Ask anyone who knows me well and they will tell you three things I absolutely can not stand are... Liars... Thieves... and Most of all I can't stand Hypocrites.  (especially ones who claim to be "Christians" and by definition are not.)

Recently I had the displeasure of speaking with someone from Mickey's Roofing here in Douglasville.  The owner himself Mickey "I'm a Christian" Roofer.

You see, we recently printed a set of auto magnets for this gentleman and after a few weeks he lost one driving down the road, or someone swiped it off his vehicle or whatever the case may be... he lost a magnet, which by the way is the number one drawback to auto magnets.

Over the weekend someone from his shop calls and leaves us a message that "they lost a magnet".  Not that they need to order a new one or anything. just that they lost a magnet. Well, days later Mr. Mickey "I'm a Christian" comes into our shop and wants another magnet.  We explain to him that to replace the magnet its going to be $25 and then he looses it.  He's telling my staff that he was only driving around Douglasville and had never been on the interstate, so he shouldn't have to pay for a replacement.  We're a bunch of jerks and he'll take his business somewhere else and storms out.

I catch wind of this and try to call him to find out his side of the story and see what I can do to kiss it and make it better.  Well that's when it gets interesting.

When I tell him who I am and why I'm calling, he goes off into a Rant of his own.  This guy won't be quiet long enough for me to say anything edgewise.  Its all about how he only drives around Douglasville and how he's a Christian and doesn't deserve to be treated that way.  I tried to explain to him that nobody has done him dirty and that Our Magnet Guarantee covers The Workmanship of the Magnets, not loss or theft, but he doesn't hear anything over his own words.  

And Then to top it off, he pronounces that "He's heard bad things about us and didn't want to use us but his wife did anyway."  At that statement, I get a little pissed but I'm keeping my cool, which is a bit unusual for me.  I ask him what have you heard about us? whom said what?  I want to know, 'cause I sure will call them too and find out what their beef was with us.  I tell everybody "  If you have some kind of beef with me or my crew a product or service, please bring it to my attention.  If its something that can be fixed, I'll fix it."  however, such as this case, this guy, being the Big "Christian" he is, wouldn't have it.

Then he hangs up on me.  So in true Steve Fashion I called him right back and tried asking him if he was ready to talk.  Again he goes off into his rant again how I must be the biggest idiot in the world and it doesn't matter he's not using us anyway I should just quit calling and hangs up on me again.  At this point I see that there's nothing I can do to make it right, so I figure I might as well make it worse.  I called him all afternoon, every free moment I had. in the end I left him a message and said that if he came in an apologized to me, I'd give him a free magnet.  We'll see what kind of "Christian" he really is.

Oh! that said, He Mickey, the lady whom you almost hit with my door during your little crybaby temper tantrum, had nothing nice to say about your company.  Don't think for a moment you haven't ticked off a few people...

Needless to say Mickey could have gotten a free magnet, but instead he acted like a complete ass even when I was trying to qualm his rant.  He's totally unjustified in anything derogatory he may ever say about me or my company and I will defend our actions vigorously by any means necessary.  Whatever it takes.  Nothing ticks me off more than being slammed for something that's not my fault.  Yes I could have given him a replacement magnet right off the bat, but why?  I know If a strong wind blows shingles off a roof he laid, he charges to repair it?  That's his job he gets paid to fix a roof.  My job is to make magnets.  He can't control the wind, no more than I can.  Anyway, Hindsight is a fickle mistress...  I could have done more and saved a client, but after the fact, the truth is... I really don't want to work for people like this.

In closing I am going to say this...    I've been operating this business a long, long time.  Over 15 years.  I've met all kinds of people.  Some are Way Cool.  Some are Big Jerks.  I know what eX-clients I've deliberately ticked off, it's the one's I don't know about that concern me.  If you ever hear that we did someone dirty or we are a bunch of jerks, whatever the case may be, just know this...  There is always THREE sides to every story. 

Their Side... Our Side... and What Really Happened. 

If you hear someone doggin' us here at Crazy Native, I assure you that there was a very good reason that person was treated the way they were and if you would like to know the whole story, please call us and allow us the opportunity to defend ourselves.  We would be glad to explain to you our side of the story and then you can be the judge."

If anyone has any comments on this article, good or bad, drop me a note I'd like to hear your thoughts.