It can be stressful dealing with an individual or business where you have received very bad service or a product and they are not prepared to resolve the problem. They already have your money, and as far as they are concerned the matter is not open for discussion. Go away, we have your money already!
I’ve seen people stress-out and even lose sleep from worrying and agonising over the wrong that has befallen them. The higher the price paid the more stress is felt. This has happened to me many times and it took me a while to develop a method of dealing with it. Firstly I try to avoid such situations by thoroughly researching the individual, business, product, or service before buying, but should it happen to me again I try to look at the problem from another person’s perspective.
Have you ever seen a friend or family member fall into this situation and you are happy to help where possible? Notice how the stress and anxiety that they are experiencing is not experienced by yourself? That is because you have no skin in the game. You have not lost anything. The bad service was not experienced by you and as such you are able to view the situation with a clear mind and approach it carefully and with no distractions.
The trick is to become like an observer to your own situation. To look at the problem and to think, ok this has been an expensive lesson, let’s limit the loss to what it currently is, park it for now, take a moment, and then look at it as a problem that you can attack at your own pace and that might result in a win of some sort. What have you to lose? View it as a game. The worse case scenario is that you are no better off than you are now.
By looking at the problem as if it did not happen to you but, say, a friend, you are looking to see how you might go about resolving it or getting some or all of your money back allowing yourself to have more focus, a clearer head, free from the distractions of stress and anxiety.
I have used this technique to fight fines that were falsely applied, government red tape that led to being over-taxed, fraudulent costs levied against me, outright theft, and purchases made where I did not receive what was paid for.
Worrying can get in the way of having the clear head you need to tackle such problems. Life is a game and we all occasionally land on the wrong square leading to someone taking your money in return for nothing or not what was agreed. Don’t get mad, stressed, or anxious, get focused!