Two weeks ago my wife purchased a handbag online through the site, Billion Dollar Babes. It’s a “sample sale” website, with designer goods being put on sale for a limited time. Apparently the prices are shockingly good, and things sell out pretty fast.
Anyway, she gets this $99 handbag for $35. She’s very excited because she’s a bargain shopper and this was apparently an awesome deal from a reliable online merchant. So happy, in fact, that she tells all her friends at work about it.
So the bag is supposed to ship out this Tuesday, May 5. Anticipation builds.
Then the phone rings yesterday – May 7. It’s some customer service rep from Billion Dollar Babes calling to say that they would not be sending this purchase due to “stock issues.” In other words, they ain’t got it.
My wife, still on the phone, goes to her computer and tells the flak that she placed her order at 9:07am, just 7 minutes after the item went on sale. What, she asked, happened? Did other people get their bag?
Yes, she is told – others got theirs. She just didn’t get hers. And though they did offer her a credit equal to her purchase price, never did they out and out apologize.
Then I was watching a recent episode of Scrubs (if you don’t watch it, you need to). The intern gave the wrong medication to a patient, and surgery was needed. The attending is told that the patient must be told that her situation was caused by a mistake.
Though the mistake was made by the intern, the attending takes the fall and apologizes. The reaction? The patient absolves the doctor and seems contented.
So it got me to thinking about the power of, “I’m sorry – we screwed up.”
As lawyers we are all painfully aware that our mistakes can lead to bar complaints, malpractice claims, and even disbarrment. But what would happen if we fessed up to the client if we made a mistake?
Chances are good that the client’s anger would either melt away or fail to materialize. The client would likely view the lawyer as a human being, doing his or her best yet imperfect – just like the client.
Could it backfire? Is copping to the mistake always wise in a society prone to litigation? Would your malpractice carrier blow a gasket when your “admission against interest,” is uncovered?
Maybe. But consider this – if you let your client know when you make a mistake, and if you do everything in your power to make it right – you get the chance to prove that you care, and that you are a just and honorable person who genuinely wants to do the right things.
Would it make the client love you again? Maybe, maybe not. But it gives you the chance to turn a bad situation into a good one – or at least a better one.
What do you think? Have you apologized to a client and been given a second chance? Has it backfired on you? Let us know in the comments section below!
