The road to hell is paved with good intentions (с)
This would be a long read
Well am I pissed off or what? And those who know me would be really surprised to see me in this state as I am known to never lose my temper. But this guy - he literary left me screaming of rage all the way home... But since I am a calm and reasonable man, I persuaded myself that instead of crushing everything around me I`d rather dissect his execution so I won`t repeat his mistakes in my own journey. And I think I really have a clue on why it all happened - it is him being way too much self-absorbed with his image in the clients` eyes to the point where he really can`t hear the client.
So let`s start from the task and the timeline - it is important. I have a very old iPhone with quite a weak battery. Some months ago it suddenly stopped charging through the cable. As I was low on everything by the time, fixing smartphones was quite low in my list of priorities and instead I started taking everywhere with me my table-top wireless charger. It is pretty inconvenient to run around with such a plate fixed by hand to my phone while running errands but what is a man without hurdles to overcome?
Recently my business brought me some free cash and I decided to cover some long delayed tasks including this. Not exactly decided. I was REMINDED and CONVINCED by Facebook ad which advertised iPhone repair studio. I can list my criteria why I have chosen this guy instead of something more local and established:
1. It was actually the first phone repair ad I noticed during my 4.5 years in the new country (I moved to Israel from Russia in 2019 and never used repair here before). So it spared me time researching the market.
2. The guy was definitely a new immigrant and there is a strong urge to help your teammates in immigration
3. The guy was making content showing his repair process. I thought that he is not afraid of someone stealing it (although repairing an iPhone is not something special) so I thought of him as a professional
So I contacted him and we arranged a repair. It took him two weeks to obtain the charging port (pretty normal for Israel) and we decided to meet today "around 12:00" (all the times are Jerusalem time-zone). I specifically asked him how much time will it take to repair the thing as I had a very important Zoom call at 16:00. He assured me that it would be an hour and a half. I did not mention the deadline I had because I was pretty sure I would make it home in time.
I arrived at 12:15 due to traffic and one not very accurate client who I was supposed to meet for contract sighing at 10:00, but he never made it, not even by 11. Knowing I have an appointment I rescheduled with the client for the next week and rushed to that guy. The guy met me, all smiling and professional, and asked a question I would expect from a pro: "Don`t you also want to change the battery? Yours must be very old". I asked about the time and price, he stated that it will be no time at all since he will unplug it anyway and it is no difference what to put back - an old or a new one. Price was good, we shook hands, I handed him the phone, gave him the number of my friend and stated that I will return in 2 hours as I needed to do some shopping.
We returned around 14:20 and here starts the trouble. The guy did not answer the phone. Not once, nor twice. We calculated that to comfortably get to my zoom call I need to depart by 15:00, so I postpone street-running and rage-calling up until 14:45. When this time comes I start to rage-call him and eventually he picks up. He states that the battery he was triing to install was flawed and did not work. And those 2.5 hours he was not fixing my phone but triing to revive the battery for me. He also started to drown me in the technical details of how he tried to do it that were comfortable for me but would ruin the psyche of some less technically adept client.
So the phone laid gutted on his desk at the time I had to leave and almost 3 hours after "1.5 hour repair" started. I asked him how much time it would take to change the port, he stated "an hour". I note the time - 14:55. Bad, but not terrible as we say in Chernobyl - with my phone I can join the zoom from the car. This time I specifically, several times, state my important 16:00 deadline and we agree on him working fast.
I reach out to him at 15:55. No response. I start rage-calling him at once. 16:00 - no response. 16:05 - dead silence. 16:10 - nope. Only at 16:15 he picks up and states that the phone is ready. I shout smth like "will be down in a minute" (we met at his house and since it was raining I set in a car 100 meters from it). I ran there without my friend`s phone in hopes to catch at least 30 minutes of my 45 minute call and I spend the next 20 minutes waiting under the rain for him to come down. And this guy finally does come down informing me that he eventually switched my battery and won`t be charging for it to cover the inconvenience.
Before drawing conclusions, a bit of economics:
1. I saved 100 shekels on the battery
2. I lost 100 shekels by moving the contract with the client (thic client will be charged 100 shekels a week) - totally my decision
3. I did not attend 1-on-1 ZOOM session I payed 125 shekels for. And I now procrastinate writting this post because I will need to apologise for that.
Why did this happen? Because the guy was not LISTENING to me (and because I was a moron in several ways too). But why didn`t he listen? From our talks and his emotions in 3 our meetings I can draw only one conclusion - this guy was so terrified of failure that when one occured he constructed in his head the very-very best thing he could give me for my inconvenience - his knowledge and time. Despite me stating that I DEAD-NEEDED the phone BEFORE 16:00 he literary spent additional time installing the battery, because in his head this was THE BEST way to satisfy me. My values did not get to his ears, although stated clearly.
Flaw noted. Lesson learned. Anger passified.
"New" battery turned to be broken by the way, so I will have my next round with that guy now.
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