Cost client 90K

[WorthlessWorker]

My job is giving advice to clients. A client recently approached us and asked what to do with product X. There were 3 options - I advised option 2.

Working on another similar case with a different client I reran the options. Option 2 will have cost the original client 90K more than option 1 would have done.

I feel awful for the client and if I’m honest for myself. I don’t know why I missed it the first time. I have just reported my monumental fuck up to my boss. What happens now? To the client and to me?

Does your company have some kind of insurance to compensate the client?

Yes of course. The client will be financially compensated.

Were you specifically tasked with identifying and recommending the cheapest option, or were you asked to find the best fit?

Sometimes you don't want the cheapest option. If you fulfilled what you were asked to do then that's fine. If you actually made a mistake and were told to find the cheapest then your professional indemnity insurance will cover it if it's a big enough problem that the client is pissed off about it.

Yes - we were asked to find the most cost effective option. I misread some calculations basically. It just feels a monumental mistake and one I will probably lose my job for. Just in a bit of a panic.

But cheapest isn't always the same as most cost effective (see the Sam Vimes "Boots" theory of economics). Are there any advantages to the option you recommended as compared to the cheapest option?

How much of the total was £90k? As in, did it say add an extra, say, 30% on to the total or would it have been an extra 5%. Also yes, did Option 2 have any advantages that would contribute to being more cost effective, whilst not actually cheaper.

Surely there are checking systems in place to avoid this type of monumental error. If not something wrong with the company's procedures.

I don’t really understand, firstly how this could happen, but more importantly why you need to ask mumsnet what happens next, like anyone here would know, and not your company.

Let's hazard a guess that because it's anonymous, that she needs to get it off her chest and see whether anyone has been through similar and is able to empathise?

The analysis was checked twice by 2 different people, both missed the same error that I did. The option we went for is the option that’s likely to be correct 99% of the time so I think it’s partly just seeing what you expect to see if that makes sense

Is the client ever likely to work out the error?

If they have bought product b, why would they theb recheck the costs of a?

So it depends. Is the cost of what they had very different to what was predicted (they would then be aware of the error)

Or was cosy of a just much cheaper -they'd not know that?

Basically your boss /company may just let it go and deal with it via insurance if it ever comes back from the client. It's not clear if the client will ever be aware though.

I am assuming no huge moral decisions here and it's just the client could have got something cheaper but was financially okay and prepared to pay the higher price they were informed of.

If 3 people ran the analysis and came to the same conclusion, and it is the right option for the customer 99% of the time, why are you now so sure (based on a different customer, who could be the 1% outlier) that it was the ‘wrong’ option.

In any case, it was a recommendation based on data models. I’d assume the client got to the info about the options as well as an assessment. They then use the advice to make their decision. You aren’t making it for them.

Honestly, i would quietly learn from this and despite your natural reaction being to confess. I wouldn't be in a rush to do so.
In fact much like Americans at the scene of a car accident I wouldn't admit anything.

i have a same same different job and this stuff happens all the time in different ways.

We go back we retrofit a story / rationale for internal stakeholders outside our team and clients.
Afterwards we debrief to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Stay calm you won't lose your job or damage your reputation if you manage it correctly

I cannot imagine that your boss is going to do anything other than say that these things happen and 3 people looked at it and made the same recommendation.

There may be various different factors in your current client. But even so, you can just learn from it and factor it into your future work.

Why would YOU lose your job if two other people didn't spot the error?

Your company should have policies to deal with this.

If two other people checked it and reached the same conclusion, I don't think it would be fair for you to lose your job for this. It's also in your favour that you've flagged it up with your manager as soon as you realised.

If the client will be financially compensated, there will be no loss to them, so probably no big deal as far as they're concerned... though they might not trust your advice as readily in the future.

For me, the real question would be about what system issues need to be changed that would prevent 3 people from making such a costly mistake in the future. There is clearly something wrong with the process if 3 of you looked at it and didn't spot the error.