I have a bank account that I only use for a couple of specific things. It was low and I left it that way until the time when I'll need to use it again. A company took money from it as an automatic debit without my permission. This caused the bank to charge me $28. By the time I got the notice, the bank had charged me another $36.
I called the company and had them replace what they took out. I talked to a bank manager about the charges. In this kind of conversation, you have to realize who has the positional power. In this case, it was the banker. Blaming the bank for their practices would not help me. Getting angry or feeling abused wouldn't help either. I took the time to build some rapport. I acknowledged that he had the power.
I asked for my money back. I was polite, direct, firm, and respectful. He went into the computer and returned my money. I thanked him and proceeded to talk to him about my public workshop that is coming up. He was very interested!
I find that honesty and sincerity expressed from strength work much better than blaming, complaining, yelling, or forcefulness. If you can communicate like an adult, most people will at least listen. In summary, if you want something from someone, treat them like a human being and ask for it.
William Frank Diedrich,
http://adult-at-work.com
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