]Says Leo Hamel: “I believe the customer is always right, except when they’re wrong, and when they’re wrong I will fire them.”

I had a customer who bought several fine watches from me — among them a Patek Philippe — but he could be miserable at times. On one deal he got bad enough that I was done with him. The next time he came in I handed him a check and said, “Jamison (not his real name), here is a check for $100.” (A lot of money to me back then).

“What’s this for?”

“You have been unreasonable lately and I am finished. That’s the first hundred dollars you are spending at your next jeweler because you are not shopping here anymore. You are not allowed in my store anymore. Bye, bye!”

He looked kind of stunned, took the check and left. We didn’t see him for some months but then one day he called in on a Saturday and asked, “Is Leo in?” The person who answered the phone recognized his voice and turned to me covering the phone. “It’s Jamison, and he wants to know if you are in.”

Curiosity and dread were killing me.

“Tell him I am gone for the day.”

I waited in my office, one hand holding the blinds open just a crack. Maybe he had snapped and was gunning for me?

He dashed in to be helped by Lisa, and she played like it was totally OK that he was there. Like nothing was wrong at all. He quickly spent about $45,000, which was a fortune for us back then! After everything was wrapped up and paid for he leaned close to Lisa, smiled and whispered, “Hah! I just screwed Leo!”