You can then imagine my shock and frustration the other day. A guy I've known cordially for 20 years walked in for a refitting on his 10-year-old frame. His nephew had jumped on his head and bent them rather severely. As I always do – I warned him that the frame could break but I would do my best to straighten them out. 

"SNAP", barely touching the frame caused the eyewear to break above the eye wire closure point! This happened right in front of the patient so he (I'll call him Charlie) could see how carefully his frame was handled.

Oh well, it was a nice titanium frame and worth repairing, so down to Hilco it went for a deluxe rehab. Cost to patient $40.00 (client well informed of the price ahead of time), getting favorite frame back in good shape – Priceless!

Or so I thought. Good old Charlie came in today to pick up his repaired and reconditioned frame. The sun was shining, the temperature was mild, a gorgeous day in mid November. I smiled and said, "Have a seat." Charlie sat and in retrospect I should have noticed a look like one of those cheesy poker players on TV holding a big hand.

I carefully adjusted the frame and said that would be $40.00. Charlie looked at me and said, " You're charging ME $40.00 for breaking my frame?!" 

I won't bore you with a blow-by-blow description of how the conversation went downhill from there. But protestations of innocent intent and recollections of the original visit failed to make any headway with my now very recalcitrant old friend. He pointed out the thousands of dollars worth of business he had spent (hundreds actually, and many years ago) at my store and thought he was being treated shabbily, after all," You broke my frame!"

I, quaking with rage but forcing my voice to be calm, ended up tearing up the bill and said, "I'm too upset by your accusations to talk to you any longer because I'll regret something I might say!"

So . . . What would you have done? Remember, I warned him before attempting to straighten the frame. I reminded him of their age, and of the number of refittings they had endured over their life, and thought I knew this guy real well.

Would you have done?

A. Exactly what I did
B. Kicked his butt
C. Arm-wrestled him for the fee
D. Charged him a lesser amount
E. Or something totally different

I'm not sure there is a right answer, my receptionist thought I handled it about right, but I have a nagging feeling I could have done better. (If my emotions could have been controlled more effectively).

Jim Magay
jmagay@ziplink.net