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MAURICIO FRAGA-ROSENFELD

A GREAT LESSON

7/6/2014

10 Comments

 
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Yesterday, while visiting Washington DC, my computer crashed. My son, Gabriel, and I walked into an apple store for service without having an appointment.

I approached the host and explained to him the situation… he looked at me and said “Sir, there is nothing that we can do, you do not have an appointment…” I replied to him in a nice and soft manner “do me a favor, I am flying back to Madrid tomorrow, can you find a way to take care of it?” while putting my hand on his shoulder.

To my surprise, he flipped my hand and he said, “stay away from me!” I backed up and with an even stronger tone of voice, I asked him to call the manager. I knew he or she would be able to do something.

A few minutes later the manager approached us already with an attitude and said to us “I will send a technician to look into your problem, but I don’t think he will be able to do anything today.”

Then a technician arrived, clearly with an attitude. He did not even look into my face and talking to the air, he asked what was the problem.

Finally to make things worse, while I was looking for a cable to buy a salesperson put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me to the side with out saying excuse me.  As if he was trying to make a point. 
It seemed like every employee at the store had a problem with us.

I said to Gabriel, "I want you understand what is going on. This is a mistake that we all make, a problem that we all have."

We walked in with a great disposition and tried to find a solution for our problem but immediately the host and manager said to us there is nothing they can do about it.

They already decided there was no solution; they were not willing to find one.

Because I am a stubborn individual and an enemy of the phrase “there is nothing we can do about it,” I pressed for a solution.

The coworkers were not happy about it, and all had a terrible attitude towards me. In their eyes I was the bad guy. I was the guy that walked into their territory and pushed my way in.

This is a sin that we are all guilty of. At home, at work, at school we all have ganged up against somebody that we don’t agree with. Even if the person is right… and that is wrong!

While working with Omar, the technician, we were able to establish a good rapport. When he was finished repairing the computer I invited him to stop by Máte, one of our restaurants, to have a drink on us.

He was surprised and said  “you are the owner of Mate… so you are also the owner of Chicha…” I said yes.

Omar, the technician said pointing at the host, the host with the attitude problem, “you know, he works for you, he is one of your Dj's…” I turned around and said, pointing my finger at him… “that piece of .… works for me?” The host turned around surprised without knowing how to react.

In life and in business, you should always be your best because you never know whom you are talking to.

It is important to treat everyone you encounter with the same respect that you would like to be treated. People don’t always look the way you would imagine them to look, so don’t judge people based on their outward appearance or you could miss out on amazing opportunities.

At the end of our visit to the apple store, the computer was repaired, Omar gave me his card so I could call him directly if I have any issues, Brian the Dj was still puzzled, not knowing how to react; he knew he screwed up.  The rest of the workers were hiding behind the customers, so they would not be recognized.

The best part of this visit was that Gabriel, my son, had learned a few valuable lessons at the age of 14:

  • There is always something that you can do.
  • If you treat everyone the same you would avoid missing out on opportunities.
  • Do not pre-judge people.


"Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people - your family, friends, and coworkers, and even strangers you meet along the way" - Barbara Bush


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10 Comments
anitha
7/6/2014 12:33:58 am

me too

Reply
CrisMaag link
7/6/2014 01:47:28 am

Loved the post...it's one of those things that happen more often than we would like to admit but the truth is most people don't understand that its not even just about the great customer service that should come with the product, its a simple attitude change that massively impacts your own personal brand.

Reply
Stephen harris
7/6/2014 03:29:20 am

What a great story, and a great lesson for Jabril. What will you do about the DJ ?

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Nesrin Abaza
7/6/2014 10:12:06 am

The DJ will continue being a great DJ. Others are the best source for us to improve and learn from it!

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Didi
7/6/2014 10:17:01 am

I think this is a lesson Gabriel already knew and could have taught it himself, perhaps with not as much finesse

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Leo P
7/6/2014 01:51:00 pm

I had a similar situation when I walked into a Sears Auto Center here in Northern Virginia and asked to have the oil & oil filter of my car changed. It is an older car, so in the hot summer months I prefer to fill it with10/40 weight oil. The Sears employ that was writing the order said "No I cannot do that sir.The computer tells me to fill it with 5/30 oil. I told her "I take the responsibility. I've done this before at your store" She said "No" I asked to talk to the manager. He happened to be next to us all along and have heard the conversation. He nodded a "Yes" to her and she printed the order to my satisfaction. A negative attitude takes us nowhere. Specifically, when we are dealing with customers. A "Yes sir, I'll try" reply would have been more appropriate.

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Lawrence
7/7/2014 01:15:08 am

He might still be a good DJ, but Apple needs to find some new employees.

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Dave R
7/7/2014 01:48:22 am

How can you expect that kid to break protocol for his company? As a business owner you aren't telling the second part of the story: you just bumped someone else's appointment. Someone else who was responsible, scheduled it beforehand, and was subsequently inconvenienced because you decided to complain to management because you didn't receive special treatment. You've taught your son to complain and threaten when he doesn't get his way and that the rules don't apply to "people like you," unlike us regular folk, not a grand lesson in equality.

I really hope you don't take it out on "that a-hole" because you think he wrote this. Don't blame him for following the directions of his company.

Reply
Mauricio
7/7/2014 07:54:28 am

You are tough, and in part you are right.
The Dj is a good kid and I never fired him, because that was his job at Apple and his jobs as DJ has nothing to do with his day job. My problem was not just with him.

The problem is the attitude, a rejection with kindness is always received with kindness. An attitude of empowerment and negativity is what I do have a problem with and will never accept. And yes, I will push my way through when I encounter people not having the willingness to do their job and look for a solution.

Yes, I was asking for an exception not a special treatment. At the end of the day we all deserve the service that Apple promises to its customers. There are different circumstances in life and in business and there are always exceptions. To say it is special treatment you make it sound elitist, this is not the case. The facts are, my computer crashed and I was traveling the next day and needed an emergency repair. If it was my business I would find a way to resolve the problem!

I guarantee you I did not take someone else's appointment or that person would be yelling at the counter why he is still waiting!

Every business has to be flexible to meet it's clients needs! Simple!

"Rules are to be broken but not your principles"

Reply
Bianca
7/8/2014 02:08:58 am

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience, I read it to my family during breakfast it turned into a great conversation, good lesson to share. Im sure people that have attitudes like Dj always have a reason behind it. However we should always remember our position sometimes we are helpers, sometimes we are to be served. Whatever our position is we should always remain humble and as positive as possible, too sad he had to leaned this one the hard way, but he's not alone, hopefully he'll become a follower of I love failure. :)

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    Who I am today as a person is largely due to my failures!
    Failures are the speed bumps in life that matter!  They are not regrets but small disappointments that wake up the strength within us! Failures are the process of learning and improving!  Without failures we simply are at a status quo!  

    "success is built on many failures..." 

    Mauricio Fraga-Rosenfeld

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