A couple of months ago, a consultant and I had arranged to have coffee at our local consultant hangout at 10:00 a.m. Ten fifteen had gone by and he still wasn’t there. Fifteen minutes is my allotted time to wait for a person in case they get caught up in traffic or were the victim on an extra long meeting.
Normally, I write the phone number down with the person’s name. This time I hadn’t so I had no way to get in touch with him. This was before the arrival of my new Droid Incredible so didn’t have access to text or email either one. I finished my coffee and headed home.
Once home, I sent him an email “Missed you at River Maiden” http://www.rivermaidencoffee.com/ Shortly thereafter an email arrived, “Kathy, I am so sorry my Blackberry didn’t synch up to my Outlook and it didn’t get into the calendar”. Yup, technology that is supposed to save us time isn’t always the perfect answer.
He apologized profusely and said “I owe you lunch now.” We both got busy and a month went by when one or the other of us got back in touch. We have known each other casually but had never sat down and really talked. We set the date and he told me where to meet him.
This time it was my mistake. I had it in my head an entirely different restaurant a few minutes away. When I realized my mistake, I called the restaurant, Hudson’s Bar and Grill http://www.hudsonsbarandgrill.com/ at The Heathman Lodge in Vancouver, Washington. They delivered the message to him that I would be there in 10 minutes.
I spied him as I walked into the restaurant sitting in the booth getting caught up on his emails. Once he saw me arriving he greeted me with a big smile and a handshake. We immediately went into a fascinating conversation. Sharing what we were both up to and discovered ways that we could help one another in our endeavors.
True to his word, he picked up the lunch tab making up for his error a couple of months ago when he didn’t show up. As I walked out, I smiled. What a great luncheon. We had learned, we had laughed and this classy man knew how to make me feel special. Needless to say, I am looking forward to doing business with him in the future.
LESSON LEARNED: When you make an error admit it and then think of a classy way to make up for it.
Great story Kathy and glad to hear that it worked out for the best. There have been a few occasions lately for me when making arrangements for something to go wrong, and it seems that being sincere in wanting to make it work goes a long way. So yes, I too have paid more than my fair share of coffees and lunches. Cheers.
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