Originally posted by eskimo2
What do they do? Argue? Change their minds? Don't pay?
Name it.
You could offer to do a $10,000 job for $1.00 and they will still try and talk you down to .50
Then when you do start work they think they own you and will try to get you to do all sorts of extra dodads for free.
They change their minds about what they want mid stream when the work is halfway done. Then dont expect to have to pay for it to be redone.
They wont move anything. I always tell people I'll move your furniture but Im not touching your pictures, fragile's or valuables.
They seem to have no concept. or plain and simply just do not care that the things they do or decisions they make might negatively effect other people.
In the last year. I've had three cancel the jobs outright.
One two days before I was to start work
Two I was literally on the peoples doorstep the day I was to start the job.
One simply said they decided not to get the work done.
The other said they decided that the husband was going to do the work himself.
"Well when the hell were you planning on telling me?"
Several others have postponed at the last minute.
Then on other occasions I have had several try to renegotiate the price of the contract halfway through. or worse yet. When the job was done.
No complaints about the work mind you. everything looked "great"
They just wanted a "better deal"
And they wont take no for an answer easily either
Or they do this.
"I have other work for you but I want a better price"
"You give me good price on this job and I will have a lot more work for you if you give good price on that too."
Fell for that one exactly once
What they do is say they want a kitchen painted. but are thinking about having the rest of the house done too. You give the estimate on the kitchen. they tell you about price/rest of house. so you give an estimate on the rest of the house. They have you paint the kitchen at the reduced price. but never have the rest of the work done.
Here's another one.
Guy wanted a price on repairing some trim on the exterior of his house. Power washing the entire house and then prep and paint the rest of the trim.
Decent sized house. I told him "$1,400 Plus the cost of material."
His response. "No I think $750 including material is a fair price"
I came down to $1200 + Mat
Nope. still $750 including he wanted as a "Fair price"
At that point I just told him we were wasting each others time.
He told me to think about it and if I could come down to his price then I could do the job.
I said "No. if I have to think about it anymore. the price is going up, not down."
I could tell countless stories just like this as well as other things.
Now as soon as I hear the accent on the phone. or the name I tell them flat out "Are you looking for a good job? or a cheap job?"
One estimate I was on I gave a fair price on painting all custom colors a two story family room with wall damage with 20 foot ceilings. the price I gave was $900 which is pretty much the going rate around here. My prices are usually mid range average.
He wanted it done a lot cheaper. So I said. You want a good job? or a cheap job?" his response
"I want a very good job cheap."
when asked what he thought "cheap" was. he said $400
I told him "Now your offending me" and walked out the door.
Another on a job I did he wanted and it was clearly written on the contract his garage painted "Paint sheet rock in garage two coats flat paint off white"
Once done he said he also wanted the foundation and floor epoxy coated as well.
but he thought that should be included in the original price.
"no. that wasn't what we agreed on see?"
"Oh you do me this favor and I have a lot more work for you"
heh I dont think so.
I could go on and on. but I think you get the point
Now when I give estimates I take into account some people want to barter.
some people you can almost sense it and thats cool. I just mark my price up a tad taking that into account. If they dont. usually I'll throw some little thing in for free like changing out a light fixture for them at no charge so they feel like they got something extra.
On the other hand sometimes I see an elderly couple who really needs the work done but you can just tell they are on a fixed income and cant afford my regular prices I will also mark my prices down as much as I can to try to accommodate them (like a senior discount)
I always try to do right by people to make them feel and know they are getting their moneys worth. As a result. most of my customers become repeat customers.
And most of my business is from word of mouth
so I must be doing something right
for the longest time I have treated Indians in the exact same way I have treated everyone else.
I just cant do it anymore. They just arent worth the aggravation they typically bring
Now (in the last 3 months) with Indians I mark my prices up by 25% and my price with them is now my take it or leave it price.
If they turn out to be ok. Which isn't the norm I'll tell them I misfigured the quote. If not. Its made worth my while.
I dont like it. Its not what I would prefer to do.
But I just cant treat them like everyone else anymore. They dont ACT like everyone else.
I havent had any refuse to pay me...yet. but when it comes to my money I dont play games either
I've done hundreds of jobs for people of all nationalities and races.
All have had both good customers and bad or just aggravating.
But they tend to provide more aggravation then all those other groups combined.
Like I said. I know a lot contractors who flat out wont do work for them for the very same reasons and aggravation factors.
