I quoted him on a repair, he accepted the quote, we did the repair, machine worked perfectly, client happy. I always guarantee work done.

2 weeks later, the client had a power surge which blew components in their machine, rendering it economically irreparable.

The work I had done and the power surge are totally unrelated. Its like having your brakes repaired in your car then the engine blows 2 weeks later in Brakpan, totally unrelated.

My client phoned me this morning in a rage.
“I paid you xxxx for my machine and now you telling me its f!!t.........++++++++++!+++++++++++!++!!”

I spoke calmly and explained to him that the repair and the subsequent power surge are unrelated.
But he still can’t get it, or he is trying his luck. I am used to dealing with such issues, but this guy! ...

I was lucky to have a great mentor and ex boss who taught me everything he knows about dealing with clients. He taught me that the most important thing in this business is to make the client happy no matter what, even when it seems wrong. He would often call me in to put out a fire and encouraged me to even lose money on a specific client to make the client happy, even when sometimes the client is trying his luck. His reasoning behind losing money on a client, to keep them happy, is that retaining that specific client in the long run will produce a profit. Also, retaining the “bad” client will help retain his current and future social and professional network.
My ex boss used to say: “An unhappy client is an opportunity to retain a client for life”
I do the same in my business as my ex boss did in his. I will bend backwards and sideways to retain business.

Sorry, I know this sounds obvious but you will be surprised how many businesses don’t make a point, to make sure, a client is totally happy.

So what am I going to do with this guy?
Well, I am going to repair his machine at a loss, with a smile on my face. Hopefully I will gain in the long run.