In my recently purchased house, the bathroom faucet started leaking. I picked up the phone and called my home warranty company (American Home Shield). Within 4 hours, a technician came to my home to fix the problem. The technician changed the valve in the faucet, but instead of fixing the problem, the water started flowing even faster. Not knowing what to do, the young guy opened the shower and stopped the water by putting an end cap on the pipe. The water stopped leaking in the bath tub, but due to water pressure it started leaking inside the walls. The simple water drip turned into an emergency. We had to shut off the water supply.
I was irritated by the water problem, upset at the technician, and worried about my home. I again called the company to ask for a better, more knowledgeable, technician. I was ready to give them a piece of my mind; after all I deserved better service. Dale Carnegie's lessons still fresh in my mind; I managed to curb my impulse to vent the anger the at company representative. Instead, when a lady at American Home Shield answered the phone, I gave her my basic information. I consciously made effort to thank her for promptly responding to my request for repair. By now I had her complete attention, I told her about the young, inexperienced technician who was unable to handle the problem. The representative put me on hold, tacked down the expert technician, and scheduled the earliest appointment to fix the problem. Without me asking for anything, the service fee was waived.
Simply by following Dale Carnegie's lesson to begin with praise and honest appreciation, I was able to get the best technician to work on my home and it didn’t cost me a penny either.
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