It sucks to be a service provider when something goes wrong.

We have not had heat in months, and things just keep going wrong as we try to get it fixed. It is undoubtedly something wrong with the system that someone else put in. There is a reason we switched providers. Yet, because I want to be mad at someone, I find myself very frustrated with this service provider despite decent communication and his seeming competence. And he is in the position of constantly giving us bad news which cannot be fun.

It’s like when someone comes to me after a poor experience with another attorney and I feel badly for them. It is painful to charge when they have just spent money on something that didn’t give them what they wanted. But, while I do not want them to have to pay twice, could be a poor business decision to not charge them.

In our businesses and our lives, sometimes money is simply lost. Sure, sometimes you make a mistake and learn from it, but something like our heating system is just a bummer with no great insight or lessons learned.

Live, let go, and release the pain. It is just part of life. And that is as true if we are the service provider giving a better experience than the prior service provider. At least we can let them experience something positive, and that is a gift even if they had to pay twice for it.