I used to work in an electrical shop. My boss was interested in electric lighting and was quite proud of our lighting section. We were one of the few lighting suppliers in the area, and my boss always tried to keep our prices VERY competitive. The fact that he went to our two suppliers’ annual lighting conferences and knew all the reps and managers by name helped, as they always gave him good prices, which he would try to pass on to our customers.
[Boss] had a couple of rules about lighting.
The first was that we were NOT allowed to offer discounts on light fittings, because we made virtually NO profit on them, and if we gave a discount, we’d potentially be losing money. The second was that customers were NOT permitted to place custom orders for fittings we didn’t normally stock and couldn’t get from our supplier. The reason for this second rule will become apparent once you read the story below.
One day, a woman came into our shop looking for a specific light fitting. She wasn’t really sure what she wanted and didn’t feel inspired by anything we had in stock, so she asked [Boss]:
Customer: “Do you have a catalogue I could look at?”
[Boss] was always reluctant to give customers the catalogue, for reasons which will soon become apparent, but he gave it to her and she had a look through it.
Eventually, she came over to speak to [Boss], having made up her mind.
Customer: “I want [VERY specific light fitting].”
She wants one that looks like a ship’s helm.
Boss: “We don’t stock that particular fitting. It will have to be a special order from our supplier.”
Customer: “Order it. It will be perfect in my dining room.”
[Boss] REALLY didn’t want to order it, and he explained to the customer why this was the case; our supplier would have to place a special order for it. Because it was a special order, we would not be able to return it to our supplier if the customer rejected it, so [Customer] had to be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that this was what she wanted.
Well, [Customer] PLEADED with [boss] to get him to order the light fitting. She absolutely HAD to have it, because:
Customer: “It will look FANTASTIC in my dining room!”
And so, going against his every instinct, [Boss] phoned the supplier’s rep and told him what he wanted. The rep reminded [Boss] that there was a “no returns” policy on special orders like this one, and [Boss] confirmed that he understood. The rep placed the order, and [Boss] took the customer’s details and a deposit, and told her he’d be in touch when the light fitting arrived.
Now, let me tell you about this light fitting: it looked exactly like a ship’s helm, as I said, with lights mounted around the rim. It was also huge, according to the catalogue, it was about two metres in diameter (around six feet) and had to hang from a pair of very thick and very heavy chains. As [Boss] and I looked at the pictures in the catalogue, we struggled to imagine this monstrosity having a place anywhere in a private house!
Well, with the order placed, [Boss] told me:
Boss: “I know I’m going to regret it.”
But it was done. The rep told us the special order would take about a week to come from their warehouse, so all we could do now was wait.
Sure enough, a week later, on schedule, the light fitting arrived. The packaging it came in was enormous, and it took some effort for me and [Boss] to bring it into the shop and unpack it, as the thing was so heavy! When we finally got it unpacked, our anxieties about it were confirmed.
It. Was. Absolutely. HIDEOUS!
It looked ridiculous, and [Boss] remarked:
Boss: “There is absolutely NO WAY that [Customer] will accept this.”
He phoned her anyway, and she came in, and he showed her the light fitting. When she saw it, her jaw dropped.
Customer: “Oh! Is that IT?”
[Boss] knew what was coming.
Customer: “I had no idea it would look like that in real life! That’s going to look ridiculous in my dining room!”
[Boss] reminded her that she’d committed to it. He reminded her that she HAD been told that as a special order, she HAD to take it and had even paid a deposit.
Customer: *Protesting.* “But I don’t WANT it!”
She wasn’t exactly coming across as rude, just disappointed. Once again, [Boss] reminded her of the policy, and once again she refused to accept the light fitting.
Customer: “What on earth would I DO with it?”
We had a couple of ideas, but we said nothing. [Customer] refused to pay for the light fitting and asked for her deposit back. This was technically non-refundable, but [Boss] gave her the refund anyway, to placate her and prevent her from BECOMING hostile (like I said, she wasn’t too angry yet).
Disappointed, the customer left our shop, saying she’d go and look for lights elsewhere. [Boss] mounted the light fitting on the ceiling with a price tag at cost price, chiefly so we could get rid of it. The monstrosity hung there for months and was eventually purchased by a local collector with very unusual tastes.
But after that, [Boss] placed a permanent ban on special lighting orders, telling future customers that if it wasn’t something we had in stock, we couldn’t get it. Only once did we break that rule – when my dad wanted particular light fittings for his new sunroom, chose something reasonable looking from the catalogue, paid up front and LOVED how the fittings looked when they were installed. [Boss] told me that he only broke his own rule because it was for my dad.
