A few days ago I placed an order online. It was with a company I’ve worked with a few times in the past; they’ve got a high-quality product, and I’ve always had a positive experience working with them.
An hour or so later I received an email from an employee at said company. In so many words, it read:

Thanks for your order… next time you order with us please don’t upload a ZIP file… ZIP files break our system… our site clearly states that ZIP files are not accepted… don’t do that again… thank you.

I was caught off guard. Did I really break their system? Wait, I wasn’t supposed to upload a ZIP file? I thought the site said that ZIP files were okay to upload. And, didn’t I send files like that to this company in the past? Anger grew. Hold on, why’s this person accusing me of this terrible offense? What’s with the passive aggressive ellipses? Why are they mad at me? I didn’t do anything wrong. On the contrary, didn’t I just give these guys business and money? They should be happy. I’m their customer. My blood boiled.
I started on a mission to defend my previous “ordering” actions. Aha! I’ve got them now! I thought. There’s the page I ordered from. Look at that, it says ZIP files are accepted! Screen shot! Attach file! Copy and paste URL! I was almost giddy, the perfect evidence for my case in hand. I collected my thoughts. It was time to hear from the defense.
I responded to the man’s email. I presented my evidence. I voiced my outrage. I, admittedly, went a bit overboard and told him to cancel the whole order and issue me a full refund.
My reply was sent. Now, onto my next mission… a new thing to do that didn’t exist before: finding another company to work with for this project since I just canceled my order.
As I searched for a replacement, I couldn’t shake a creeping thought in the back of my mind. Damn, that was a solid product. Too bad I can never use them again. I started to get a bit bummed. All of this was because of a ZIP file? Why was I so mad in the first place? It’s natural that I’ve never liked anger directed my way when I didn’t do anything wrong.
But, was this the best way to deal with the situation having added a bunch of extra work to my day? I continued my search for a new company to work with for the project.
As I searched, I thought of a workshop my coworkers and I recently took… YES! Attitude. I realized that I forgot to add “being wrongfully accused” to my list of “things that give me negative feelings” when we brainstormed our triggers. I took a breath. I calmed down. I checked my email. A new message awaited me…

Sir, I apologize, I did not mean to offend you… I meant no offense at all… I can now see that there was an error on our site…

Hey, that’s not bad. Yes! He apologized, I thought to myself. The email continued…

            … you see it’s just, we can’t have ZIP files coming through our system…

Oh man, he’s still talking about that ZIP file?
Well, I liked the first half of his message. Before I jumped back into the ring for another round, I stopped and thought, Why am I spending so much time on this? This could go on forever. I know I didn’t do anything wrong, but what’s the point of trying to make this person change the way they communicate? I decided to believe his initial email came off wrong. Could his initial email have been written more tactfully? Yes, but oh well.
And then I made a decision to break this cycle: instead of responding with another email, I picked up the phone. I gave him a call and talked. I thanked him for his apology and said I appreciated it. I asked if he could stop the order cancellation. And thanked him for being able to continue onward with the initial order. It was a good call, the project was saved, and, of course, he seemed like a nice guy. The company and I were on good terms again.
Did I learn something from this experience? I suppose I did. If I have a bad or unexpected experience as a customer I shouldn’t then become a tough customer. I should stay calm, cool, collected—and kind—whether there’s a ZIP file involved or not.

Billy, the Renaissance reMan, is here this week with this very first REMAN U article. Are ZIP files really all that dangerous? They can be – to your communication, attitude, customer service, and ultimate sales. Have you ever been a tough customer like Billy? How’d you turn it around? Comment below or reach out to him directly.