The Plumber (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We who provide services are paid to solve problems. aren’t we? If a client comes to me worried about an issue she has, it would not help for me to just say “Oh dear, you are in a mess”. She wants to hear how I am going to fix it, relieve her stress and generally help her feel better. Of course that is what I do, if possible. If I cannot fix it, I will just be honest, and if I am able, help mitigate the pain.
Recently we had an issue at home with our heating. It was a minor problem which could be fixed, although we already had another problem of a more serious nature which had been diagnosed by a plumber who had now gone abroad to work.
We had to choose a new plumber, who came to fix the more minor issue, which was done satisfactorily. We paid his bill.
We told him about our other problem. He seemed to think that the diagnosis we had been given was not correct. We wanted the problem fixed, so we agreed he could try. He sent two of his colleagues who fiddled around for a couple of hours before agreeing with the original opinion. They could not sort out the problem without the major work we had already been told was necessary.
We were then presented with a bill for not fixing the heating. Understandably, I think, we said that we had told the plumber what the problem was, and his men had spent two hours not sorting it out before agreeing with the original opinion. Would you have paid for that? I think not?
We all have to deliver a solution, or be honest if we cannot. We certainly cannot charge for our failures.
