Every once in a while, a customer becomes upset when they hear bad news.
I have been in the same position and I know it is a blow to receive bad news.
A couple of weeks ago, my boss sent me to a residential AC repair job. I went to the same address several months previously to repair another problem with the AC unit. The machine was 9 years old and I recommended replacing the air compressor at that time. The customer did not have the money to replace the air conditioner, so we did our best to make the repair. I went to the same address to find the same problem. This time, a repair could not be made and I told the customer that the air compressor needed to be replaced. The lady was very angry and upset and she immediately accused me of breaking the machine. I tried to politely explain the problems with the AC unit, but she wasn’t really listening to anything I had to say. After 10 minutes of arguing with the customer about the price for the air compressor, she finally paid the bill for the estimate and suggested that she would call multiple places to find a better price. Yesterday afternoon, the same lady called again and she wanted a quote for a new air compressor installation. I knew she would come back. We have the best prices and equally great service. We even meet any other price and then cut it by ten percent. It would be silly for the lady not to use our services.