OLD TIMER WINS ONE
AND LOSES ONE
Soon after I opened my first TV repair shop on White Settlement
road a set was brought in for repair. It had several bad parts and the
repair bill was considerably more than the customer expected. He was
very upset and accused me of overcharging for the repair. I explained
the reason for the expenses, pointing out the different parts that had
to be replaced and the time that was required for making the repair. But
he was not willing to listen – the charges were just too high and he
didn’t intend to be taken advantage of.
It was obvious that I was not going to be able to convince him
that I was just an honest repairman and that there was a legitimate
reason for the expense.
After a little thought I said, “Well, you say it’s too much,
I’ll make you this proposition. You just pay me what you think it is
worth and I’ll be satisfied.”
He looked a little puzzled and was slow to answer. “I don’t
know what it would be worth. I just think it is too much!” That was
his answer.
“I’ve charged you what I think it is worth for me to make a
reasonable profit. But because I want to do what is right and keep your
good will, I will be glad to take whatever you believe to be right, even
if I lose money on the job.” He
still insisted that he really didn’t know what the price should be and
that he just didn’t have that much money. I told him that I would be
happy if he would pay what he could afford and pay the rest of what he
thought it was worth when he could.
His attitude changed
and he paid a small portion of the bill and said he would be back and
pay more later. He came in and paid the balance a few days later. I did
work for him several times after that and we never had a financial
disagreement again.
Another time a repair job did not have such a happy ending. I
made a service call to repair a TV that had no picture. A few simple
tests indicated that the picture tube was not working although it had
the proper voltages and signal input. The tube filament was burning.
In the early 1950s picture tubes often failed because an oxide
formed around the cathode and prevented it from emitting an electron
beam to produce a picture on the screen. The cathode was a coated sleeve
over the heated filament of the tube and depended on the heat from the
filament to release the electrons. The filament was activated by a 6
volt source and due to the unwanted coating there was not enough heat to
make the tube work. A small transformer called a booster was available
for making the tube work again. When plugged onto the end of the tube it
raised the filament voltage a few volts and the extra heat burned off
the oxide coating and the picture tube worked as well as a new one.
Since picture tubes were very expensive, when the booster worked
it saved the customer many dollars. Usually the tube worked with the
elevated voltage indefinitely. The transformer could be removed after a
few weeks and the tube would continue to operate because the coating had
burned off, but it could soon quit working again.
A few months after the repair job another serviceman removed the
booster and the set continued to operate. The serviceman evidently
didn’t know about this and told him that he didn’t need it.
Of course his first thought was that I had sold him a part he did
not need. I tried to explain to this man that the tube would work after
the booster was removed but that it was likely to fail again. He was not
interested in my explanation and still thought that I had sold him
something he didn’t need.
I offered to refund the whole amount of the service call but he
refused it. He said he just wanted me to know that he knew I was a
crook. This bothered me because I had never tried to cheat a customer. I
was unable to satisfy this man and I regretted it.
Is there a moral in this old timer’s tale? If there is it must
be that you can’t please everybody, no matter how hard you try. A
smart man once said, “You can try – that’s all a mule can do!”
I tried. Does that make me a mule?
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