Ballsy

After reading Shannon's blog of New Year's Resolutions, I told her I was feeling bad that maybe she got her "too nice" quality from me. She quickly told me, however, that she more than likely got that from her Dad and then reminded me of two ballsy stories of my own. (I guess that was her subtle way of saying... "I'm not nice?")

Case in point #1: we had this cantankerous SOB insured with us for about ten years. Every time he came in the office, he was hollering and demanding something. And since he was the type to always make changes and have accidents, this was often. I used to say, "What does he do?...wake up, look in the mirror and say, 'How big a b**tard could I be today?!'"

One day he came in and I was alone in the office. He was turning in another claim and slamming down paperwork on my desk, yelling how he wanted his money NOW. This was like the third claim we'd handled in a month so the fact that he was acting like we would try to screw him or something got me riled up. I calmly took the information though, told him that I would get it in the system and have him paid out. Then I looked him in the eye and simply said, "But after this claim is processed, I think you should take your business elsewhere. In the 10 years you've been our client, nothing we've ever done has been good enough so I think you'd be happier somewhere else and I know I'd be happier if you took your business somewhere else." He was dumbfounded, didn't say another word, and left.

Then he called and made an appointment with John the next day. I thought he was going to come in and ream us both out, but I really didn't care. Even John was happy I'd finally stood up to him. To both our surprise, he came in and APOLOGIZED. He said he'd always appreciated everything we did and never knew he was being a jerk. If we'd give him another chance, he'd like to stay. We did and he was nice from then on. He kept his insurance with us many years. He even earned a soft spot in my heart and I wrote to him when he was in the nursery home until he passed away.

Case in point #2: there was an interesting guy who came in the office a few times to get quotes. He always demanded he talk to John directly. This guy smoked a big stogie (sp?) and had a dim-witted girl friend with only three teeth and even fewer brain cells. Well anyway, one day John was gone and I was the only one there and this guy was pissed about it because he wanted some insurance. I tried to tell him several times that I was quite capable of helping him, but he kept demanding John.

Finally I said "John won't be back until tonight so if you want this insurance, you will have to let me help you." At this point he angrily pounded his fist on the counter and said, "I don't deal with woman, period." I had had it...so I answered, "Well I don't deal with a**holes so hit the door buddy!" and marched back to my desk. He openly started belly laughing and then said, "You've got balls lady! I'll say that for you. If it's okay with you, I guess I'll let you write that insurance after all."

He didn't stay with us long but it made for a good story all these years. And look at that, I guess I am ballsy after all.