Paul Downs: The Customer is Not Always Right

Paul Downs: The Customer is Not Always Right

We’re continuing our series with guest writer, Paul Downs, author of the forthcoming book Boss Life: Surviving My Own Small Business


In my last post I told the story of a very picky customer, whom I provided with some reason for complaint. Today’s story is one-sided: my client damaged their own table, and I ended up fixing it (on my dime) even though I was not at fault. The things you do for karma! This is a two-part tale. The first installment tells you what happened, the second is my comment on reader’s reactions, with some additional thoughts on the role of karma in business. In both posts, the reader’s comments are very interesting.

The Customer is Always (Convinced That He’s) Right

Resolving Problems Like a Boss

Paul Downs

Paul Downs started making custom furniture in 1986, shortly after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in engineering. Downs has only one line on his résumé but he has a wide variety of skills gained in twenty-four years of running his business. His clients range from individuals and small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, all branches of the military, and foreign governments. Downs lives with his wife and three sons outside of Philadelphia.