I had this client who followed me from another travel agency. Not at all a nice person; he's a Hollywood screenwriter quite full of himself (successful) and his wife is borderline insane. They have an overarching sense of priviledge and arrogance that makes me cringe every time they'd call or email. He'd start his calls with "Just for fun let's look at" traveling last minute over some impossible holiday to some A-list destination.
Anyway, I've been working on a trip for them for high-season, impossible destination, and every day at about 4 PM she sends one line emails (and since she's on AOL, she doesn't reference anything) -- about ten of these emails in a row, all contradictory. I've lost sleep, I get sick, and I can't service my other clients -- and worse, they never trust any of my suggestions, they have to check with their A-list friends to find out if it's worth going to.
On Friday at 4:30, I got one of these emails which began "change of plans" -- followed by three more contradictory emails. And, this morning, I came in to four more of these sort of emails. Nothing was confirmed at this point, and frankly, we lose money on them because of all the insanity. So, with the blessing of the owner of our agency, I sent a very polite email saying that I was completely confused, and that I didn't feel I could provide the level of service they require, that I am probably no longer the right agent, nor are we the right agency for them.
Within ten minutes of sending the email, an old client I'd not heard from in three years called me out of the blue.
I wish it were as simple with the Bush administration: Dear George, after the chaos of the last six years, I feel we are not the right country for you...
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7 comments:
Hello Jood,
Came here from Alicia's blog. Nice work, I like your style!
Oh, that we could sever relations with Bush that easily. Sounds like your client and he have a lot in common -- mercurial, arrogant, high-handed, thoughtless.
...and grandiose, with a serious entitlement complex!
My patience with those types is non-existent. It's a good thing I'm not in that business - I have simply no capacity whatsoever for suffering fools gladly, even when it's in my best interest to do so. That's why I'm broke, I guess. I have much admiration for people like you and my girlfriend Paula (my other travel agent friend) when I hear about what you have to deal with gracefully on a daily basis. I'll go the extra mile and then some for someone with a good heart, but those 'don't you know who I am?' types make me lose my lunch.
Oh, and if I could only list his films, you'd really lose your lunch.
Crabbi, maybe we should start a "Dear George" petition...
Perhaps the religious Mr. Bush would prefer a theocracy, like Iran?
Hi Jood,
I am a mental health professional. Be glad you said goodbye to those people. It seemed to be more about getting others to obey than it did taking a trip. Good job.
Update on the fired client: Monday and Tuesday nights I slept like a baby. Five years of stress with these people. Sue Woo, I should have asked you about them ages ago, would have saved me a passel of anxiety!
Jood - I can so empathize! I am a multimedia designer, and 5 years of experience has taught me that USUALLY the people who can and will pay the least have the biggest demands. Not friends, who I work cheap for, but business folks. It just amazes me how they think I have nothing but free time to give them. I, like you, end up letting them go. It's the only way to stay sane. And, like your experience, something good always seems to happen once I've done it.
It's as if the universe agrees with some sort of "no assholes served" rule.
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