A few years back I wrote on this subject, and since going out into the world with more people being less patient I think it’s important to share a time I made a mistake and had to own up to it.
Right before Christmas a few years ago, we discovered we had been lied to by a sales rep at our cell phone store and, furious, we went back in January to return some unwanted merchandise we’d been told we “had to buy.” But the “lead” customer service rep who was processing our return – despite knowing we’d been lied to – acted as if we were the liars and refused to treat us with respect. And when we got even more upset at this, he stopped the return process, tossed the paperwork at us and threatened to have security remove us from the premises.
So out into the night we went, vowing to bring down the wrath of our attorneys, the FCC, the state commission and the local television station onto the carrier’s collective corporate head. I mean, we were pissed.
Here’s the backstory…during the holidays, we upgraded to new iPhones with our carrier. And, while doing so, a sales rep in the store misled us by saying “if you switch to our new plan, you’ll save money every month!” But, the catch was that we had to “purchase an IPad Air” or we couldn’t switch to the new savings plan. Then we got our bill, and all sorts of hidden fees had appeared, ones the sales rep never told us about, making our bill even higher than it was before. When the corporate office confirmed we did not have to purchase an iPad to get onto the new plan, back we went, furious, and got tossed out.
So, after we calmed down, we asked ourselves if we had behaved respectfully in the store. And to be honest, although we had every right to be angry, we admitted to ourselves that we really weren’t very respectful at all.
We decided to try again a few days later, and to be as polite and respectful as possible. We met with another lead associate, calmly explained the situation, and made our return request politely and respectfully. The entire time he treated us with respect, although he still didn’t admit to any wrongdoing by his colleague. And within 10 minutes the return was complete and we’d been refunded our money.
Upset? Angry? Even for a very good reason? Try respect & Reflecting on what you did wrong: it may just get you what you want.
