UNHAPPY Customer

gdalton4

I took a job by the hour with some help from my son.I am a contractor ,but took this job to fill up some inbetween time.The customer buys all the material and i supply the labor.Well in talking to this guy I realize that he has a beef with every contractor and material supplier in this and the surrounding counties.Well it came time for me to start another job I had already spent 5 more days on his project than I had time for. But anyway this guy is beyond picky,so he calls and is unhappy with some trim work we had done.(he provided door stop trim for wall trim, his choice.) I just don't have the time or frankly the energy to deal with the stress of this guy. ANY ADVICE.

Patrick

Decide whether your going to be a full time contractor, or a part time contractor that does handyman work on the side.

__________________
Originally Posted by Celtic
Like I said...I'm sure you are very good at what you do ~ whatever that is and where ever it happens.

Snow Man

T&M jobs , usually everyone wins and nobody gets hurt. Im assuming you were paid at the end of each day

__________________
DECOSnowRemoval&IceControl
Serving Delaware County & Philadelphia Pa
610 457-9721

joasis

Go back and fix it, while he is there, so he is satisfied. Next time, you will not be in this predicament.

__________________

genecarp

fix what he is unhappy with, dont let him know you are done with him, after he is satisfied with the repair work, head for the hills.

__________________

dkillianjr

Yup, what he said. thats what I would do and have done with one customer in the past.


Dave

wackman

Almost always easier to bend over backwards to turn an unhappy customer into a happy one than deal with all the different repercussions of a pissed off one.

Take note of all the different warning signs you may have gotten and remember them for next time, consider it tuition for the school of hard knocks.

got anything in writing?

Wack

__________________
"I only bother remembering things that I can't easily look up." Albert Einstein

DavidC

Sounds like the guy that inspired me to get a real contract. I submitted for final payment and he countered with a 4 item punch list. I returned and addressed all items, resubmitted. He came up with a 12 item punch list. I took care of that list also and he came out with a 26 item list, which included things like his lost flashlight.

My lawyer hashed out the details to quit the guy without any liability or warranty in exchange for the a$$hole to keep a large part of the last pay.

Have a contract, use a contract, specify what is and isn't, enforce the contract when needed. I haven't had a problem since.

Good Luck
Dave

__________________
www.CookContractingLLC.com

silvertree

Yep, been there, including the ever expanding punch list. Good contracts help a lot with these types, but there is no cure for a##holeism.
Finish as much as you can and say bye bye.

__________________
Vote for Pedro
Kitchen, bath, St Paul remodeling
Minneapolis Remodel Blog
203K Loan Consultant Minnesota

SelfContract

Fix & Gone... before... another bad rumor starts!

dlcj

dblpost

dlcj

That guy must have lived in Al. 10 years ago and we built a house for him Sounds almost identicle. He had a problem with everybody that worked on the job. Wanted us to check with him before we subed anything out so he could do a background on the sub.
At the end we also left with money owed to us. We did not go as far a to get lawyers involved but just told him the shove the last payment up his (it was only $700 but the principle) and just left.
It did not hurt our rep. at all concidering that nearly every buiness of any kind in town had problems with this guy.
A few months later his wife called about some minor problem. It was obvious that he told her to call cuz she did not have a problem. Dad told her we would do anything for her but sense her husband was such a a-hole and did not pay in full he voided any warrenty. SHE AGREED and we never heard from them again.

donb1959

I never do T&M it creates a controversial role between the HO and me. In the customers eyes your either moving to fast...making a mess, or your moving to slow.....milking the clock.

__________________
I fish therefore I am
http://www.shimmerz.biz

Brock

Maybe I no read good enough. Or maybe I'm just stupid.

Is it just me? Shouldn't the O/P be happy with this customer. I know if it was me I would gladly go back 100 times. The customer is paying per hour right? Perhaps it is a long drive and he is not charging a fuel surcharge. That's all I can think would be the problem, otherwise be happy to rack his bill up for him.

Snow Man

Very true Don , very true . But not ALL ho's

__________________
DECOSnowRemoval&IceControl
Serving Delaware County & Philadelphia Pa
610 457-9721

woodtradesman

I'm with the school of going back to fix what ever he is wining about to get him off your nuts and tell him you're uber busy when he calls back.

gdalton4

This guy had sears to install windows for him , he never had a beef with the installation but with the window themselves .So he contacted pella and sears came out and replaced the windows ,He was still unhappy so they replaced them a third time .Pelle told him that they would refund his money and he could buy windows somewhere else.He is still not happy with the windows that were installed,but the guy has a stack of windows in his basement that pella told him to keep because they couldn't use them because they were replacement windows.
I wouldn't have a problem going back to fix his complaints,but the guy was there the whole time,saw everything I was doing and seemed happy with everything.This is a life lesson NO MORE by the hour jobs for me.CONTACT,CONTRACT,CONTRACT.

TimNJ

That's what I figure too. Tell the guy you can redo everything as long as he is paying by the hour. Hell, tell him you'll set up a satellite shop at his house.

woodtradesman

Did you know that about the windows before you went in? If you did you shouldn't have gone anywhere near this guys house

Ed the Roofer

I use as many "In Job Progress For Customer Satisfaction" Forms as needed with some customers. With real hard cases like this, it would either be every 1/2 day or every full day that he agrees with what was done. No comment means accepted.

Put it in writing and write down that the customer had the opportunity to point out any concerns or complaints up to that stage of progress.

Ed

__________________
Please Stay Tuned For A Very Important Message From Our Sponsor
http://www.rightwayroofingcompany.com/ www.rightwayroofingcompany.com
Roof Estimates, Roof Repairs, Roofers, Roof Leak Help, Elgin, Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, Algonquin, South Elgin, Huntley, Lake In The Hills, Illinois