowly moved towards him.

"Honey.. I know you're scared right now but take deep breaths for me okay? I'm not going to hate you. I never could. ... We've talked about this remember? We'll support each other through everything. Regardless of whether or not we're together. ..Do you trust me?"

She stopped a few inches in front of him, looking up into his eyes with nothing but kindness and the want to care for him. Finally he rushed into her arms, hugging her tight as he sobbed into the shoulder of her jacket. She hugged him back trying to slowly the violent shakes of his body that accompanied the sobs leaving his mouth. But it was no use, this man was a wreck, the only thing she didn't know though was why?

Moving with Ethan to his couch, she sat down with him handing him a tissue from the box on the coffee table. Together they cuddled and Casey held him until he had exhausted his tears, and his throat was raw. When he looked up at her, she felt a sharp pang in her chest at the red circles round his eyes and the sadness that was in them. She wanted so badly to ask what was wrong but decided it was better to let him speak when he was ready. Remembering the unopened bottle of water in her bag, she took it out and gave it to him. "Here. Drink this." she said softly, "Th-Thank y-you." He hiccupped, sitting up as he took it, opening it to take a gulp before laying down in Casey's lap. A few more moments of silence passed as Ethan sniffled and coughed a few times. Then he turned on his back and looked up at Casey, swallowing hard.

"Are you okay?"

"No. I won't be for a while."

"Why?! Baby, what's happened? I've never seen you this upset before."

"I- It's Jenner.."

"What about him?"

"He's gone Casey... All because I was careless, and almost tripped over a plant pot, so I got distracted. ... Casey he got off his leash and ran into the road. I had to pay for him to be put down. He-He's gone."

Casey went numb at his words, but it wasn't Jenner being gone that got to her. He was blaming himself. She hugged him again as he sat more upright and whispered that things would be okay again soon. Ethan looked at her with a frown.

"Why aren't you shouting? You weren't there to say goodbye to him with me. You should be mad. Casey why aren't you mad?"

"Ethan. Why would I be mad at you? You were obviously in a state of shock after everything that happened. Plus, being mad would solve nothing, it would only hurt you more and I don't want to hurt you darling. I want to support you and make you smile, even if you don't want to. I love you Ethan and that's never going to change. I don't want you to be alone through anything. Especially something like this. You've lost your best friend that you'd known how long?"

"Almost 15 years. It would have been 15 years on September 4th."

"September 4th?"

"Yeah. I remember picking him up from the rescue shelter as just a little clumsy puppy. His ears flopped about like curtains in a strong breeze and he had the cutest of smiles on his face. When I held him for the first time after getting home he done nothing but lick my face and hit away anything that took my attention from him. Loose papers with medical notes on them were shredded to bits if I left the room for even 2 seconds. He was so adventurous, I done a lot of exploring with him in those days. But as he got older, he became more and more like me."

"What? Permanently scowling and calling any new dog a rookie even when they helped him save a woman's life on their first day at work?"

"I didn't know you then. You were just another annoying face in the crowd."

"Another ann- ETHAN!"

"What?! You were annoying. But only because I could see you had the potential to match my skills or be even better than me and I felt threatened."

"... Wow. Ethan Ramsey was threatened by a first day resident? That's got to be a first."

They chuckled quietly. The air almost felt lighter for a brief moment before their faces fell serious again.

"You know. September 4th is tomorrow. We should do something together in Jenner's honor. He wouldn't want his dad to be moping around the house, with takeout containers littering the floor, ignoring his work and what he's vouched to do for others. He'd want you to drag your butt to the shower, put on your best 'what seems to be the problem today?' face and continue to make good memories that you can share when you see him again."

"Casey..."

There was still pain in Ethan's eyes as he spoke and the strain in his voice killed her inside, but deep down he knew she was right. Jenner wouldn't want him in the current state he was in. Every day when he saw a speeding car the images of that day would come back to him somehow, but he couldn't let that stop him from his work.

"By the way, Ethan."

"Yeah?"

"You should probably go and get that shower. You stink."

"Is that so huh? Cinnamon bun. Is that so?"

The two laughed and wrestled with each other as Ethan tried to shove his armpit in Casey's face. The carried on playfighting for a while before Ethan headed to the shower and Casey grabbed a black bag, picking up his rubbish and cleaning his living room up. She was almost done when she reached Jenner's bed. With a sad smile and tears stinging her eyes, she crouched down and made it up just how he always had it, placing it by the sliding door. "He always was a sucker for looking out at beautiful views." Ethan said as he lent against the doorframe between his bedroom and the living room. Casey turned around and looked at him. "Oh. Uh I hope you don't mind that I..." she said gesturing to the dog bed and Ethan just shook his head with a small smile in his lips. "No. it's fine. I wasn't able to bring myself to do it because it was too... painful." he grimaced as he crossed the room to the couch, taking a seat and patting the spot next to him. Casey smiled and sat next to him.

"Why don't you come and stay with me for a few days?"

"I couldn't. You already live with 4 other people."

"So? Ethan.. You need to be around people who care for you right now. Not festering in here alone."

"But Casey..."

"No buts. You're coming with me okay? We all care for you. Yes, Jackie and Aurora have emotions too. Don't look so surprised."

"There's no getting out of this, is there?"

"Look at you. Putting those smarts to good use."

"And what do you put to good use?"

"My ass. I hustle 24/7 baby."

They looked at each other before bursting out in laughter, falling on top of each other. As the laughter died down, Ethan looked up at Casey hovering over him and swallowed.

"How are you so beautiful?"

"The same way I got lucky with you."

"Casey..."

"Ethan..."

They were about to kiss when Casey's phone rang, completely ruining the mood. With a sigh she sat up and dug through her bag, picking out her phone and answering it.

"Hel- Oh it's you. Hello Harper. Yes I called him. No he didn't answer. ... I'm debating on whether to cook a beef steak or a chicken steak for dinner. Why would I have a- You what?! That's stalking! I can have you done for that! I don't care if you're at home now! No Harper. You can- WE'RE FRIENDS. I'm outside his apartment door. I've been here for hours now. Well, one of his neighbor's let me use their bathroom. I'm a human with bodily fluids that need to be released you know. Because he isn't answering his door. You know I'm going to the police. I'm not comfortable with your actions. I'm going to the police and then I'm taking this to the board. You may give up on your friends Dr. Emery, but I don't. No. You don't get to dicta-" Casey shouted into her phone and then looked at it in disbelief as the line went dead. "That... That BITCH!" she shouted, throwing her phone back in her bag. "Hey. What happened? What did she want?" Ethan asked as he gently took Casey's hands in his own larger ones. "She fucking followed me here! Waited outside for 55 minutes then followed me up. I hope you have a nice neighbor who would be happy to cover for me because I wasn't out there when she passed, I just lied to her. I swear. It's like she doesn't want you to be happy!" she rambled on furiously and Ethan's eyes softened at her worry for him. "Look why don't I go and pack a bag, you call a for taxi and we'll go back to yours. You're right that I need to get out of here for a couple of days." he smiled softly, and Casey nodded with a small okay. After giving her a kiss on the forehead he went back to his room, and sorted out his things for the next few days, packing anything he would need into a backpack before joining Casey in the living room.

"Hey, Cassie. Are you okay? You're doing that thing where you chew your lip again."

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine. The taxi's on it's way. We should go wait outside."

"After you."

Together they made their way outside and they waited for the taxi to pull up. When they arrived at Casey's Elijah and Aurora occupied the couches and gave the two puzzled looks as Casey turned round from closing the door. "Uh Casey?" Elijah asked, gesturing between her and Ethan. "You go head to my room. I'll catch them up to speed okay babe?" she said to Ethan as she pushed herself onto her tiptoes, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Ethan return her kiss and then Casey joined her friends as Ethan went to her room.

"So. Um.. You both know Ethan's been missing from work for a couple of weeks right?..." Casey started and told them everything that happened, Aurora scowling when Casey mentioned what her aunt had done, with regards to following Casey to Ethan's apartment. "That sounds exactly like something she would do." Aurora commented with disgust but her facial expression softened when Ethan came back into the room. He looked around awkwardly as if not knowing where to sit. Casey patted the space between herself and Aurora and he took a seat, cuddling close to Casey, and Elijah smiled at him in his usual friendly manner.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you need Dr. Ramsey."

"Thank you doctor..."

"Greene."

"Right. Dr. Greene. Thank you."

The two men nodded at each other curtly before Ethan settled back on the couch with Casey, Aurora and Elijah made their way to their room a few minutes later leaving the two others to cuddle on the couch before heading to bed.

The next morning Casey woke up before Ethan who was kicking his legs, whimpering in pain next to her. She was about to cuddle him when he suddenly bolted upright. "Jenner! NO!" he shouted, breathing and sweating heavily with tears streaming down his face. Next to him Casey pulling him to her chest, kissing his temple gently and rubbing his back. "Hey. Shhhhh, it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. I'm here okay?" Casey cooed softly to calm him down whilst stroking his hair. She smiled to herself at how cute it was that this had always calmed him down. She remembers him telling her a story from his early teen years, where his father stroked his hair until he fell asleep because he was stressed over a test. Then she giggled to herself as she looked down at him, knowing it was something he'd never grow too old for or tired of.

"What's got you giggling?"

"It's just.. I find it cute that at 37 this still calms you."

"Well it is soothing."

They mumbled between each other until it was time for Casey to get up. After she had showered and gotten ready for work, she waited for Ethan in the kitchen with Sienna, Elijah and Jackie, cooking breakfast for them to scoff down before having to run out of the door. When Ethan came through, everyone gave him a weird stare.

"What are you all looking at me like that for?"

"Uh D-Dr. Ramsey your uhhh..." Jackie stammered

"Well um..." Elijah trailed off going back to his food

"Honey... are you feeling okay?" Casey said as she got up and walked over to him.

"I'm feeling as good as I can be."

"Okay well um.. I'm just going to go ahead and tell you that.."

She swallowed the leftover pieces of food in her mouth as she gestured for him to lean down and she whispered into his ear, "Your bottom half is naked."

Ethan looked down and his eyes widened in horror.

"Dr. Greene, Dr. Trinh, Dr. Varma. I am so sorry. I ah..." he apologized blushing profusely

"It's okay babe. Just go finish getting ready yeah?"

"Y-Yes. Of course."

Ethan covered himself with his hand and quickly returned to Casey's room to finish getting dressed. Later they were all at work when Casey pager beeped as she worked next to Ethan and Baz trying to solve a case. Peering at her pager, she rolled her eyes and groaned a little at the message. "Dr. Valentine?" Ethan said colder than intended as he looked at her from his desk. "Sorry. I've got to go. I've been summoned by the deeeeeelightful former chief of medicine, Dr. Emery." she smiled as Baz looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What did you say delightful like that for?" Baz asked. "Long story." Casey and Ethan said together. "Ookay then.." Baz commented and then got back to work with his research as Casey left the room. When she reached Harper's office, she knocked on the door and was invited in.

"What do you want?"

"I think you know what I want. Casey."

"Actually. You're right. I do. And it. is. not. happening."

"Oh Casey. You're mistaken. It will happen. Or I'll put your whole relationship on blast."

Casey swallowed harshly as she looked at the photo Harper slapped on the desk in front of her. For a brief moment in time she felt like she'd lost control but then she hardened her resolve and looked Harper coldly in the eyes.

"It won't. Ethan is a friend and a colleague. And like I said to you yesterday. I DON'T. GIVE UP. ON MY... FRIENDS."

And with that Casey stomped out of Harper's office back to the diagnostics room, gathered her stuff and stomped down to the cafeteria to be alone in her corner and continue her research. Ethan frowning at her in confusion as she left the room. Later that down Casey was lounging on the couch at home when there was a knock on the door, with an annoyed groan she got up and answered it to find Ethan standing there.

"Oh hi. I forgot you didn't have a key. Sorry. I should've waited for you."

"No it's okay. I've been dealing with a PITA."

"Lucky you!"

They shared a chuckle at Casey's sarcastic tone as they sat down on the couches. Well Casey laying back on the one she got up from and Ethan occupying the other. He watched her carefully and noticed the way her brows were pulled together in annoyance and anger but then he noted the sadness and pain in her eyes.

"What's up, my little cinnamon bun?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Casey."

"I'm fine Ethan really. You should go change. I promised we'd do something for Jenner today, so let's head out before it gets too late to do anything."

"If you insist..."

Ethan got up with a sigh and made his way to Casey's room to change before returning to the living room and sitting back in his previous spot.

"ready?"

"I am."

"Then let's go."

Casey got up and put her sunglasses on before grabbing her keys and opening the door, but Ethan didn't move.

"Well let's move then, Ethan."

"Something's happe-"

"NOTHING. Has happened. Can we please just... go, before I change my mind."

With a sigh Ethan got up and walked outside, Casey following him, shutting and locking the door behind him. He went to hold her hand, but she stuffed the in her jeans pockets and walked ahead of him, taking a left and descending the and out main door of the apartment block. He felt hurt at her actions but tried to conceal it as he knew something must have happened at the hospital. She wasn't usually ever this cold with him. She'd always been warm and welcoming. Casey stopped a taxi and got in the front, leaving Ethan to sit by himself in the back as they went to their destination. When they got there, a small smile tugged at Ethan's lips as he noted the sign at the front of Jenner's favourite park. Casey paid the fare and they walked into the park, Casey's hands still permanently stuffed in her pockets as she walked a few paces ahead of Ethan. He stopped in his tracks causing her to stop and turn around, looking at him in annoyance that he'd stopped.

"Something's happened, and I'm not taking another step with you Casey, until you tell me what it is. and don't deny anything, you're not holding my hand. You're about 5 paces ahead of me, and you're being cold towards me which isn't you. So, what is it?"

"Nothi-"

"No! Don't give me that bullshit Casey Jane Valentine."

Sighing Casey turned her head and continued walking so he wouldn't see her hardened resolve crumble, but she eventually broke out into a run. "Casey!" Ethan shouted and broke out in a run to chase her. Somewhere along the way she'd turned down a trail and ran behind a tree. She was now sitting on the grass area surrounding it as she sobbed what felt like a million tears. She knew Ethan and Harper had a history together but why she being punished for him breaking things off with her? Why did Harper hate her? As her thoughts raced faster in her head, it got too much and she screamed into the void around her before laying on the ground feeling defeated, loud sobs emanating from her throat as she hugged herself for comfort. She felt so alone. Like such a bitch for treating the man she loved so coldly just to try and prove that they were 'only good friends' and that's when it dawned on her. She couldn't do this secret relationship thing anymore. She and Ethan either had to let everyone know and risk their jobs. Or it was going to be over for them.

As Ethan's feet pounded along the pavement to catch up with Casey, it took everything in him to not let the tears that stung his eyes, fall out and down his face. He had to give it to her when it came to running, she was the fastest person he knew, but he slowed to a stop as they turned onto the trail, bending over to catch his breath, supporting himself with his hands resting on his knees. He'd just stood upright again after catching his breath when he heard an all too familiar scream of pain that shook him to his core, as the worst scenario rushed into his mind. Casey had just been murdered by someone on the trail who was waiting in the shadows for the perfect victim. Adrenaline took over his veins once more, and he sprinted through the trail in search for his girlfriend. He was sure whatever had gotten her to act like this had to have been caused by Harper because she'd been in a super weird mood after going to her office after being paged. When he found Casey she was still laying in the grass sobbing so hard it was painful to watch, he approached her but didn't step on the grass just yet. "Cinnamon roll? Can I sit with you?" he asked, a little more hopefulness in his voice than he had intended to be there, sighing when he got no response. Pain coursing through him as he watched Casey there in the grass crying. He approached her and crouched down next to her, wrapping his arms round her shuddering frame tentatively, bracing to be rejected but sighed into her hair, pulling her close as she wrapped her arms round his torso, burying her head in the crook of his neck. "It's okay. I'm here for you." he soothed softly as he rubbed her back comfortingly. After a while Casey's sobs subsided and they made there way off of the trail holding hands. As they came upon the park café Casey had planned to take Ethan to, she let out a deep sigh, looking at the ground.

"What's the matter?"

"Can we... talk about it late? I-"

"Hey. Of course. That's fine."

"Thank you. I just want to eat now. And celebrate Jenner's life with you."

With a soft smile, Ethan opened the door to the café, and they took a seat inside, their usual drink order being brought over almost straight away, and they thanked the kind old lady who had become somewhat of a friend to them over the past year since Casey started joining Ethan in walking Jenner. They placed the order for their food, and made small talk whilst they ate it, before they left, Ethan headed to the bathrooms, and Casey went to the counter to talk to the kind old woman, who smiled at her with a fondness only a grandmother would.

"Hello dear. Was everything to your liking today?"

"It was outstanding as always Margret"

"Oh good. I'm glad. ... Now I would notice that look anywhere. What can I do for you darling?"

"Well, you see, the thing is. Ethan... he um... he had to have Jenner put to sleep after he got into an accident with a car. Today marks the 15th year since he brought him home from the rescue shelter and I'm helping Ethan remember him in the best ways possible. I don't suppose you have any of those biscuits he always liked spare, do you?"

"Oh of course I do my sweet. You know I always would keep one safe for the rascal."

Margret walked to the back and returned a few moments later, passing her the biscuit just as Ethan rejoined Casey by her side, lacing their fingers together. "Here you go. I hope whatever it is you have planned goes well. And my condolences for your loss Ethan, my darling." She said with a warm but sad smile as she briefly squeezed Ethan's shoulder with a tight nod. After some goodbyes, Casey and Ethan walked back into the park and down the path to the main gates. Once on the main street, Casey stopped a taxi and this time sat in the back with Ethan, which he had to admit, warmed his heart a little. When they arrived back at Casey's apartment complex, Ethan covered the fare and they walked up to the apartment together. Outside the door Casey knocked even though she had her keys, which confused Ethan.

"Sienna?! We're back!"

".... COMING!"

A few seconds later the door flew open and Sienna handed Casey a blindfold. Turning to Ethan, Casey jumped trying to put it on him which made him laugh.

"Baby, what are you doing?"

"Trying to blindfold you, duh."

"But why."

"So the surprise isn't ruined."

"... I'll humor you this once."

Ethan smirked as he took the blindfold from her and slipped it over his eyes. After checking he couldn't see, Sienna held the door open and Casey led him into the apartment.

"Okay... I want you to bear in mind that this was all very last minute so not everything is here but.... I do hope you like what we've put together for you okay?"

"Cinnamon roll, you know I'd like anything you put together for me."

"Okay, I want you to brace yourself, count to three and then remove your blindfold."

Casey placed the biscuit Margret had given them on the coffee table and picked up her gift, standing in front of the couch with her roommates in anticipation. When Ethan had counted to three, he removed the blindfold, letting his eyes adjust to the room, gasping as he took in the decorations surrounding him. "Casey... when did you have the time to arrange all of this?" he asked as he moved towards a picture frame with a picture of the three of them in together, all looking happy. "Well. It wasn't all me. I happen to have some very awesome friends who were down to help me and, well, you. All of us here have grieved a loss at some point in our lives so far, but we also all know how much Jenner meant to you. You were inseparable. And we want to help you through this difficult time." Casey spoke softly as he walked around looking at the decorations, appreciating the lengths they had all gone to for him. For Jenner. Suddenly emotion hit him like a train, and he started crying as he turned to Casey, pulling her into a tight hug. Everyone else in the room getting emotional too.

"Uh, Dr. Ramsey." Elijah said as he blew his nose.

"Please. Call me Ethan."

"Okay. Um, Ethan. Casey said it wasn't necessary for me to do seeing as I'm struggling with my money at the moment, but I wanted to get you a gift too. We all did. So well.. this is from myself, Jackie, Sienna and Aurora. It won't match Casey's gift but we uh... here." Elijah hesitated as he passed the wrapped gift, Ethan gratefully accepting it as he sat to open it. He gasped as he removed the wrapping upon seeing what it was.

"Is it... bad?"

"No Dr. Greene, uhm, Elijah.. it's perfect. Thank you."

"Casey mentioned you broke yours and it still hadn't been replaced, so we gathered the same pictures and had another made for you at this shop not too far away. Thankfully, they understood and fast tracked our order but.. the best addition is this.. May I?"

Elijah held out his hand and Ethan passed him the photo cube, watching as he flipped it around before turning it, to show Ethan a picture of Jenner that had wings and a halo added to it, with the caption, 'I'll be waiting for you dad. Love you always.' on it. Tears fell from Ethan's eyes again as he lent on Casey's shoulder, taking the cube back from Elijah. "Okay. My own roommates are out gifting me to my boyfriend now. I may just have to kick y'all out." Casey joked to lighten the mood a little and they chuckled as they dabbed at their eyes with tissues.

"This is emotional. I hate emotion." Jackie sniffled

"Come on Jack. If Ethan can cry then so can we." Aurora said

Ethan hugged Casey and the others took seats on the couches and in chairs as the mood settled back down before Casey gave Ethan her gift.

"Before you open this. I know you aren't one for jewelry, but, like we've said. I know how close you were and still are to Jenner, so I thought this would ease things for you. Because he can still be with you all the time."

Looking a little baffled Ethan carefully opened the gift, throwing the paper to the side as he opened the jewelry box to find a pendant inside. Carefully he opened it, instantly tearing up again as he saw a picture of himself, Jenner and his dad on one side, and a smiley Casey on the other. "Cinnamon roll." he cried as his voice cracked, pulling her into a tight hug and kissing her cheek. "It's beautiful. Thank you so much. I love you. So so much."

Emotion filled the room again as everyone cried at Casey's gift, and the matching pendant she had been wearing all day, hiding it under her sweater. "What did I do to deserve you all?" Ethan asked, as he dabbed and blinked the last of his tears away. They all shared a light chuckle, and Aurora cleared her throat to give an answer.

"You not only inspired us, but you pushed us in our first year to be our absolute best. You made our bond as friends stronger, for me, you mainly showed me that I needed friends. If I wasn't to end up at stiff as you that is. But most of all, you loved our Cassie. You gave her kindness, compassion, support. Everything you have here. Now. Is because you deserve the kindness and love you've given out. Back."

Jackie looked at her quizzically.

"What?"

"When did you become so sentimental?"

"I could ask you the same damn thing right about now."

"Touche."

After talking about Jenner's memory, there was one more thing to do before they all headed to bed for the night. With the biscuit from Margret tied to a few helium-filled balloons, they headed out onto the balcony and looked up at the sky. Ethan taking the balloons from Sienna.

"Hey buddy. It's your dad. I hope they're looking after you up there, because if they aren't they'll be hell to pay when I get there. Anyway, you um. You don't need to worry about me too much. Your mom and her friends are looking after me down here. You should go ahead on more adventures to tell me all about when we meet again. Just like I'm going to for you. I uh.. Well both me and your mom went to see Margret today, and we've brought you your favourite treat. We thought we'd send it up to you so. Here you go buddy. Enjoy. And remember, small bites. Good boy. I love you. Goodnight for now."

He spoke with thick emotion before letting the balloons go as he tightly held Casey's and Elijah's hands, the others joining the chain as they watched the balloons carry the biscuit higher and higher until they couldn't see it anymore. They headed back inside and locked all the doors and windows, cleaning up the mess and going to bed. Casey and Ethan never spoke about where their relationship stood that night. Were they to remain a secret or not. Little did she know the next morning that question would be answered for her. But for now, her focus was sleep. And cuddling Ethan.

------ The Next Day ------

Feeling refreshed still, half way into the morning at work the next day, Casey stood in a hallway marking a chart as the hospital's PA system dinged overhead. She expected it to be a trauma call or something calling someone to the ER, but she froze as the familiar voice filled the halls and heads turned to stare at her.

"Good Morning staff of Edenbrook. This is Dr. Ramsey. I sound ridiculously happy given recent circumstances in my personal life. But there is a reason and I no longer care if it costs me my job. I'm happy because of a certain doctor. She's probably blushing right now and untucking her hair trying to hide her face whilst it's scrunched up in embarrassment. Anyway, this is not the time for tangents. I'm in love with and dating Dr. Casey Valentine and I've finally stopped giving fucks to hide it. Casey. I love you. I fucking love you. That will be all. Please resume your days as normal."

Casey rushed to a nearby supply closet, a grin spreading on her face as she shut the door. He loved her.

Truly. Madly. Deeply.

#pixleberry studios #choices fanfiction #choices stories you play #playchoices #ethan ramsey fanfiction #dr ethan ramsey #ethan x casey #choices open heart #open heart fanfiction #ethan ramsey

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maybege · 2 years ago

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HELLO FROM MY TRAVELS LOL A few additions to this post (which I will pin asap):

I know I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Empty Blogs Will Be Blocked. Maybe not now as I don’t have the desktop version available but trust me as soon as I come back, I’ll go through my entire follower list and will just block you on sight. I have no patience or energy to deal with this otherwise.

I finally hope to get to some comment reblogs! I’m sorry for how long it’s taken me so far but please know I appreciate every single comment you all make and on a bad day, I just lie in bed and reread all of them. ♥️

On that note, I know my queues been empty, I’ll try and fix that and will also sneak some self reblogs in there because on my travels I’ve kind of rediscovered my own writing and … it’s not bad, if I do say so myself.

I cannot wait to soon be able to interact a little bit more on here (and thirst about our favourite blue tin can man, and the green one, and the FBI one) and in the meantime, I hope you’ve all been doing well 🥰

all the love, may

hello my loves! I know I’ve been mia lately for a lot of reasons (none of them bad, no worries!) so just some housekeeping before the end of the year:

empty blogs will be blocked as well as blogs that have no age in their bio. the bots are getting better and better and sadly look more like real people than some who have followed me in the past few months. please make sure that your blog at least looks like it belongs to a human!

no new fics until March! I do have new stuff at the ready but due to real life and some travels, I simply won’t be in a state to actively post them or even write at the moment. But I hope to be back with some smut prompts when the time comes!

for that same reason, my queue might be empty soon and this blog will be quite inactive. Please don’t worry and rest assured that I very much will not abandon this space - I’m just busy!

I wish you all a very pleasant holiday time and can’t wait to see you in the new year! ♥️

#may announces

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siliconwebx · 6 years ago

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How to Turn Customer Complaints into Positive Opportunities

Three hours. That’s how long I sat in the empty waiting area at Firestone for an oil change I had scheduled in advance. The guy who had checked me in was right there the whole time, so I knew he saw me. I could not imagine that they forgot about my car. Until another guy walked in, chewing a sandwich. “Uhh, what Altima?” Yeah. Mine.

Fast forward: I sent an email and the owner called me personally. He said, “I know all about what happened. I’m so sorry. I’ve put a gift card for $100 in the mail. Is there anything else I can do?” I’ve been to that same Firestone several times since.

Companies mess up. Oil changes sometimes inexplicably take three hours. Bad customer service experiences leave a lasting impression, but if you can pad that memory with, “Well, they did fix it…�� you’ve done the best you can with a crummy situation. Your customers will remember the service they received more than anything else.

Gathering and Confronting Customer Complaints

Monitor all of it.

You have to monitor any avenue where your audience may be talking, regardless of whether you have a profile set up or not. Your customers could be discussing your brand on Twitter whether or not you have an account.

When it comes to the platforms you are on – or the ones you need to get on – setting up a dedicated support channel can silo must-deal-with messages. You won’t have to carefully watch your regular feed and risk missing a complaint buried under chatter.

One more thing: unless public image is the only thing you care about and you’re unconcerned with keeping the customer or influencing the word-of-mouth they spread, you have to act the same during a private conversation as you would during a public one. I’ve caught the eye of brands once I post something on their Facebook page, but that’s not caring customer service, that’s damage control.

Don’t let grievances linger.

Since the most frustrated customers have to be answered ASAP, set up a separate folder in your support queue to filter those high-priority messages. Team members can jump in to help out those customers before the issue escalates. Look how quickly ClassPass responded to upset customers on Twitter:

Know what the complaint is not.

Being the person who has to deal head-on with an irate customer is kind of like being a parent. Your kid may kick and scream and act unreasonably, but you have to still act like the adult you are, even if you’re kicking and screaming on the inside. Before you get worked up, remember what customer complaints are not:

Deep insight into your business. According to Phil Libin, co-founder of Evernote, “Customer feedback is great for telling you what you did wrong. It’s terrible at telling you what you should do next.”

A fight to the end. Who is right or wrong isn’t the point – your customer is unhappy and you have to look for a way to make it right, whatever “it” is.

Stipulations that you have to follow no matter what. You should find some way to resolve the issue, but it doesn’t have to be their way.

Don’t be too casual. Or too professional. Or too pathetic.

Balance conversational speak with professionalism. Overt sincerity swings the other way to insincere. You have to be accommodating and respectful, but you don’t have to be a puppy dog. This isn’t the customer’s world, this is the real world and you can both be treated like human beings while working out a problem. Keeping a customer but losing their respect or setting up a dynamic where they bully you to get what they want isn’t so great for business either.

Solving the Problem

Apologize.

“I’m sorry.” That’s all. Just apologize. Apologize if you don’t want to or if the customer is way more wrong than you. This is business and sometimes you have to do the “right” thing even when it’s, you know, the wrong thing.

P.S. These statements are not apologies:

I’m sorry you’re upset.

I’m sorry that you’re having this problem.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

These statements are passive-aggressive and infuriating. All I can think is, “Yeah, thanks, you caused this problem. I don’t wanna hear it.” And since you don’t want to get into, “Yeah, I know, our system’s the worst, we’re trying to fix it, you’re totally right…” just say those two little magic words.

Unearth the real problem.

Emotion-charged customer complaints are red herrings – there’s a problem buried under all that noise. What’s the real issue? Sometimes saying, “What can I do to help?” is all it takes to figure out the solution the customer is after, which will clue you into the deep down issue they’re having. If that doesn’t help, give Socratic questioning a try – it’s a way of asking probing questions that get to the heart of a problem.

Solve the issue where it lives.

Wherever your customers are complaining, solve the problem there. Don’t transfer a calling customer to three different agents or tell someone on Facebook chat to send you an email. Start and finish troubleshooting as swiftly as possible and in the same location.

A lot of this relies on how empowered your customer service agents are. If they’re not allowed to make decisions – offering a freebie, granting an extended trial period, giving a full refund – the entire problem-solving process slows down.

Be transparent when you’re mid-troubleshooting.

Some problems are going to be more difficult than others to solve. As you’re working it out, you’re going to keep getting customer complaints. Create a landing page or email template that explains what’s happening, what you’re doing and when you expect to have a solution, then update it as the situation progresses.

Don’t be so transparent that you provide premature updates, though. Did any of you have MoviePass? They gave daily updates about how the company was going down in flames, which resulted in changes to terms that stopped before they’d gotten off the ground, refund promises that never happened…it was a mess. Their customers knew there were fundamental problems, but itemizing those problems and the solutions-that-never-were was more off-putting than the service not working.

Follow up.

The follow-up is essential whether you spoke to the customer on the phone or through another channel. As much as possible, you want to ensure that the issue was dealt with and the customer is satisfied. “What else can I do for you?” is a nice way to ask, “Are we done here?” and to keep the door open in case they’re still not thrilled with the outcome.

Look how Xbox Support handled a problem customers were having:

They didn’t just pop into Twitter to see what upset customers and then disappear after fixing it, letting everyone find out on their own. They sent an update, thanked their customers and reminded them that they’re listening.

Give up.

When you’ve done everything you know to do and the customer is still not pacified, it’s time to move on. Stay friendly and professional, but finish the conversation. Similarly, if the customer asks to cancel their account, don’t try to persuade them to reconsider. That’s a surefire way to get rid of them forever instead of temporarily.

Self-reflect to determine if the customer had a point.

Loudness does not equal rightness and quietness does not equal wrongness. Volume doesn’t determine how accurate a complaint is. You’re looking for this: recurrences of the same problem. When multiple customers are telling you that they’re having the same issue, it’s a red flag. Here’s how to conduct a complaint analysis (I’m assuming that you have a system for cataloging feedback, but if you don’t…do that):

How many times has this complaint come up with this customer?

How often has this complaint come up with other customers?

How frequently does this happen?

Is there a pattern? For example, does it always happen during the same time of year or does it go through the same communication channel? If you get the same customer complaints through Twitter but never on your website’s live chat, there may be something up with your mobile app.

You don’t have to solve every problem right now. Small changes matter – even a small improvement to the customer experience can increase your average revenue.

Last Thoughts

Businesses need their customers more than customers need that business. The angry customer will move on and find another place to get their oil changed, pay full price for a movie ticket, unfollow you on Instagram and never think of you again (other than to tell their friends about that terrible, horrible, no good, very bad experience).

Your business will be the last to suffer – without loyal customers and with negative social proof flying around out there, your profits can dwindle (by $62 billion, apparently) and your doors can close.

Now that you’re on the keeping-your-customers-happy bus, check out this article about the right way to use social media buttons on your website.

The post How to Turn Customer Complaints into Positive Opportunities appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

😉SiliconWebX | 🌐ElegantThemes

#Silicon Web Design #Ahmedabad #India #Web Development #WPBeginner #Silicon URL #Web Site #Cloud Host

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