Too Generous ?

A letter to the Ethics Guy shows us how to be ethical in business.Dear Ethics Guy:I run a bed-and-breakfast and am fairly new to the hospitality industry. Recently a guest checked in for three days and left early on the last morning. He wrote to me when he got home and said that he was quite upset that we did not have breakfast available for him on his departure day. Apparently one of my employees told him that he could dine anytime between 6 a.m. and 12 noon, so he assumed that he could grab a meal before his early flight out. However, we do not begin serving until 7 a.m., so it was not possible to meet my guest’s needs on his last day with us. I decided to make an unfortunate situation better by refunding him a full night’s fee. My husband thinks that I should have simply given him back the cost of the breakfast. He says that being too generous is just as bad as not being generous enough. What do you think?A: Your husband is correct that it is possible to give too much of oneself, but I don’t think your response fits this category. Although the ethical principle of fairness did require you to right the wrong, your going above and beyond the call of duty is praiseworthy. It also happens to be a wise business decision, because your largess will prompt your disgruntled customer not only to have a change of heart but to give your establishment positive word of mouth. There are many creative ways to get clients to speak well of your goods and services, but the surest way is to provide excellent customer service, which means, first and foremost, treating customers fairly. Although the reason to do the right thing in business is simply because it is the right thing to do, taking the high road also happens to be the profitable thing in the long run. This is yet another example of why taking ethics seriously benefits everyone, including us.