A public service announcement
I'm not supposed to say out loud, but here we go!
She never should have sent that email. The one where she confessed to a pattern of behavior that would make any reasonable woman scream into a pillow.
I’ve been sitting on her email for nearly two weeks. When I’m quite frustrated with people I need to pause or else I will say things that will make us both regret the exchange.
And it’s not only about her, is it? It’s never just about one person. It’s about the repetition you witness peripherally in the people around you. The notes you take that make you concerned for our collective future and ease you into the double down on your I’ll-be-dead-when-I’m-65-and-I’m-OK-with-that quip no one thinks you’re that serious about…
And I get it. The world we live in is not what we were promised. There’s no reason to trust people in business. Look at how they have positioned themselves into the 1% and what that’s done to the rest of us. We are being taken advantage of by a system that doesn’t serve us. All you need to do is look this nonsense that reveals the wealth of Jeff Bezos to see it’s all broken.
Things I’ve noticed that worry me about the collective us:
As people feel more pressed for cash, they operate from a scarcity mindset. They project their fear and anxiety. They don’t know how to manage those feelings, and the release comes in treating strangers—the people who they perceive deserve it—poorly when they don’t get their way.
People will say things via email or in a DM that they would never say to someone’s face. They forget there is a real human being on the other side whose existence and humanity extend far outside a pinky-nail profile pic. The issue is exacerbated when they can communicate anonymously.
There is a significant disconnect between people’s values and actions. If you claim to support women-owned small businesses you will not try to get every penny out of us. You will understand we don’t have the same resources as large companies and therefore cannot operate like them, nor do we want to.
Hi,
Thanks for a further explanation of what damage is.. woo hoot! I have never purchased from a ski company that simply neglects the customer. Whether it's a ding or scratch I've had every single ski replaced from different ski companies. Good to know. That I will not be purchasing anything from Coalition. Shame. But thank you for your time :)
Keep on rocking :)
That’s your gotcha? You get a fucking scratch on your skis and you believe they need to be replaced, free of charge?
Okay Ms-Carbon-Footprint-I-can-only-mop-my-house-with-a-Swiffer-I-can’t-believe-they’re-not-open-24-hours-where’s-my-straw I see you… Now I understand why you believe the skis you damaged by putting a core shot* in the base is our responsibility.
This is more than disrespectful to the human being whose job it is to respond to this nonsense. It’s environmentally irresponsible—this mentality contributes to perfectly good products being sent to the landfill. And there is a cost to your free skis. Businesses have to make up for these losses somehow; they do that through low wages, poor working conditions, and raising the cost of their products.
I don’t blame a girl for trying to get a new pair of skis. It never hurts to ask. But you need to accept our answer, even if it’s not what you want to hear.
We are fair and reasonable, and we operate with integrity and honesty. Because of that, we expect you to engage with us respectfully. We are real people who take great pride in our work.
Your snarky threats don’t intimidate us. We don’t want your money because the strings attached are unreasonable and irresponsible. We know our worth and we’re willing to lose you as a customer if you don’t recognize it too.
Tell me, what’s next?
When you wash that wool sweater in warm and accidentally dry it will you try to return it?
How about when you wear your shoes outside? Will the dirt on them scream manufacturer’s defect?
What happens when you back your car into a pole? Will you demand a new bumper?
When you drop your phone and never put a screen protector on it and it cracks so much you can barely read that next snarky message you’ll send, what will you do?
I feel bad for the people who will sell you black jeans.
There’s a younger version of myself who would have analyzed every single word in every email exchange to understand what went wrong. I would have lost sleep over it. I would have felt horrible. I would have tried to do more.
What I’ve learned over a decade of doing business is why I don’t believe the customer is always right and how I’m going to handle those very uncomfortable moments. We have a very generous return and warranty policy, and when your issue falls outside of that, I don’t feel bad about saying no. The implications of saying yes go against everything I believe in and everything I’ve built.
I’ve dedicated my life to breaking the mold of what it means to be in business. Part of that is allowing myself to exist in my humanity. That requires boundaries—boundaries around the way we speak to each other, unreasonable expectations, entitlement, and extractive behavior rooted in toxic capitalism.
It also requires radical honesty. People want to know what goes on behind the scenes of a small business. Unfortunately, this noise is becoming more and more frequent, which is why I’m not interested in tip-toeing around it.
Our team is too good, our business too impactful, and our time is too valuable to be on the receiving end of this disconnect. For all of the other small business owners reading this, I’m sure you feel the same way. We deserve more respect and compassion. We deserve to be treated fairly. And we will always reciprocate that to our community and our customers.
Our dedication to you is what drives us to continuously push the boundaries of what business can and should be. But you need to be with us, not against us.
Small business owners, humans who work in customer service, and anyone with clients: I want to hear from you! How have you dealt with unreasonable requests and what would you like for people to understand? Share what you’ve learned and experienced in the comments.
* For those of you who do not ski or snowboard, a “core shot” is damage to the base of the ski that extends to the core, rather than a cosmetic scratch in the base material. It is the result of skiing over rocks or tree branches or some other very hard surface you’re not meant to. It’s 100% a user error, and most people simply repair it because… you can.