Apparently I am a company

[greensinestro]

[QUOTE=Rahmota;256292]
Rah: Dude, I'm the only one here. I am the boss, the manager, the owner, the worker, the receptionist, the accountant, the end all and the be all. There is NO ONE else here, There is no company and unless you want to talk to the dog or the cat you gotta talk to me.
/QUOTE]

It must be nice owning your own business and not having to worry about a boss being contacted on something like this. But, was it really necessary for you to say this to him? Sure, this guy sounds like a total nitwit, but you still lost some possible business here, and this guy only needs to tell his buddies and God knows who else how you spoke to him.

[Geek King]

Sorry nope. LCHS is my alma mater. Madison High school up by Cleaveland is where wife(1) graduated from though.

There is a Madison School District around Middletown as well. That's where my folks are. Forgot about the one up in CLeveland.

[Rapscallion]

It must be nice owning your own business and not having to worry about a boss being contacted on something like this. But, was it really necessary for you to say this to him? Sure, this guy sounds like a total nitwit, but you still lost some possible business here, and this guy only needs to tell his buddies and God knows who else how you spoke to him.

The joy of being your own boss is that if you decide to, you can tell idiots to take a running jump.

Trust me, it's sodding great!

Rapscallion

[Gurndigarn]

It must be nice owning your own business and not having to worry about a boss being contacted on something like this. But, was it really necessary for you to say this to him? Sure, this guy sounds like a total nitwit, but you still lost some possible business here, and this guy only needs to tell his buddies and God knows who else how you spoke to him.

As an independent contractor, you have to do this at times. Not an option, if you want to stay sane and successful. The critical part— part of being a top-notch contractor— is knowing when to turn it on, and when to turn it off.

This comes down to a basic cost-analysis thing. You know how some sucky customers will burn unholy amounts of time for the people at customer service arguing over a $20 item? These same sucky customers are looking at thousands of dollars they may be spending... you can see where this is going, hopefully. If you're a contractor, time equals billable hours. Unless you're wasting them arguing with a twit.

Also, your customer base is usually thousands up to millions of people. Having twenty of those lost because of how you treated one person is not a serious problem. Far less serious than wasting a day you could have done something constructive in. (Plus, if those twenty count your first SC as a friend, they're probably twits, also.)

The important thing, like I said, is knowing when to turn off the wit and sarcasm. It really needs to be reserved for the people who are going to waste your time, and not the people who are merely being cautious... and that's sometimes a difficult call.

(Same principle applied in the junkyard: customer trying to make a deal? Expected; deal with it. Customer being an ass over a $5 item? Dealer spending an hour trying to beat you down an extra $10 on a motor? Not worth your time.)