family friends!!

[allsparkjonny]

today has been the mother of all days.went to go replace some lights for my moms friend...she wanted it doin cheap..ive met her twice in my life!! in the end i gave her the lights for practically cost price which had to be special ordered from jcc and the price i said was practically a freebee considerin i have a company to run and a mortgage to pay!! yet she still argued on the price!! i somehow kept my cool(probs cos its my moms friend) took the lights with me and put my tools back in my van for her to say im not happy with the service!!! she was complainin cos im a family friend i should do it cheap for her!!! ive seen on the forum you should never work for friends of the family but today has proved i!!! what a joke and a waste of time,i was practically doing it for free!!! arrrrggghhh!! sorry rant over

 

[DurhamSparky]

YUP, did right thing! next time she needs a spark she will be paying twice the price no doubt!

some people are wee wee taker...!!! (cant swear on the ULTIMATE last warning)

 

[Tin]

I was caught in the same trap, my mum said to her friend 'oh my son is a spark, he will do it for you' the job turns out to b a job from hell, a job that you will never take again.

thats what famailies are for

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Had the odd friend/family who know the score and insist on paying the normal price,but they are a minority.Most expect it for nothing.
One of the worst was a friend of a friend who phoned me up quite late one evening,hubby was away and back tomorrow and she wanted to surprise him with the new wall lights she had bought....could I 'just' pop round and put 'em up?
After a lot of pleading I eventually thought 'oh well, might as well,nothing on the telly anyway'. 15 minute drive to her house and then the wall lights from hell,3 cables at one and the usual backplate designed to take one bell wire at the most.
Took an hour and as she was a friend of a friend I said....'well just cover my costs,15 quid will do'.
'Thats a bit steep' was her reply. To cut a long story she refused to pay more than 10 and really begrudged that.This was before I reached the grumpy old man stage of life.....if that happened today those wall lights would have been ripped off the wall and placed where she would have to have them surgically removed.

 

[lockhes]

oh dont get me started iv only just got my money off a so called friend i did alot of work for across the road when i did the work well before xmas

she was very close to a call from 1 of my real friends

 

[SirKit Breaker]

It doesn't just stop with working for them. I am the only van owner in the family and friend group. Can you just fetch this carry that, will you take so and so to the tip, never any offer to pay for Diesel.

HOWEVER every dog has its day. I went and got a great big lump of racking and screwed it to the floor of the van right across the middle, its the British Gas one that sits in the middle of the Transit Connect, its ideal and now there is just enough room for the golf clubs, so no more can you just, cos nowt will fit. I haven't got the heart to tell anyone that it can be emptied and removed in under 10 minutes, ignorance is bliss.

 

[Notsosmart]

The outlaws are the worst, I have lost count of the amount free work i have done at my brickie brother in law's house with the promise of reciprocation. Only for my Mrs to pay him when he was light on work and we needed a flat roof turning into a vaulted ceiling

 

[Sintra]

Learnt my lesson years ago to stay clear of that sort of work. Always have to make lame excuses to get out of doing them.

Last one i done for a mate how is a kitchen fitter was that i rewired his kitchen and in return he fitted mine.

Guess who got stung.

He got his kitchen rewired for free and never turned up to fit my kitchen.

 

[Jason Smith]

Now I will only work for my Mum and my four children. I do not expect to be paid and neither do I want to. Same applies to one very best mate.
Friends of friends-non blood family who do not have your interest at heart- no chance.They will slag you off at the first possible opportunity. Guess we all learnt that the hard way, as above !!

 

[acat]

The F in Family and Friends actually stands for FREEBIE


Chris

 

[Phil]

friends of friends a big great no no, the in laws not a chance. my cousin the mechanic always gets what ever he wants free and so were my last 4 services and a timing belt change so all is good there. my family close family get most done for a butty and a coffee, i would do anything for most of them foc and they still try to pay me over the odds and are always there when i need them. I have no time for people who do not appreciate what you d for them or winge about the price. did a couple of cheap jobs when i first got going and the cheap ones are always the most grief and they for some reason think you have had their pants down.

 

[Bromd123]

friends of friends a big great no no, the in laws not a chance. my cousin the mechanic always gets what ever he wants free and so were my last 4 services and a timing belt change so all is good there. my family close family get most done for a butty and a coffee, i would do anything for most of them foc and they still try to pay me over the odds and are always there when i need them. I have no time for people who do not appreciate what you d for them or winge about the price. did a couple of cheap jobs when i first got going and the cheap ones are always the most grief and they for some reason think you have had their pants down.

I'm pretty much the same matey, i hav an uncle who is a spark and he has done everything for me been a real father figure and he's as proud as punch that i'm now following in his foot steps. He has even provided me with a shed load (literally) of tools and advice. i count my blessings everytime i hear one of the horror stories on here lol

 

[martysparky]

I done some work for Mrs Family recently.

They asked my Mrs how much I charge per day before job and how much after the job was done. it took me three days.

I told my Mrs the price I would usually charge and said I don't mind giving some discount.

They wont pay even half of my fee and still waiting all excuses not to pay but happy with the work

Mrs wonders why I'm in a bad mood. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

NEVER again!

Next time family or not they are getting my usual work commencement contract with subsequent late payment clauses!

 

[pennywise]

What does this family friend do for a living

 

[martysparky]

Good question a health adviser and careers adviser. Perhaps they would like to advise me after they have stressed me and corrupted my business. lol

Any way rant over it all boils down to experience..

and Its all entertainment no matter how we look at it.

 

[pennywise]

Good question a health adviser and careers adviser. Perhaps they would like to advise me after they have stressed me and corrupted my business. lol

Lol brilliant, I hate the comments that family and friends make as well once you charge them the going rate or at least a slightly reduced one, " I only thought it was going to be a small job " half a house rewire later!!. Its also frustrating when you know what they do for a living and know what they earn! did some work for a family friend, husbands a bursa at a private school and the wife is a makerting manager for another public school combined salary of around 100k complained when I charged them my normal day rate for a day and halfs work on the weekend, and I gave them the materials at cost, I wanted to kill

 

[martysparky]

collar v boot arrogance.

They seem to forget boots have more than one use.

 

[piggyitm]

Seems like there's a female common denominator!

 

[Anonomoose]

I work for friends and family but tell them from the get go that I dont do mates rates at all or returned favors. not had any problems so far. parents are excluded obviously they just get parts bill.

 

[martysparky]

good stance

Direct no nonsense!