Customer watching install. - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

kevbo · 05-24-2008, 01:04 PM

Hi!

**genecarp** · 05-24-2008, 01:22 PM

that scene always freaks me out, the old guy had nothing to do, you probably made his day.

kevjob · 05-24-2008, 01:28 PM

i put a clause in my contract that while work is going on, the work area needs to be free of H.O. interference i put it a little nicer in the contract

send_it_all · 05-24-2008, 01:48 PM

I worked for a guy like that a few years ago. He was retired and VERY bored apparently. So he would sit and watch me and chat all day long. When I was doing his crown, I was coping the corners, so when I put in my straight cut piece, he said "you forgot to cut the angle on that one". So I say "Oh sh*t...now you tell me?" He was a nice guy, but that wasn't a very fun job.

**genecarp** · 05-24-2008, 01:53 PM

One more note on staring/chating clients. my guys get slower than they normaly are, they are just being polite, they say

mikec · 05-24-2008, 03:14 PM

Chill out. Some day you're gonna be the old guy with the cane.

mdshunk · 05-24-2008, 03:17 PM

Every once in a while you get a job that's a little tougher or a little more aggrivating than you expected. That makes up for all the one's that were gravy. It all averages out.

BattleRidge · 05-24-2008, 03:32 PM

Try being 20 and doin this man, everyone does that to you. People just come outside and watch you like half the day. " Aren't you worried its going to rain while the roof is off?" "I think its going to rain later today" "Did you see the forecast?" "How old are you" "No college eh?" "Is this correct, is that how its supposed to be?"

Still not a claim yet and no unsatisfied customers but yeah some drive me crazy.

Splinter · 05-24-2008, 04:18 PM

I usually say this with a smile on my face:

You know, the price doubles if you want to watch, triples if you want to help...

They usually get the idea...

threaderman · 05-24-2008, 04:45 PM

People watch me work all the time and BS with me.Sometimes they can get in the way and I let them know I need some space ,but most of the time it doesn't bother me .It's not like they watch me to see if they're getting cheated or something,I don't even bother with people like that.

Joining_heads@c · 05-24-2008, 05:10 PM

About 6 or 7 years ago I was on a remodel replacing a deck and rotted pieces of siding. When we were nailing off the siding (cedar), the old guy (about 80, and the father-in-law of my boss) sat there, over looking our shoulders, saying "easy...easy...easy" as we were nailing. It sucked.

OCRS · 05-24-2008, 05:40 PM

I was doing a flooring install, took as step back and my a55 hit the husband in the face. I turn around to see the whole family sitting on the stairs, watching. I said "folks, come on!". They moved up one step.

**AtlanticWBConst** · 05-24-2008, 06:14 PM

The Client and Property Owner agree to avoid "interfering’’ with this contractor’s workers, which can & will cause delays and defects in workmanship. “Interfering with workers“ would be recognized as, but not be limited to; verbal procedure-questioning, overly close-proximity to a worker, prolonged-observation while carrying out their work, or any other action that would cause a worker difficulty in their concentration, work performance, and productivity. All questions/concerns regarding: craftsmanship, workmanship, installation methods, job procedure(s), material usage, scheduling, expenses, contractual issues, etc, should be directed to the designated project manager.

workswithwood · 05-24-2008, 06:26 PM

i have been working on a deck for a customer that has watched me the entire time. since tuesday he's been basicaly sitting there watching every move and asking too many questions. the worst part is, after 3, the whole family comes out and watches me work.
when i was laying the decking, as soon as there was enough decking down to put a chair on, he did, and sat there (literaly right next to me) and watched. I almost knocked him off the deck when i was sliding the decking on, and i told him politely he was in the way, and he moved the chair to the the slider opening( a whopping 3 ft away from where i am working)
the night the decking was done, he moved just about all his furniture onto the deck. and i still had the raillings to do. i got it all off the deck, he got upset.
i show up this morning to find all the furniture back on the deck, including the grille, and he and his family sitting on chairs waiting for me to show up. i guess they have nothing better to do. nothing gets to me more than a customer watching and trying to be the boss, isnt that why they hired me?

BuildingHomes · 05-24-2008, 06:59 PM

I guess it depends on job. I do a lot of T&M where I have to interact with the client by asking them "Okay, now how high above the fireplace do you want your TV?" and then educating them about how stupid it is to put above the fireplace.

With fixed-price rough-in jobs, if the home-buyer comes by to chat about their million dollar home while I am pulling wire, that's fine as it usually results in me selling them more stuff.

I hang garage door openers for a fixed rate and people watch me do it all the time. Which is fine, because I tend to go pretty quick, but when they start talking, I start slowing down and that just pisses me off.

BreyerConstruct · 05-24-2008, 09:20 PM

We've had 2 bad ones... one old guy followed us around, and almost got his head taken off by a joist, he was a few paces behind one of my guys carrying a 2x, who didn't realize he had a shadow.

The other time was another old guy, this one had designed the deck we built, was an electrical engineer for a company that designs nuclear power plants... he smoked & drank diet Mt. Dew, and sweated it all out.
Sat in a chair, made coments, and smoked.
Then would call me at the end of the day to rip me a new one...
Absolutely rude to my crew.
They hated me for that job, and rightfully so!I wish I would have had another option for work at that time to give them.

~Matt

**AtlanticWBConst** · 05-24-2008, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BreyerConstruct

...he smoked & drank diet Mt. Dew, and sweated it all out....

There's got to be more to this.....

BreyerConstruct · 05-25-2008, 07:30 AM

I don't have the pix on this computer, but several lessons were learned.

He was to provide the plans, I provided the materials & labor. I bid it based on how we would have built it... he designed it to sustain a bomb. We burned thru so much material, it was sick. Each area was to be perfect- to the 1/16, which is wicked hard to do with Trex, which varies in size slightly, and PT... which I won't even get into!

I took the job because I wanted a challenge, and I honestly believed my guys could do it. However, I didn't realize this gentleman's true personality, until after we had started, and it was too late to back out. Instead of being at work, he'd take off to be there, and he'd harass my guys while he was there. He'd be following them, or sitting in a lawn chair just out of reach... but he'd be chain smoking, and he smelled horribly. My guys would come back to the shop so pissed that they wouldn't talk- just got in their trucks & drove home!

Have you ever noticed that the PIA customers are the ones that get, and keep your cell number? He'd call me in the evenings when I was in an appt. threating to throw us off the job, sue, etc, because my guys had "totally F-ed up". so I'd drive over there trying to calm him down, and it'd be something like they hadn't added all of the blocking in one area yet, or they added some support he hadn't called for (a small section of this overbuilt monstrosity was floating), or the installed boards looked like wood, etc.

At the end, he was satisfied, it wasn't perfect, but it "would do". He paid, and even paid 1k extra, which was oh, about 1/3 of the change orders he had authorized (we kept a running log, but hadn't submitted costs as we went along- lesson learned!).
Oh, so my brother & I spent 1-2 hours touching up the last few things, working it over till he was happy, then John packed up the tools, and I sat down with the HO. He smoked, sweated, and swore at me for an hour, telling me how worthless we were, and how much better he was. Thankfully, I left without loosing my temper, and with the check. Unfortunately, from his smoke & BO, I had a soar throat for the next few days. I think my crew appreciated that I went to do the final punch list, and took all of the abuse.

If at all possible, we'll never work for an individual like that again!
It's not worth it, my guys are too important to me.

~Matt

JonM · 05-25-2008, 07:43 AM

Kids...

I don't care who watches or even makes a suggestion..you might just learn something.

**genecarp** · 05-25-2008, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BreyerConstruct

I don't have the pix on this computer, but several lessons were learned.

He was to provide the plans, I provided the materials & labor. I bid it based on how we would have built it... he designed it to sustain a bomb. We burned thru so much material, it was sick. Each area was to be perfect- to the 1/16, which is wicked hard to do with Trex, which varies in size slightly, and PT... which I won't even get into!

I took the job because I wanted a challenge, and I honestly believed my guys could do it. However, I didn't realize this gentleman's true personality, until after we had started, and it was too late to back out. Instead of being at work, he'd take off to be there, and he'd harass my guys while he was there. He'd be following them, or sitting in a lawn chair just out of reach... but he'd be chain smoking, and he smelled horribly. My guys would come back to the shop so pissed that they wouldn't talk- just got in their trucks & drove home!

Have you ever noticed that the PIA customers are the ones that get, and keep your cell number? He'd call me in the evenings when I was in an appt. threating to throw us off the job, sue, etc, because my guys had "totally F-ed up". so I'd drive over there trying to calm him down, and it'd be something like they hadn't added all of the blocking in one area yet, or they added some support he hadn't called for (a small section of this overbuilt monstrosity was floating), or the installed boards looked like wood, etc.

At the end, he was satisfied, it wasn't perfect, but it "would do". He paid, and even paid 1k extra, which was oh, about 1/3 of the change orders he had authorized (we kept a running log, but hadn't submitted costs as we went along- lesson learned!).
Oh, so my brother & I spent 1-2 hours touching up the last few things, working it over till he was happy, then John packed up the tools, and I sat down with the HO. He smoked, sweated, and swore at me for an hour, telling me how worthless we were, and how much better he was. Thankfully, I left without loosing my temper, and with the check. Unfortunately, from his smoke & BO, I had a soar throat for the next few days. I think my crew appreciated that I went to do the final punch list, and took all of the abuse.

If at all possible, we'll never work for an individual like that again!
It's not worth it, my guys are too important to me.

~Matt

im sure everyone here can relate to that horror story, my blood was begining to boil just reading it, good job surviving that a-hole. i wonder who his next trade victim will be.