The dark side of business is the villain.
Employees are used, abused, mistreated, and cheated.
Customers are lied to, swindled, scammed, and jammed.

In the pursuit of money, people do terrible things.

That’s not you.

But the darkness that clouds the community lingers through your life.

The customer who doesn’t know you assumes you’re like the others.

This customer doesn’t trust you. Or anything you say.
They’ve heard the promises before and experienced the emptiness in those words.
They’ve trusted and got punched in the face.

Can you blame them for looking out for their self-interests?
The darkness has trained them to be wary of false prophets.

I bought a vacuum head from “my” pool supplier two weeks ago. It was recommended to me by the salesperson. Trusting the expertise of the guy, I bought it even though it was the expensive option.

It didn’t do what the salesperson said it would do. False claim…
I didn’t want to go back to the store and discuss my problem again.
I didn’t want to ask for a refund.
It felt odd to complain.
But I did it.

The salesperson did the opposite of what I expected.
He blamed my lack of knowledge.
“I’ve owned a pool for 11 years. I never had this problem with the cheap vacuum head.”

He didn’t apologize. He didn’t care. He wouldn’t take the product back. And he told me I could buy the cheaper option without a discount for my troubles.

I spend about $1000 per year at this business to operate a pool and hot tub.
The vacuum head was $50. Their cost might be $25.

It’s not about the money.
It’s about trust.
I’ve lost trust in their expertise.
I’ve lost trust that they are there to help me have an awesome pool and hot tub.
Money is their driving force. Taking care of me is not important.
Advertising will not change my mind about their darkness.

Otherwise, I was happy.
They were responsive to service calls.
Prices were fair.
The location was convenient, with lots of parking.
The service team was quick to help carry chemicals to my car.

The sales guy has been there for 2 years.
He is nice enough.
Maybe he doesn’t have the authority to fix the problem.
Maybe he didn’t want to fix the problem.
Maybe the owner doesn’t know how he deals with problems.

Why is this my PROBLEM?

It’s NOT my job to wonder all the MAYBE’s.
It’s NOT my job to escalate the complaint. It was ONLY $50.

I don’t care about the $50.
I felt used, abused, scammed, and jammed.

My only job is to keep my family happy. They’re happiest when having fun in the pool.
The pool boy isn’t helping me do my job.
The pain of betrayal forced me to seek out a new supplier.
The risk of the unknown is more bearable after feeling lied to.

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