When Saying Nothing Says Something

Sometimes, it’s what someone doesn’t say that makes the difference.

My wife and I bought a refrigerator a couple weeks ago. Shopping for a fridge is not easy. You are limited by space and that typically removes 50% of the options available. However, from there, there are still far too many choices. To make matters worse, perusing and doing the touchy-feely shopping thing is not the option it was pre-coronavirus. The best you can do is to make a good guess at what you want and then hope for the best.

We swung at the first pitch but missed.

In other words, shortly after the installers left FarkaBerry Manor, we realized the noise emanating from this fridge was unacceptable and this beast had to go.

This caused several issues.

First, we needed a replacement. So, it was back to the drawing board. We found ourselves once again shopping options and then finding bad news online either with negative reviews of our chosen model or from Consumer Reports magazine. When we could not come up with something in time, we decided to delay the return and live with this fridge a little longer. Because we had already arranged for the Best Buy guys to come back, we had to postpone.

No small feat.

I hope it’s only the COVID-19 situation, but twice I was disconnected from customer service. This forced me to go online and cancel our appointment the night before the truck was to return. As expected, word did not get to the delivery folks in time and I got a call from the dispatcher to confirm we were canceling.

At this point, I was pretty frustrated with the entire situation and made a comment to Peter, the guy who called me, saying something like, “Their customer service has left this customer frustrated. I can only imagine what it’s like for you, an outside vendor.”

Here’s the point of the blog …

Inadvertently, I had set up a situation where Peter could have voiced his own frustration (which was clearly present). Instead, he drew breath and said nothing. I could tell he wanted to, but he chose not to trash talk or take the opportunity I had given him. Oddly enough, it was the most impressive part of the entire experience. What this guy didn’t say said a lot about him as a person and reflected well on Best Buy.

When a job goes awry, it’s easy to throw someone in Production under the bus.

Don’t.

You are all on the same team. Stay positive and stay classy, San Diego. What you don’t say often times can make all the difference.

Need sales? New business? Need a process to restart momentum? Contact Bill Farquharson through his website, BillFarquharson.com or 781-934-7036