7. Candles around flammable objects, scented things. Safety and health risks, as some people are allergic to or sensitive to scents.

8. Preoccupation with money, holidays, shopping, in-laws, family gatherings. etc. Thi, combined with fatigue, will be of particular concern for employees in dangerous occupations.

9. Christmas carols on computer or singing in office.

10. Increased arguments and tempers because of worries over money, family issues, extra work, less sleep, more partying.

And any of these may apply to you.

That is life - competition can be outright sneaky and can cause havoc in your day. Just smile, send a message to client that you lost to let him know you will still give him or his friends same service he enjoyed prior to deal not working out, if he chooses to work with you again.

4. I gave an answer to a 2 part question and replied that first part cannot be done as stated (it could not be launched on its own - one would have to launch a separate application within program to make it work), and I answered second part (which was an alternate choice that was better). The person replied that I had a "poor" response because I just obviously didn't know "how" to do first part.

Obviously a "know-it-all" with an attitude. I just let that one roll off my back, not even to try to tell him I know "how", but it needs to launch in a different mode rather than directly. In any case, this person was just being a turkey, and some turkeys are not worth one's time to deal with.

5. We fixed a laptop and spent over 7 hours overall on it. It was so screwed up that it ultimately needed to be formatted and reloaded, but owner had no driver disks or anything. We had to search for components and find drivers to load. They needed to be done in a certain sequence, as found out after loading, so we reloaded again. We charged a mere $225 for all work - a low priced fix for what we did (we figured that a good part of time was loading and downloading, so we were able to walk away from it on occasion). This is much less than any other repair shop would have charged for troubleshooting and formatting and repair. The owner blasted my associate for charging "too much" and called him names. Turned out he wanted fix for "free" even though he was quoted and updated at every step.

We just printed bill and wrote procedures involved. We gave client his laptop and gave him 2 weeks to pay. We figured he'd not refer us to anyone (would we want to be referred as repair team who does work for free?), but we didn't care. We also decided not to back down on amount due because customer was belly-aching so badly with no real good reason - and it cost us our time to do repair. We also decided we would not take on any more repairs from him, if that ever came up again. We also are placing new policies prior to taking on jobs.

So, to sum things up - there are difficult people out there, and some of them try to become your customers. There are people simply having a bad day and they are lashing out without cause. The best thing to do is not necessarily apologize and tell them they are right - but mainly to try to appease them in some way. Let them know you are still on their team, if they want, and leave it at that. The next person they try to work with will probably end up making them realize that you and your company weren't so bad after all. They just haven't found out that others don't give same pricing or service or care - yet. Offer person a discount of their next purchase from you. You might still come out ahead (and at least, not come out "behind").

Oh yes - thankfully bulk of our customers are considerate and appreciative. These other types are always exception.