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nick182
Ok guys this is my first job as an electrician and i have almost completed a job on 2 premises that my client owns.
the first job is at a spa. He required 11 downlights to be fixed. I spent £112.50 on the materials New transformers and lamp holders and a dimmer switch. charged him at wholesale price.
Now the shop opens at 10am ive had to work from 8am til 10am in order to get things done. Most of the time ive spent has been waiting for him to show up to let me in. Almost on a daily basis and ive had to work around Him, his business, his clients and his workers.
Anyway the total bill came in at £370 including Vat on materials
£257.5 Just in labour. He had me waiting for a while many times at one point i went in and got nothing done. So i charged him for the hour wasted. at £25 inc only one call out fee of £45 to both premises.
Second job required Pat testing, emergency lighting and a report of all fire extinguishers. He also wanted me do his fire alarms which i sub-contracted out to another guy. He claims he had an inspector coming in so he needed it done urgently. So i focused all my energy getting it done by a certain date. I have done that.
I supplied them with a log book which they didnt have and needed.
I have also had to work around him and his clients and his business. I have had travel back and forth to my supplier back to him and back to to the other business. I have spent atleast 1 hour and 20mins travel time running around for him, All work that i have done i have charged him for including the time it has takin me to fill out forms, Travel around, Wait around, Replace fuses and materials to replace two 8w emergency bulkheads at retail price aswell as 1 emergency exit bulkhead with the hanging blade, also charged at retail price.
I have been fair with him and have told him every step of the way.... even when he doesnt answer his fone and does not ring me back. But he tends to answer by text msg almost 99.9% of the time.
I text him asking that i will call him at 730pm in regards to the emergency lighting and to give him a run down on whats going on. he replied ok I called. No answer, left voicemail.. this happends a lot. :angry_smile: So i thought.. u can ring me from now on.
Anyways including materials and labor the second job came in at £654.06
this included the time spent waiting for someone to let me in. we agreed at an 8am start.. id have to wait for an hour.. calling and calling and calling...:angry_smile: I finally get into do the work i finish the pat testing in the back area and the office all the while the restaurant starts to gets busy so i leave it for the next day and carry on doing the emergency lighting. Done dusted Sorted. But i cant turn the power off until i can get authorisation from the manager. No sign of her.
Anyways.. long story short i said to him tonight i cant complete the work because i need to pay my supplier and have the cash up front for the alarm guy. *cough cough* heres my invoice.
both premises came up to a total of £1024.60
I have tried to cut it down as much as possible without slitting my own throat. I think the total sum is fair and reasonable. I am not greedy in the slightest but this guy is so hard to deal with you have no idea.. one day he says this... next day he says that. I have caught him out lying to me 3 times and because my gf works their he thought he could get it cheap.. He thought the total bill would come up to £100.. :59:
i like to do my job as quickly and effeciently as possible without wasting anytime but he has wasted most of my time and now he got the bill he doesnt want to know.. He asked if i could come down in price and i said No.
To me it all adds up to be fair.. im not making any money on materials except a few pounds on emergency lighting.. Yay... big deal :/
£25 per hour including the time to fill out forms, mileage, calling him and calling people to do maintenance on the alarm system, and time spent on the premises.
he wont pay unless i come down in price... his price of £100 :angry_smile:
what do i do now? I have been fair every step of the way but he hasnt.
He wants ME to contact him in the morning and give him a cheaper price so all im going to do is send him the invoice in the mail saying i will not and that he has 7 days to pay otherwise further action will be taken. In all honesty i would not want this guy as a client. One day its a risk assesment then its not.. the next day can i call him a plumber?? what do i look like a yellow pages? ffs! I sincerely apologise for such a long and tiring write up but i feel helpless now.
helpless.
Im in business to stay in business.. arnt we all?
How do u guys cope with bad clients and what actions should i take now? Am i in the wrong??? i need all honest opinions good and bad.
thanks for reading...
Nick
the first job is at a spa. He required 11 downlights to be fixed. I spent £112.50 on the materials New transformers and lamp holders and a dimmer switch. charged him at wholesale price.
Now the shop opens at 10am ive had to work from 8am til 10am in order to get things done. Most of the time ive spent has been waiting for him to show up to let me in. Almost on a daily basis and ive had to work around Him, his business, his clients and his workers.
Anyway the total bill came in at £370 including Vat on materials
£257.5 Just in labour. He had me waiting for a while many times at one point i went in and got nothing done. So i charged him for the hour wasted. at £25 inc only one call out fee of £45 to both premises.
Second job required Pat testing, emergency lighting and a report of all fire extinguishers. He also wanted me do his fire alarms which i sub-contracted out to another guy. He claims he had an inspector coming in so he needed it done urgently. So i focused all my energy getting it done by a certain date. I have done that.
I supplied them with a log book which they didnt have and needed.
I have also had to work around him and his clients and his business. I have had travel back and forth to my supplier back to him and back to to the other business. I have spent atleast 1 hour and 20mins travel time running around for him, All work that i have done i have charged him for including the time it has takin me to fill out forms, Travel around, Wait around, Replace fuses and materials to replace two 8w emergency bulkheads at retail price aswell as 1 emergency exit bulkhead with the hanging blade, also charged at retail price.
I have been fair with him and have told him every step of the way.... even when he doesnt answer his fone and does not ring me back. But he tends to answer by text msg almost 99.9% of the time.
I text him asking that i will call him at 730pm in regards to the emergency lighting and to give him a run down on whats going on. he replied ok I called. No answer, left voicemail.. this happends a lot. :angry_smile: So i thought.. u can ring me from now on.
Anyways including materials and labor the second job came in at £654.06
this included the time spent waiting for someone to let me in. we agreed at an 8am start.. id have to wait for an hour.. calling and calling and calling...:angry_smile: I finally get into do the work i finish the pat testing in the back area and the office all the while the restaurant starts to gets busy so i leave it for the next day and carry on doing the emergency lighting. Done dusted Sorted. But i cant turn the power off until i can get authorisation from the manager. No sign of her.
Anyways.. long story short i said to him tonight i cant complete the work because i need to pay my supplier and have the cash up front for the alarm guy. *cough cough* heres my invoice.
both premises came up to a total of £1024.60
I have tried to cut it down as much as possible without slitting my own throat. I think the total sum is fair and reasonable. I am not greedy in the slightest but this guy is so hard to deal with you have no idea.. one day he says this... next day he says that. I have caught him out lying to me 3 times and because my gf works their he thought he could get it cheap.. He thought the total bill would come up to £100.. :59:
i like to do my job as quickly and effeciently as possible without wasting anytime but he has wasted most of my time and now he got the bill he doesnt want to know.. He asked if i could come down in price and i said No.
To me it all adds up to be fair.. im not making any money on materials except a few pounds on emergency lighting.. Yay... big deal :/
£25 per hour including the time to fill out forms, mileage, calling him and calling people to do maintenance on the alarm system, and time spent on the premises.
he wont pay unless i come down in price... his price of £100 :angry_smile:
what do i do now? I have been fair every step of the way but he hasnt.
He wants ME to contact him in the morning and give him a cheaper price so all im going to do is send him the invoice in the mail saying i will not and that he has 7 days to pay otherwise further action will be taken. In all honesty i would not want this guy as a client. One day its a risk assesment then its not.. the next day can i call him a plumber?? what do i look like a yellow pages? ffs! I sincerely apologise for such a long and tiring write up but i feel helpless now.
helpless.
Im in business to stay in business.. arnt we all?
How do u guys cope with bad clients and what actions should i take now? Am i in the wrong??? i need all honest opinions good and bad.
thanks for reading...
Nick
