A Real Estate Issue?

I got a call the other day from a past client who owns a real estate firm. It was so nice to hear from him since we often don’t talk. We worked for him almost three years ago, maybe more.

At first, he was very nice and told me that he was enjoying the summer since it wasn’t his busy time. Then, he turned.

“You know Hilary, you really hurt me,” he said.

“WHAT? HOW?” I said.

“I met with you a year ago and talked with you about relocating and then I recently found out that you went with another broker.”

“That’s not true,” I said. “I actually used a broker and really thought he was wonderful but we ended up going direct to a landlord.”

“If that’s the case then you got a bad deal,” he told me.  “We could have gotten you such a sweet deal and you blew it.  Not only that, but you hurt me in the process.”

I felt terrible.  “I never meant to hurt you,” I said as if I was breaking up with a boyfriend. “I knew the landlord and I felt he gave me a good deal. And anyway, my husband is a real estate lawyer and he carefully reviewed the contract. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

He didn’t accept my apology.  We parted ways and he said he wished me the best and then he hung up.

I started to think about the other real estate guy who took us to a number of different buildings.  I actually felt bad for him because I didn’t use his services.  But you know what, he wrote to me and wished me luck on the move and told me there were no hard feelings.  As a matter of fact, he even said that he may hire us for a project he is working on.

Isn’t it amazing how different people handle similar situations?