Story · Partnership · How we work
We got a quote wrong by ten thousand dollars. Here is what we did about it.
Server pricing moved sharply and we did not catch it in time. A quote we had given went up by roughly ten thousand dollars in three weeks. That was our mistake, not the client's, and it happened on an account where trust had been very hard to earn.
The situation
This client had been abused by their previous vendors, to the point where the account manager who inherited them describes the first year as ice cold. They had been oversold, overbilled, and left with equipment nobody would explain. They had every reason to treat the next invoice as a trick.
So a ten thousand dollar increase on a quote they had already accepted was not just an awkward conversation. It was the exact shape of the thing that had been done to them before.
And then it happened a second time, on a second quote, as the market kept moving.
What we did
We told them. Immediately, plainly, and without dressing it up as a market condition that made it nobody's fault. We had given a number, the number was wrong, and the mistake was ours.
On the first one we absorbed it and took care of the client. On the second, we went to the vendor rather than to the client, argued that the supplier should carry a movement of that size within that window, and a credit came back. Then we took care of the client on that one too.
There was no cover-up, because a cover-up is what turns a small problem into a permanent one. A ten thousand dollar error is a bad month. A ten thousand dollar error that a client discovers you hid is the end of the relationship.
"A very small cover-up can turn into something far bigger than it ever was at the start. The cover-up becomes the point of contention, not the mistake."
Zachary Biel, Account ManagerWhat changed
ResolvedThe server was signed off last autumn without much pushing at all, from a client who three years earlier would not have signed anything without a fight. The trust we spent on owning the error is the same trust that got the project approved.
We also changed how we quote hardware in a moving market, which is the part of an after-action that matters more than the apology. When something goes wrong, we work out what happened, how it happened, and what stops it happening again.
Order the internet circuit the week the lease is signed. Carriers take six to twelve weeks. Nothing else on a move fails as often.
The relocation checklist Did you knowA backup that has never been restored is a hope, not a plan. Ask for the date of the last tested restore.
What to actually testQuestions people ask about this
Do you always tell a client when you have made a mistake?
Yes, and quickly. It is easier to explain an error than to explain why you did not mention one.
What is an after-action?
A short internal review after something goes wrong: what happened, how it happened, and what changes so it does not repeat. It is where a process gets better, and it is why the same mistake does not come around twice.
Who carries the cost when a quote is wrong?
We look at who is actually responsible. Sometimes that is us and we absorb it. Sometimes it is the supplier and we go and argue with them, which is a conversation you should not have to have.
"Everyone I've worked with at Midwest IT has been fast and efficient in helping me, all while being pleasant as well."
Client, 2021 to 2025 surveyMore from the survey wall- A technician who knows your setup takes every request. Not a dispatcher, not a queue.
- Every closed ticket is surveyed and a partner reads every response.
- 99.5% of surveys come back positive.
- Family-owned since 2005. 21 years in the same corner of Wisconsin, not going anywhere.
"Thanks for the hard work. I was kept informed with regular updates until the concern was resolved."
Jeff, insurance brokerageBeen burned by an IT company before?
Tell us what happened. It changes how we would work with you, and we would rather know.
Talk to a partnerTalk to a partner, not a sales script.
Tell us what is going on. A partner will call you back the same business day, look at what you have, and tell you honestly whether we are the right fit. No pricing pressure, no pitch deck.