Do customers annoy you?

[Thomas123]

I know I shouldn't be like this but don't some of them just wind you up? The ones who moan and groan at the price but pay hundreds some pot for the garden.

The ones who want a light by here and a switch over by here, but have just wallpapered the room so you have to magic the cables in.

The ones who call you up do run some power up the garden, but have it landscaped before they ring you, yes no problem I'll get my spade and I'll dig a tunnel under it so that I don't damage you tulips.

The ones that tell you your a rip off when you quote 150 for a board change including board, new bonding for gas and water. as they are a family friend, not even realising that your not even making a penny off it and going them a massive favour.

The ones who bodge the work themselves and ask if you can sign it off for them, and get all offended when you say uh no??


The ones who argue with you and say why cant you come off that switch for a new socket.. And are adamant they are right.

The ones who expect to pay you £30 for a days work on a Sunday ( this has happened to me lol) then brag that their husband is in work today earning triple time,

Is it just me?

 

[Strima]

No it's not just you. Had some family work thrown in my direction thinking they're doing ma a favour. Very tempted to tell them to ram it.

"Do you have to make so much noise when hammering my wall to pieces?"...

"It's been fine since I installed it thirty years ago only using a rusty pair of pliers and some masking tape..."

"No I didn't try to install those odd looking downlighters that cost a fortune from the big orange shed, the lights just went off..."

"I can't find the cat and there's some scratching noises coming from under the floorboards..." :lol:

 

[trev]

I take no money from family for labour, materials only BUT I do the job when I have time to slot it in and not before. They're usually ok with that. Another point I always make is to tell the client exactly what I'm going to do and how much, if any, mess there'll be. Once again, I find they're usually ok as long as they know what to expect. That said, domestic work is a very small percentage of what I do these days.
Maybe I've got it easy

 

[Thomas123]

The call outs to council estates - how some of them think they are hard done by, moaning about their back ache and osteoporosis, yet run down the stairs to answer the phone. And have a 50 inch tv on the wall. Which they probably lifted up and fitted it. The ones that have problems after they have an rcd fitted, and insist it the rcd or wiring is faulty even though you have tested it all in front of them and nothing trips unless you plug that second hand fridge you had from the waste disposal site in. But no it's not that, it worked fine before an rcd was fitted,

 

[trev]

Nowyou come to mention it Thomas
As this is in the arms I can be a little blunt.
Some of those workshy useless ****s on the Racecourse estate in Gateshead really boiled my blood. Especially the woman who looked like Jabba The Hut who's "brand new" fridge got damaged by a surge which I caused by installing new electricity in her hovel
Ooops sorry I meant home.
And that was what the solicitor's letter to my gaffer said. "new electricity" not "new electrical installation" or "electrical wiring"
Office bound ----pot.
Dunston wasn't much better either but at least it paid well

 

[sedgy34]

better than posting a thread i wish i had a customer to annoy me this month!!!!!!!! got no work blah blah blah i dont use my initiative to find any work.... :mad2:

 

[oldtimer]

Yep it happens to us all and yes the 50" TV is a pain plus when you say could you mute that please whilst I explain the job to you and the look of horror on their faces and then they turn away to watch when that dick starts singing Go Compare. Then there is the ones that a week or two you have to prod them to pay you but the funny thing is they all live in big houses so dont feel they are giving you a hard time a guy has stung me twice trying to get me to fix things on the premise of putting a quote in but next time he calls and it will be sorry there will be a callout charge for this speech and yes why is it they wont pay £450 for a new CU but will take a second mortgage on to buy a £17k motor cos thats the way it goes.

 

[telectrix]

now, i tend to find that it's the people on the council/housing association estates that are more straight with me. generally accept the quote without haggling, ask if you want money upfront for materials, pay on the nail when the job is done. no hassle. it's the BMWs in the detached house drive with double garage that give grief.

 

[trev]

I find that the council estate people who call you in are ok, but the ones who had the work forced on them are the ones who know how to play the system to their advantage. The ones I mentioned above were lower than a snakes belly

 

[Silly Sausage]

Yep it happens to us all and yes the 50" TV is a pain plus when you say could you mute that please whilst I explain the job to you and the look of horror on their faces and then they turn away to watch when that dick starts singing Go Compare. Then there is the ones that a week or two you have to prod them to pay you but the funny thing is they all live in big houses so dont feel they are giving you a hard time a guy has stung me twice trying to get me to fix things on the premise of putting a quote in but next time he calls and it will be sorry there will be a callout charge for this speech and yes why is it they wont pay £450 for a new CU but will take a second mortgage on to buy a £17k motor cos thats the way it goes.

They are the butt holes who have no scruples about ripping off trades people etc.
That's why they are rich and likes of you me (excuse the assumption there ot) are not.

 

[telectrix]

exactly my point. it's the " fur coat and no knickers " types that rip us off.

 

[Silly Sausage]

Sorry Tel, didn't see your post, too busy typing.
I'm slow, haven't got your mind to screen transfer (I remember you saying that the other day!)

 

[telectrix]

could be worse, you could be a man u fan

 

[Deleted member 9648]

The ones I hate are the ones you've been doing ****y-arse jobs for for years n years,getting them out of trouble,and putting yourself out for....then you get a call asking you to come out and change the lamp on their floodlight halfway up the chimney...(another ****yarse job)....and when you get there you find they've had a 100 grand extension built...all new wiring and CU etc etc......."Oh,we didnt think to ask you for a quote......."
Well that lamp halfway up the chimney is suddenly going to cost a hell of a lot more.

 

[oldtimer]

I think you need to be pragmatic in this type of thing plus dont take it personally the vast majority of my customers are ok and yes you get he odd one who wants to pull a fast one and as I have mentioned before a guy tried to get smart over the replacement of a shower switch and tried to impress his girlfriend saying well you have went to all the bother of turning up so you would be better just accepting my reduced offer to do the job (Friday 6pm) me says well thanks anyway and said thanks for concidering me now I could have got really angry but instead I had the smile of a cheshire cat on me going home as I heard the girlfriend saying that was clever how am I to get a shower over the weekend then.................................... some you win ...

 

[telectrix]

ain't it just nice to get one over on a smartarse, even if it costs you a few quid.

 

[pennywise]

I like the, I've had my electrician look at the light you put in 10 months ago it's nothing major I didn't think I would bother you as he lives closer (2miles!) , he can't find the problem, could you come around and have a look:cuss: so an electrician couldnt work out its a GU10 lamp holder with a loose factory connection that's making the lamps go prematurely. So you got your handyman out that does a bit of electrics!! My call out just doubled and to hell with warrenty.

 

[HandySparks]

now, i tend to find that it's the people on the council/housing association estates that are more straight with me. generally accept the quote without haggling, ask if you want money upfront for materials, pay on the nail when the job is done. no hassle. it's the BMWs in the detached house drive with double garage that give grief.

You're right, tel. One of the few customers that I feel uncomfortable working for (only done a few small jobs) is a retired professional chap. He lives in a large detached house with about an acre of lawns and drives a BMW. He always asks about a discount for cash (as if he thinks that I will be happy to do this one "off the books" so that he can save money). When I say no, same price for cash, cheque or bank transfer, he puts his cash away and writes out a cheque. And usually he has some other quibble over the price as well (current rate, travelling time, charge for materials, etc.)

 

[Strima]

Those with money have money for a reason, they don't like spending it.

 

[telectrix]

You're right, tel. One of the few customers that I feel uncomfortable working for (only done a few small jobs) is a retired professional chap. He lives in a large detached house with about an acre of lawns and drives a BMW. He always asks about a discount for cash (as if he thinks that I will be happy to do this one "off the books" so that he can save money). When I say no, same price for cash, cheque or bank transfer, he puts his cash away and writes out a cheque. And usually he has some other quibble over the price as well (current rate, travelling time, charge for materials, etc.)

so just quote 15% over and knock it back off for cash.

 

[mickys86]

so just quote 15% over and knock it back off for cash.

Knock 10% off for cash you mean...... ??

 

[baldelectrician]

I think you need to be pragmatic in this type of thing plus dont take it personally the vast majority of my customers are ok and yes you get he odd one who wants to pull a fast one and as I have mentioned before a guy tried to get smart over the replacement of a shower switch and tried to impress his girlfriend saying well you have went to all the bother of turning up so you would be better just accepting my reduced offer to do the job (Friday 6pm) me says well thanks anyway and said thanks for concidering me now I could have got really angry but instead I had the smile of a cheshire cat on me going home as I heard the girlfriend saying that was clever how am I to get a shower over the weekend then.................................... some you win ...

This was one of my learning curves- if I turn up to do a shower switch I tell them before I get tools out that as I am fault finding there will be a charge of £35 and parts will be extra; then they have the option of refusing (at no cost to them) or accepting (as £35 to me).

If I get a call over the phone about a shower switch I tell them the cost and the availability and they either accept or decline

It takes time and experience to weed out the timewasters

 

[Knobhead]

OK this is from the industrial side, but production workers are our “customers”.

A production foreman did me out of a call out payment. A few months later I get a phone call at about 2pm on a bank holiday, “the foreman’s stuck in the lift”. “OK I’ll there be in a bit but checked which foreman it was first”. I’m not the fastest driver in the world, but three hours to drive 1½ miles?
He seemed a bit unhappy signing my call out chit for £210 for pressing one button, I was quite happy.

 

[oldtimer]

This was one of my learning curves- if I turn up to do a shower switch I tell them before I get tools out that as I am fault finding there will be a charge of £35 and parts will be extra; then they have the option of refusing (at no cost to them) or accepting (as £35 to me).

If I get a call over the phone about a shower switch I tell them the cost and the availability and they either accept or decline

It takes time and experience to weed out the timewasters

I did that with the girl when she phoned I told her that it sounds like the switch and if it was this was the cost for me to come out at 6pm on a Friday no extra charge as I get a lot a business that way and the reply was yep that sounds ok until I turned up and bullet brain thought he could pull a stroke