ever get screwed

[Ron Lippold]

So we go to do a est and a little old lady answers the door. I ask if andrea is home and se says no she went to get a massage, I say ok, she says come on in and look at the carpet. I got to the truck and print out the est open areas 331.82. Mom says ok Ill give this to andrea.

Well andrea calls the next morning and says she would like me to come back and go over the est with her, ok....

I get there and she wants all the furniture moved I say ok but it will change the price so i bump it to 671.and change. She says no problem.bookes the job.

We do the work and her mom loves it. she gets there to pay and and starts to back peddel. She finally gives me the check, and within a few hours i have a horrable review on google.

The next morning i return to the house and give her mom the check back. mom does not want to take the check, she says the carpets look great and she says her daughter is a horrable woman and very mean.

well within minutes the bad review is down...


I feel like i got screwed.....

what do you do.


sorry this was soo long

 

[Brian R]

Sounds like it worked out in the end. How did you get screwed bro?

 

[handdi]

i women is crazy
no harm no foul
deposit the check

 

[Ron Lippold]

I gave the customer a check back for 671. I believe this was her intention for the get go.

 

[Brian R]

If the job was done right...which I'm sure it was...I would have deposited the check anyway.

I would have talked to her about the review....some people don't know the power of a bad review and think they are just venting.
The don't realize that it can be devastating to a company and the people who operate it.

You're a better man than I Ron.

 

[Becker]

Would have loved to know what the review cold have said.

I don't understand people balking over price once they receive an estimate then book the job.

I'd not have refunded crap. Unless she had a legit gripe, in witch case you, I or most professionals would return with a smile and make things right.

Online reviewing can be a scary thing, in the wrong hands.

 

[Johnny]

If the review is untrue, can't you sue for libel?

 

[Burtz]

I guess you really stuck it too em then buyers remorse set in and WAM!

what did the review say to scare you out of 600 big ones

 

[FB7777]

so it was $331 to clean open areas and $671 to move the furniture?


$340, just to clean under the furniture?


Damn, I can have the furniture moved across town for $340 :shock:

 

[Burtz]

that's what I was thinking

 

[Art Kelley]

so it was $331 to clean open areas and $671 to move the furniture?


$340, just to clean under the furniture?


Damn, I can have the furniture moved across town for $340 :shock:

I did three jobs today for $340. I would have given him a bad review.

 

[FB7777]

We do the work and her mom loves it. she gets there to pay and and starts to back peddel.

I'm guessing it went something like this...


"hey Ron, why the ACE are you poking me for twice the price to move furniture 12 inches? "


you started the thread with the word "we" I assume you have a helper... how much time does it add to your job to move furniture?


It sounds to me like you earned the original bid hands down... not being privy to her side of the events and perception of the events, I can only assume reasonably that the issue is with the doubling of a price to clean areas that are under furniture and fairly clean to begin with.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Again I just assumed that most people shopped for carpet based on color first, and then they look for the cheapest carpet they can find in that color.

 

[lance]

Do work, customer happy, RUN to bank and cash check.

Ron, if the mom says it's great then thank her and ask her why there is a bad review. You deserve to get paid what was agreed upon.

If you have 100 great custys and one bad one then keep the money and go find 99 more great customers.

Can't you reply to a bad review? Go tell them there was a mistake made on your part and get YOUr money back.

 

[TimP]

Sounds like buyers remorse.


She knew the price before hand and approved the work. She has no right to complain unless the carpet didn't become clean.

And yet another time that someone can't be satisified.......100% possible my ass.


Anyways it's bound to happen if you're on the upper echelon of pricing. Luckily Ron has made plenty on others to where he "can" give a check back and it not hurt his bottom line too bad.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

I missed that part.

Ron gave the check back. For what reason?

The bad part is if she complained to the BBB and they closed the matter as resolved, you would still have a compaint on your record for three F'in years.

I can understand if you feel you overcharged her, but you did give her the price up front.

You need to get your money or take your signed work order to a lawyer and sue her ass.

 

[Ron Lippold]

Lets just say it was a real bad review, this lady had just turned. and there was a ton of furniture they had live in the house 45-50 years, I have no bad reviews and i did not this one up there, I figure giving back the money is way easier than trying to explain a bad customer. And about sticking her for moving the furniture it was her choice. Just like it was mine for giving her money back. My fault for not running in the first place.

 

[FB7777]

you're right Ron, you have the right to charge whatever you want... especially if you consider it to be a tremendous PITA


Was it agreed that she would remove the bad review if she got a refund?

I could see you discounting the job, if it was an issue of price after the fact ( I know that one sit well with some but sometimes difficult people require unique handling )


You definately got screwed... its too bad you couldn't have eased the extent of it

 

[GeneMiller]

In 17 years I have never changed a price once given even when I should have. The first price always sticks in their head.

When I price over the phone I always go high just to cover myself.

gene

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Ron what did the review say?

If she signed a work order, you need to get paid and threaten to sue her if she leaves a negative review.

 

[curt johnson]

I would do one of three things.....

1. Get mom and daughter in same room at same time and talk it out.

2. Give that check back and take the original amount of $300 and whatever.

3. Tell her to #&@k off, take the check and cash it, and dispute the bad review.

Upon further review, I'd of done #3.

 

[Jim Martin]

Best you can do is let it go and just move on...the review was removed and your reputation is still un-marked...and in the long run that is more important then the $670 bucks....

its a crappy deal and $670 bucks sounds like a lot but with your operation I am sure that it is not going to make or break you either way....

learn from it ..change what you can so it don't happen again and forget it.......you have more important thing to worry about.....

 

[joe harper]

Ron...

I posted a reply earlier today...."I don't see it on this thread.." Go figure... :roll:


I think you did the RIGHT thing... :!:

Ron & I run a very similar type of business model....! We also give .."In Home Estimates."
We have run into similar situations..."CRAZY HOMEOWNERS".. :shock:
It is now "our" POLICY...that the person responsible for paying for the job...
MUST be on the job site to SIGN-OFF..on the invoice...on completion.. :!: :!: :!: :!: :!:

Ron....Your "guT inStinCt"..was correct..!!! The second estimate was the "RED FLAG"..!gotcha!

A Wise decision to give the money back.... 8) Chalk-it up..as a cheap lesson or reminder
that you should ALWAYS...Trust your instinct's...... !gotcha!


Ps...FRED...in square foot pricing... :!: It is NOT uncommon for an estimate to DOUBLE..:idea:
Ron didn't nessessarly ...charge double for moving the furniture.... !gotcha! He also had to add the additional square footage of area to be cleaned.... :| the furniture DOES sit on the floor.... :mrgreen:

 

[John Watson]

Hey there Ronnie,

I think you just stood by your work and gauarantee. Something simalar happened to me years ago and I started to beat myself up about it, after busting my self in the nose, getting blood alover my shirt I went back out into the Butte bar and bought a few table dances for some friends, (My Helen in those days said I could look but die if I tried to touch) A few pitchers of beer later. We started a new day.

Over the next few years I had more referals from this client than any other for many years. Never worked for her again, but I had 25-30 new clients whom all stated that she raved about our work and standing behind it. Those 25-30 also started a trickle down of new clients also..

Take it as you may, I applaude you for giving the check back..
John

 

[Burtz]

right never back down no mater what sounds like he got caught gouging the customer at least he should have kept the 300 bucks, something scared him was there some truth in the google review? so she black mailed you into a freebie?

 

[daniel@procarpet]

I had a crazy homeowner do something similar. Her husband said he wanted protector after she said she did not. Ok I have been down this road. I always ask if there is anything I can do before putting away my tools. She called me later pissed off over 50 extra dollars. I told her your husband agreed to purchase the protector knowing you did not want it. Man that pissed her off. She would not stop biching at me. Finally I told her look in my house the man wears the pants and if the man of the house tells me to provide a service, I am not going to upset the man. That really did it. I got a BBB complaint.

A few days later I called to talk to the husband and he started calling me a trouble maker. I said "I guess you really are pussy whiped." I was pissed myseff.

A week before that I wrapped 200' of hose up and had a cusotmer ask me if I could add a closet. I wanted to say yes that will be a 100 extra for re-setting up everything, but I bowed down and told myself that would never happen again. That is why I always ask is there anything else I can do before wrapping everything up.

 

[joe harper]

I had a crazy homeowner do something similar. Her husband said he wanted protector after she said she did not. Ok I have been down this road. I always ask if there is anything I can do before putting away my tools. She called me later pissed off over 50 extra dollars. I told her your husband agreed to purchase the protector knowing you did not want it. Man that pissed her off. She would not stop biching at me. Finally I told her look in my house the man wears the pants and if the man of the house tells me to provide a service, I am not going to upset the man. That really did it. I got a BBB complaint.

A few days later I called to talk to the husband and he started calling me a trouble maker. I said "I guess you really are pussy whiped." I was pissed myseff.

A week before that I wrapped 200' of hose up and had a cusotmer ask me if I could add a closet. I wanted to say yes that will be a 100 extra for re-setting up everything, but I bowed down and told myself that would never happen again. That is why I always ask is there anything else I can do before wrapping everything up.

Danny..."Take your MED'S...son"....

 

[Jimbo]

Hey Ron...You forgot to tell her about your "Satisfaction Guaranteed or Double Your Dirt Back" Policy!

 

[jcooper]

Getting a bad review on google is next to impossible to remove, you'll end up having to close the listing and start a new one & be at the bottom.

We got a bad review once a few years ago for someone we didn't even do work for. Lady sent us an email, we responded by email - went to her junk file and she blamed us! wtf?

Told Google about it everyday for a month, nothing - no reply, no help. Had to close the listing(we were number one at the time!).


Really sucked...

 

[Jim Nelson]

Name change is in order from YOUR THE BOSS to I'M THE BOSS.