Just walked out in the middle of a job, didn't say bye and blocked his #

[Barry-QDCC]

The minute he said he had someone else that could do it cheaper, THAT's when you should have asked then "why aren't you using them?" NEVER discount $100 off a supposed $300 job. ESPECIALLY when you are doing it because someone else "supposedly" will do it cheaper.

Edit: I read this post originally this morning and made my comment immediately above. It's now almost 8:00pm and as I worked today I thought about this subject and mulled over my comment. The fact is I've done stupid stuff handling customer problems so I realized I kinda came off as a jerk to you. This is one of those situations that you learn and try to do better next time. It takes everyone to go thru those weird, nasty, jack-ass like customer situations to learn the right way to act. Sometimes you get it right the first time, mostly it takes a couple of tries to come up with the proper, professional way to handle things. in some situations, even after 20 yrs like myself, you still say or do something ill-advised.

It is my personal business protocol to ask people "why are you calling me if you have someone who has told you they will do it cheaper?" That might not be the most professional way to handle that but it pisses me off and I guess I'm busy enough to not care if it pisses the person asking it off. Usually I'm able to explain why I don't discount off my already quoted price. Sometimes, and I do mean only sometimes, I might throw in a $10 discount to seem like I'm flexible. Most of the time I do book the job even though I refuse to discount at all.

 

[bob vawter]

one more suggestion..if i may.....
learn the f'k how to clean grout....

that job looks like sh*t!

 

[Blue Monarch]

Ouch!

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

[curt johnson]

LOL......at Bob. That hurts!!!!!

 

[Blue Monarch]

I'm not posting any pics for Bob to see! Cruel

 

[bob vawter]

ya...lik i was the only one thinkin' it.........

 

[Moser Brothers]

one more suggestion..if i may.....
learn the f'k how to clean grout....

that job looks like sh*t!

Ya it does, I cleaned with Viper Venom powder with citrus that I mixed up the day before, but it was mixed stonger, and Viper Renew acid. The grout was 25 years old, I didn't know what else to do but colorseal it

 

[ryankettering]

I've never walked out on a job.. Though I have (many times) either raised prices quite a bit or dropped customers. If you take a job do it, but if you have a bad feeling before taking a job then don't do it. I had a trouble guy the other day, worked out fine... That's the problem is sometimes customers can look bad when they really aren't. It's tough. I had a tech accused of stealing a wallet earlier today. Or coarse he didn't, so he got a $40 tip because they felt so bad. I do the best I can and know if I have the right intentions everything should work out. I was prepared to do that job for free if the wallet didn't turn up. Price of doing business IMO. People respect hardwork and honesty. The ones who don't have to be cut loose as nicely as possible.

 

[Barry-QDCC]

I was prepared to do that job for free if the wallet didn't turn up. Price of doing business IMO. People respect hardwork and honesty. The ones who don't have to be cut loose as nicely as possible.

Crappy place to be in as an employer. I had a customer call me to say some jewelery was missing but he had a vvideo camera taping the area and he'd check the tape and let me know. I have no idea why he didn't check the tape FIRST before calling me. I was freaking out and getting things in line to fire the tech. He called back in an hour and said, "opps - it was my son who took it, so sorry!" It pissed me off that the guy did that to me AND the tech. So the tech survived to clean another day.

In another one the homeowner walked in to find the tech had opened the cabinet door and was looking in. When asked he admitted it and I fired him on the spot.

I've personally been in those situations where a cabinet door swings open or something similar and the thought goes thru my mind that if the homeowner walked in the room right now it wouldn't look good. thank heaven nothing like that has happened.

 

[ryankettering]

Crappy place to be in as an employer. I had a customer call me to say some jewelery was missing but he had a vvideo camera taping the area and he'd check the tape and let me know. I have no idea why he didn't check the tape FIRST before calling me. I was freaking out and getting things in line to fire the tech. He called back in an hour and said, "opps - it was my son who took it, so sorry!" It pissed me off that the guy did that to me AND the tech. So the tech survived to clean another day.

In another one the homeowner walked in to find the tech had opened the cabinet door and was looking in. When asked he admitted it and I fired him on the spot.

I've personally been in those situations where a cabinet door swings open or something similar and the thought goes thru my mind that if the homeowner walked in the room right now it wouldn't look good. thank heaven nothing like that has happened.

Yea it sucks. I figured the wallet probably didn't have more in it than the job was worth so it would show there was no way in my mind that we took it if I offered to do the job free. I had a client in the past suggest that we had stolen a WWII gun, a family heirloom. I had no evidence but was honest, firm on my position, and very clear. Not sure what happened with that one, but she said she appreciated me taking the time to talk and that they suspected a family member. I think most people have a BS meter, and that's what I said before-- that if we have the right intentions and are honest and work hard things should usually go our way. If not, I guess that's why we have insurance and hopefully it never comes to lawyers. The fact is every customer we have could accuse of of these things, that's why we have to be careful of who we deal with. Trust goes both ways. I knew my tech didn't steal that wallet, but I was a little worried I was going to be doing a $400 ticket for free. Well, he got a nice tip out of it anyway, not sure why the customer didn't come to me, they went directly to the tech with the accusation. It was awkward.

 

[Ron K]

You yourself set this up. I think we all have given a cheap price over the phone or even in person and it seems to make our already hard job worse. I'm almost certain if you would have gotten full price without any discount you would have been happier or you would never have worked for a cheap ass bastard so you would have been happier too.

 

[Brian H]

I was prepared to do that job for free if the wallet didn't turn up.

Wouldn't that have been an implied admission of guilt?

I can't tell you how many times I have taken a call from a customer accusing our crew of stealing something. My stock answer is that I have full trust in my crew otherwise I would not have sent them to anyone's home. I encourage them to contact their insurance company and/or the police to let them do a professional investigation.

Even with the customer screaming that they KNOW our crew stole the item, there is nothing we can do. The reason is that it ALWAYS turns up somewhere, somehow or there is an alternate explanation (like someone else took it). Sometimes they call back to admit they found it and sometimes they are too embarrassed to call back after having ripped my head off!!!

 

[ryankettering]

Wouldn't that have been an implied admission of guilt?

I can't tell you how many times I have taken a call from a customer accusing our crew of stealing something. My stock answer is that I have full trust in my crew otherwise I would not have sent them to anyone's home. I encourage them to contact their insurance company and/or the police to let them do a professional investigation.

Even with the customer screaming that they KNOW our crew stole the item, there is nothing we can do. The reason is that it ALWAYS turns up somewhere, somehow or there is an alternate explanation (like someone else took it). Sometimes they call back to admit they found it and sometimes they are too embarrassed to call back after having ripped my head off!!!

I was personally on the job. I think it's different if the person accused is out on their own. My actions would have depended on how things played out. I don't view it as an admission of guilt, but that's just me. I would have given the option to not pay until the wallet was found. I knew the wallet would be found so I figured I would get paid either way.

 

[Scott S.]

I tell my helpers to always act as if they were on dateline. So no fishy biz no opening doors no touching anything unless it needs moved. Bedrooms are always a "ask the customer bofore moving ". That way if something falls behind dresser the customer is there watching or helping.

 

[Zee]

I tell my helpers to always act as if they were on dateline. So no fishy biz no opening doors no touching anything unless it needs moved. Bedrooms are always a "ask the customer bofore moving ". That way if something falls behind dresser the customer is there watching or helping.

And that will stop as soon as your customer is taking part of YOUR cleaning process and trips over your hoses or steps on the pressure line that maybe wet and does a banana peel split, with a now torn hamstring or whatever type of muscle you hurt while doing that....etc etc.... Just because they wanted to help you do your work they are paying for.... Bad idea to have customers help with anything while you are in the home..!