. The guy I was transferred to harshly interrogated me and tried to impose an unjustified cancellation fee. I vowed never to come back, and I explicitly said it was no way to do business.

Now, that same company is giving away internet access! I wonder why.

Often, when companies drive hard bargains with their clients, or they insist on collecting large penalties or they’re strictly interpreting the fine print in their user

I look back on my career and I see with perfect hindsight how shortsighted I was in handling certain customer relationships.

I’ve done it all.

I’ve “fired” clients that have told little lies to me. I’ve failed to stay in contact with past clients. I’ve deliberately not used certain clients as references because I didn’t want to make them feel important, or give them any influence over my career.

The list goes on.

And because of my failings and miscues I’m in a good position to notice when others are being shortsighted or foolish with me.

Recently, a travel company didn’t want to give me a refund because I had to reschedule a trip.

I had already spent a good amount of money with this online entity, but it insisted on dinging me a huge amount for changing my plans. Obviously, it couldn’t see that I travel quite a lot, and the future value of my patronage far outstripped the amount they were penalizing me.

I got more than filled up on appetizers at a restaurant that I have frequented for more than a dozen years, and I flagged the server and asked if we could cancel the entr?e. A full twenty minutes later she said it was too late to do it, and “You can always take it home with you.”

Clearly, it didn’t take twenty minutes to cook a steak. There was plenty of time to cancel it, but that would have reduced the size of the check and her tip. She simply didn’t want to accommodate me and felt she had a technical right to force me to consume the meal as originally ordered.

The price of the entr?e is $39.

How many thousands will I spend elsewhere because they wouldn’t let me cancel it?

I recall terminating an internet access subscription that came bundled with my PC. The guy I was transferred to harshly interrogated me and tried to impose an unjustified cancellation fee. I vowed never to come back, and I explicitly said it was no way to do business.

Now, that same company is giving away internet access! I wonder why.

Often, when companies drive hard bargains with their clients, or they insist on collecting large penalties or they’re strictly interpreting the fine print in their user

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And because of my failings and miscues I’m in a good position to notice when others are being shortsighted or foolish with me.

Recently, a travel company didn’t want to give me a refund because I had to reschedule a trip.

I had already spent a good amount of money with this online entity, but it insisted on dinging me a huge amount for changing my plans. Obviously, it couldn’t see that I travel quite a lot, and the future value of my patronage far outstripped the amount they were penalizing me.

I got more than filled up on appetizers at a restaurant that I have frequented for more than a dozen years, and I flagged the server and asked if we could cancel the entr?e. A full twenty minutes later she said it was too late to do it, and “You can always take it home with you.”

Clearly, it didn’t take twenty minutes to cook a steak. There was plenty of time to cancel it, but that would have reduced the size of the check and her tip. She simply didn’t want to accommodate me and felt she had a technical right to force me to consume the meal as originally ordered.

The price of the entr?e is $39.

How many thousands will I spend elsewhere because they wouldn’t let me cancel it?

I recall terminating an internet access subscription that came bundled with my PC. The guy I was transferred to harshly interrogated me and tried to impose an unjustified cancellation fee. I vowed never to come back, and I explicitly said it was no way to do business.

Now, that same company is giving away internet access! I wonder why.

Often, when companies drive hard bargains with their clients, or they insist on collecting large penalties or they’re strictly interpreting the fine print in their user

ture value of my patronage far outstripped the amount they were penalizing me.

I got more than filled up on appetizers at a restaurant that I have frequented for more than a dozen years, and I flagged the server and asked if we could cancel the entr?e. A full twenty minutes later she said it was too late to do it, and “You can always take it home with you.”

Clearly, it didn’t take twenty minutes to cook a steak. There was plenty of time to cancel it, but that would have reduced the size of the check and her tip. She simply didn’t want to accommodate me and felt she had a technical right to force me to consume the meal as originally ordered.

The price of the entr?e is $39.

How many thousands will I spend elsewhere because they wouldn’t let me cancel it?

I recall terminating an internet access subscription that came bundled with my PC. The guy I was transferred to harshly interrogated me and tried to impose an unjustified cancellation fee. I vowed never to come back, and I explicitly said it was no way to do business.

Now, that same company is giving away internet access! I wonder why.

Often, when companies drive hard bargains with their clients, or they insist on collecting large penalties or they’re strictly interpreting the fine print in their user

plenty of time to cancel it, but that would have reduced the size of the check and her tip. She simply didn’t want to accommodate me and felt she had a technical right to force me to consume the meal as originally ordered.

The price of the entr?e is $39.

How many thousands will I spend elsewhere because they wouldn’t let me cancel it?

I recall terminating an internet access subscription that came bundled with my PC. The guy I was transferred to harshly interrogated me and tried to impose an unjustified cancellation fee. I vowed never to come back, and I explicitly said it was no way to do business.

Now, that same company is giving away internet access! I wonder why.

Often, when companies drive hard bargains with their clients, or they insist on collecting large penalties or they’re strictly interpreting the fine print in their user

. The guy I was transferred to harshly interrogated me and tried to impose an unjustified cancellation fee. I vowed never to come back, and I explicitly said it was no way to do business.

Now, that same company is giving away internet access! I wonder why.

Often, when companies drive hard bargains with their clients, or they insist on collecting large penalties or they’re strictly interpreting the fine print in their user agreements, they’re in financial trouble.

So, if you believe they’re acting in a shortsighted way, they are because they can no longer see a long term relationship. They sense they won’t be around, so they’re not going to leave anything on the table.

That’s a good cue to pick up your chips and leave their game behind.