Like Bert, there's nothing like making a lifetime enemy. Our sales force had been promised a new updated unit for several years and the damn thing was really hush-hush. The old unit was a beauty....very reliable, although a bit pricey. The customers loved it, our sales people loved it, all of us in Regional and Divisional management loved it.........so of course it had to be replaced. The new "hush-hush" model was the brainchild of a corporate VP and when it finally came out, it was junk. The Veep brought it out to a yearly sales meeting for its intro. I'd seen the puppy and talked to a few engineers and knew how bad it was and what the faults were.

VP goes through his hoopla and a few astute guys start asking questions that he doesn't want to answer. After a bit of this, I decided it was time to expose this thing for what it was. I asked to come up and take a closer look. I then started asking more and more detailed questions finally suggesting that the unit was cheap and looked it.....it wouldn't hold up in the field. Inside knowledge told me that one of the switch mountings was easily broken, so I said, "Hell John, the first time a guy punches this button, it'll go right through the face plate!" I punched it....not really too hard either.....and it went right through!!!

VP is furious and totally loses it screaming (literally), "Well Pat, you're not the one who has to buy it!!!!" Quite calmly I replied, "No John, I am the FIRST one who has to buy it....and all of these guys as well." Big applause. The next 6 months were very tough when I had to deal with him, but on the other hand......that's all the longer he lasted!!!

Spaw