I own a successful business, but I made a mistake.....

[MILF]

I thought it might be kinda fun to start a thread on mistakes that we might have made as business owners or just in our job...... Just trying to show that noone is perfect and we all make mistakes sometimes.... We are human!.....Okay, I'll start :biggthumpup:

About (3) weeks ago, I took a order for a corporate lunch over the phone. I logged the lunch under the person's name but with the WRONG company. When my delivery person arrived at Company X, she called the contact person on the phone to let her know that she was in the lobby.....

After about 5-10 minutes went by and noone showed - my delivery person called her back. She said that she was in the lobby but couldn't find my delivery person......

That is when the realization hit home..... She was at the wrong company (30) miles from where she should have been...... I was mortified! I was lucky that I have been a "near-perfect" caterer for this company for over 4 years and everything worked out fine but I have never made that big of a mistake in all 19 years of business.....:banghead:

My staff now jokes that if you aren't careful - I just might send you to the lobby at Company X......:bigeyes:

Don't worry - I know the "Southern Fried Freeride" Dinner is at Bald Ridge Campground at Lake Lanier......right? Naah just kidding - I know that it's down the street at the Corp of Engineers office.....LOL :biggrin:

So..... anyone else???? :cheer:

[willycrumb]

I lad the cylinders past the rings and ready to slide onto a 701 and I realized it was backards. Minor compared to yours. Im sure I will think of many more.

[63chevyll]

i answered the phone and said
"SO, ARE YOU CALLING TO GET YOUR ASS KICKED"

i thought it was someone else, not a customer, .....But it was

[madoyster]

NO Worries, you must still be riding high after winning at the "Taste of Marietta".

[Moondance]

So Kath, did you at least get a new customer out of the logisitics malfunction:cheer:

[sclevela]

we try to keep the mistakes to a minimum as well (workin with crappers makes for a long enough day without adding mistakes lol)......... but they happen..... another large aspect of our business is heat....... we clean and service alot fo boilers every year and my father (he started and ran the company for 25 year) had a history of telling customers "dont worry leave the basement door unlocked and we will send u the bill" ... there are at least 3 people (that i can remember) that have gotten rather annoyed to stumble upon or mechanics in their basement......... when we were supposed to be in the house next door or across the street...... mechanic read a number worng or office staff transposed it........ yeah thats fun....... especially when u get a call 4 months later from the person whose boiler u worked on by mistake.... its 3 degrees out and 11pm....... and they have no heat and "ever since u guys touched my boiler this has been a problem and u should come out right now and fix this for free " :rolleyes:

another time that was actually my mistake was with a well pump....... trouble shot the pump...... it needed to be replaced (or so i thought..... it was a very busy day and i skipped a step to check and make sure the wire down to the pump was good that i always do because i figured "eh thats never bad")..... long story short........ put a new pump down to find out i screwed up and the wire insulation had a chaffed spot in it........ thank god it was a very good customer that i was able to convince to leave the pump in and pay me my cost on parts if i ate 1/2 the labor (even if we had known from the get go the wire was bad we would have spent all the same labor time except about an hour) ......... that one was alot of fun too ....... especially when my guys all found out from the second mechanic on the job that it was 100 percent my fault.......... i still hear about that one every time i ask my guys to change the wire on a pump joob lol


guess the point to all of it is........ buisness owners or not we are still human and we all make mistakes...... its how you react to these mistakes/screwups that seperate the good buisnessmen/buisnesswomen form the bad

[MILF]

So Kath, did you at least get a new customer out of the logisitics malfunction:cheer:

No luck - I actually sent them to an already existing client...... Only great part about that is noone is ever in their lobby and they never knew about the screw-up......:biggthumpup:

[MILF]

i answered the phone and said
"SO, ARE YOU CALLING TO GET YOUR ASS KICKED"

i thought it was someone else, not a customer, .....But it was

:haha: That is too funny and reminds me of when Marie (office manager) did something similiar.....

It was a friday and it had been a tough week, so we decided to go out to Mexican for lunch..... Well you can't have mexican without a margarita right???

Well when we get back to the office, we had received a lunch order for the next week via fax but they wanted it confirmed. So Marie calls up the client and is having to leave a message to confirm the lunch..... She repeats the order, okay you want Assorted Sandwiches, Pasta Salad, Broccoli Salad, and "ASSORTED DISEASES" (instead of desserts)....... We were laughing so hard is all she could do is hang up...... My client and I still crack up on that one...... All in a day's work!:cheer:

[PAIR-A-DICE]

its how you react to these mistakes/screwups that seperate the good buisnessmen/buisnesswomen form the bad

:biggthumpup:

Best part of a response that I've seen, yet.

I'll add some later---getting ready to go riding.

[MILF]

Buisness owners or not we are still human and we all make mistakes...... Its how you react to these mistakes/screwups that seperate the good buisnessmen/buisnesswomen from the bad



:biggthumpup:

Best part of a response that I've seen, yet.

I concur!!! And the main purpose behind starting this thread..... Very nice Scott....... :arms:

[guiness92]

I dont screw up.












lol I wish.

Like said above, If you handle a screw up in a professional manner, then everyone is happy.

[aqua]

one time i had my cyl off my cases and the pistons were just sitting on the ends of the rods. i was putting new bars on and accidentally hit the start button....oops.

i work for the state as IT and forgot to plug a commisioners keyboard back into his computer after working on it....he was not happy and raised a really big stink about it. my boss was in 2 meetings the next day over it.

i use to work for fedex and took care of their computer and network system in one of their call centers. i went to replace a board in the router...suppose to be hot swappable...and it shut down the entire network in the building for 15 minutes. i had to answer for that one too. what covered my rear was that it was a redundant part and suppose to be hot swappable.

one time i drove for 3 hours to work on a computer part and realized that i didnt have the part that i needed in my van.....had to drive back to pick up part and drive to customer again to replace and then drive back home...was a late day and i didnt get all my work finished in that area so boss was not happy.

i have made my fair share of mistakes. :Banane01: :banghead:

[OCD Solutions]

Last year I had a big fight with the g/f so I went out into my shop to clear my head and finish putting the new engine back in my ski. I was just wrapping it up when she came out to apologize for being "difficult". After we made up I was pretty eager to hit the lake and try to get the boat running so I got everything loaded and headed out.

15 minutes on the water and I seized my new rebuild! Turns out she had me so distracted that I forgot to tighten the spigot mounts on my carbs and leaned it out!!!!!!!! I had to leave it down for most of the summer before I could afford to rebuild it again.
Ultimately I know it's my fault but it sure grinds me everytime she wants me to get rid of that ski because "why keep a ski if it doesn't run".

[IKSTEJ]

Man ........ I've had my business for 15 years now, and I Lost Count of the mistakes I've made.....ooohhhh ........ 14 years ago. :banghead:

Most common mistake I've made.....showing up :dunce:

Great thread

[WFO Speedracer]

I used to work on Polaris's and Tigersharks,big mistake I have since remedied those mistakes.

[Jr.]

We all make mistakes... Heck we are human , for gods sake!!

Most memorable one I can think of, had a couple of customers with very similar last names. Well, you guessed it! I mixed them up. :cool2:

Work order for one was preformed on the others motor!!! Yikes!:banghead:

In the end, Both customers went away happy with upgraded motors, at the lower, orginally agreed upon price! Sometimes the learning curve can be costly, even to the experienced shop owner.

I learned a long time ago, that you learn something new everyday, If for some chance you dont? It wasn't a good day!

Here is to a better experience tomorrow!!! :biggrin:

[nikad58]

I tiled the wrong house in a housing tract..
The builder i was working for built the house (i was to tile) on the wrong lot !! hahaha really..
Lots and lots of talking and everyone was happy !

[yamaslut]

I design double-walled fuel tanks for large application generators (ie. hospitals, weigh stations, water treatment plants) Anyway, the tanks are basicly one tank inside of another tank w/ a bunch of bungs, baffles, ect... I made a huge screw up one day.. I designed the inner fuel tank 1 inch taller that it was suppose to be and it wouldn't fit in the secondary basin... LOL, yeah it sucked, cause the guys on the floor never caught my mistake and made it like that... It was 8,000 gallon too. It couldn't have been a 500 gallon (small tank)
:bigeyes: :bigeyes: :bigeyes:

[SJBrit]

We all make mistakes... Heck we are human , for gods sake!!

Most memorable one I can think of, had a couple of customers with very similar last names. Well, you guessed it! I mixed them up. :cool2:

Work order for one was preformed on the others motor!!! Yikes!:banghead:

In the end, Both customers went away happy with upgraded motors, at the lower, orginally agreed upon price! Sometimes the learning curve can be costly, even to the experienced shop owner.

I learned a long time ago, that you learn something new everyday, If for some chance you dont? It wasn't a good day!

Here is to a better experience tomorrow!!! :biggrin:

Ha ha! Funny. Any Jones or Jenkins out there need any work done? Anyone? I'll do a deal with you (don't tell Paul) :sneaky:

Adrian (Jennings).

[waterfreak]

yeah!...we all make mistakes...once I posted on this thread and......:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :crutches:

Nevermind!:biggrin:
:haha:

[Big Kahuna]

yeah!...we all make mistakes...once I posted on this thread and......:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :crutches:

Nevermind!:biggrin:
:haha:


I did not have the heart to tell you that you sent me some upside down footholds............ It is ok, I just turned them over and all is fine!!!!!!!!!

[mosquini]

I did not have the heart to tell you that you sent me some upside down footholds............ It is ok, I just turned them over and all is fine!!!!!!!!!

Now that there is funny.

[surfjetlouie]

I was working on my sj motor putting it back together and I was at the same time waiting for the go head on one of my customer job to finish. I was putting silicone on the starter to seal it then push it in place, that is when I got the call to get his stuff done right away and he is in is way to pick it up so I push my motor to the side and work on his. it was a Friday afternoon so I closed the shop when done and forgot about my motor and starter. a week later I got back to it drop it into the sj get it all together and go ride at our usual spot and I was along there about 2 miles from ramp (Markham park north side canal) after playing and enjoying the ride I did a tail stand and ride more. then pulled to the beach area to have a drink. a will after I try to start the ski to go back ride and NOTHING, pop the hood open looking around to find my stater under my B pipe. Flashback I'm all pissed out and I have to walk back to the ramp to get the other ski from my trailer.

[Idok]

lol..nice job louie

[hangtime]

Telling your wife you can be a standup jet skier for cheap money and having her find the folder with all your receipts :sneaky: