Self-Fooling Prophecy
(I am a customer consultant. We sometimes get people on the phone who have been called by the debt collection company due to unpaid invoices.)
Me: “This is [company]. How may I help you?”
Customer: “How dare you send my invoice to the debt collection company!”
Me: “That is unfortunate. May I have your invoice number, please? Perhaps we have the wrong address on file.”
Customer: “It’s [invoice number]. After you sent me three reminders, you have suddenly sent it to the debt collection company! I want to cancel my services immediately!”
Me: “Wait, you HAVE received the reminders we’ve sent you?”
Customer: “Yes, I did. I threw them away.”
Me: “And why did you never call us when you received the reminders?”
Customer: “I thought you would stop sending me reminders.”
Me: “You thought the unpaid invoice would just magically disappear if you threw away the invoice reminders?”
Customer: “Yes, Of course!”