A month ago, we went to perform an estimate. She called and asked that we be there at 10:00am sharp. We showed up...it was pouring rain out. We brought our 2 year old daughter with us (it was a Saturday and didnt have anyone to watch her). We went to the door, she was on the phone, spoke with us through the storm door and told us to just look around and give her an estimate.
Most customers would have invited us into their home to talk things over. (ESPECIALLY when raining as hard as it was!) I was irritated because we had our daughter but I was so glad that we had our HUGE golf style umbrella.
We looked around and it looked like one thin layer of latex stain, looks easy enough to strip. But, thats beside the point. We went back to her front door and again, she was on the phone and again, talked with us through the storm door. You all know how important it is to talk with a customer and get information first before we can give an accurate estimate. Well... it appeared she was getting really irritated and got right to the point of just giving her the estimate but we managed to get her to go downstairs and show us the can of the present sealer. When asking her how many coats were put on, she finally said... " I am on the phone and its a long distance call" and motioned that we give her the estimate and leave.
Okay.. we gave her the estimate based on what we saw and knew.
(Im thinking, why did she demand we be on time and then she decides to be on the phone the whole time. Thats really rude, don'tcha think?)
NOW....
She called 2 weeks ago (didn't think we would ever hear from her again) wanting more information (oh, like we werent trying to do the same at the first visit.) She also asked for references of some of the jobs we did that were nearby that she could call and look at. We gave her 4 references, all within 1 to 2 miles from her.
Again, we waited.
She called last week and wanted us to meet with her again to go over some details. She was extremely impressed with the references. This appointment occured today.
Before we went to the appointment, we made out a list of things to go over. The first thing was to explain that we may not get ALL of the stain off. We always tell our customers that when they have a solid stain applied on their deck and that we suggest a solid re-stain. She wanted a semi-transparent, and we said okay, but it would bring the price up about 25 cents per sq.ft. SHE HAD A FIT! We brought the price up to cover any labor intensive sanding that we may encounter. (This cost will be waived if the sanding is not neccessary.) She looked at the estimate sheet and on there we have checkboxes of what will need to be performed. One of the boxes was checked and that was the "Detailing; sanding/defurring, hammering down any nail heads or screws" box.
She then decided to tell us "I want you to know what kind of person I am...you gave me an estimate at a set cost and I expect you to do all the work you have checked off on the estimate sheet in the price you gave me. This estimate was given to me a month ago and now you want to charge 25 cents extra?"
We tried explaining to her that that kind of sanding/defurring was detail work and will happen if any fuzzies show up. She saw it as sanding as a complete REMOVAL of the product if the stripper was not effective. I don't think she got it.
Anyway... we told her we will stick with a solid restain and if we are lucky and the stripper takes off EVERYTHING (its only one layer of Sherwin Williams Latex Solid Stain) then we can consider doing a semi-transparent for the price we gave her. She was okay with that.
The thing that bothered me was.... she really took control of the whole thing. We have never had a problem with other customers. This was the first time and she is not your average human being. She has some sort of weirdness in her that really makes you tense.
Anyway... the stain is peeling bad. It was applied in 2002 by a guy who owed her laundering money. He couldnt pay back or something so they made a deal that he would clean her house and deck. What was on it before was a clear coat and it was grey, ugly and dirty. She said he took it all off to bare wood and applied the Stain in November. It peeled when it was not even a year yet.
When we told her we may not be able to remove it all, she asked if we used a pressure cleaner. When we said yes, she laughed and said, it'll come off and told us about her story with the other guy who did it. It seemed like it was going in circles and she wants us to do it and do whatever it takes to get it ALL off....BUT... she wont pay the extra if I encounter labor intensive sanding if she is set on the semi-transparent even though she said she is fine with the Solid Re-stain.
She was ready to sign contracts and give us the deposit, but we told her we wanted to talk about it more first and do a test patch. I am sure it will come off with HD-80 or F-18 with no problem since it is only one layer, but becasue of the kind of person she is.... well... We are not sure if we want to commit on this job. Laughter was what we got when we told her what we wanted to do. "It will come off!! *laughing*"
As professionals, I beleive we should make sure before making any commitment especially with someone who is picky and I don't care if she is like "I told you so" when my husband has done the test patch.
Has anyone ever had a customer like that? There is more to the story but this is basically what happened. How do you handle customers who are like that? Should we go ahead and do the job or turn it down? I know we can choose our customers. We used the we'll talk about it and do the test patch excuse to buy more time. This is one person who really can cause tension miles away.
Even though she has the tendency to change her mind, we should be safe writing on the invoice/contract our agreement and she can't change that right?
And one last thing.... HD-80 or F-18 WILL take this thin layer off right? She really got to me. My husband is okay, but I'm not.
Warning: Venting happens here... I'm annoyed.
A month ago, we went to perform an estimate. She called and asked that we be there at 10:00am sharp. We showed up...it was pouring rain out. We brought our 2 year old daughter with us (it was a Saturday and didnt have anyone to watch her). We went to the door, she was on the phone, spoke with us through the storm door and told us to just look around and give her an estimate.
Most customers would have invited us into their home to talk things over. (ESPECIALLY when raining as hard as it was!) I was irritated because we had our daughter but I was so glad that we had our HUGE golf style umbrella.
We looked around and it looked like one thin layer of latex stain, looks easy enough to strip. But, thats beside the point. We went back to her front door and again, she was on the phone and again, talked with us through the storm door. You all know how important it is to talk with a customer and get information first before we can give an accurate estimate. Well... it appeared she was getting really irritated and got right to the point of just giving her the estimate but we managed to get her to go downstairs and show us the can of the present sealer. When asking her how many coats were put on, she finally said... " I am on the phone and its a long distance call" and motioned that we give her the estimate and leave.
Okay.. we gave her the estimate based on what we saw and knew.
(Im thinking, why did she demand we be on time and then she decides to be on the phone the whole time. Thats really rude, don'tcha think?)
NOW....
She called 2 weeks ago (didn't think we would ever hear from her again) wanting more information (oh, like we werent trying to do the same at the first visit.) She also asked for references of some of the jobs we did that were nearby that she could call and look at. We gave her 4 references, all within 1 to 2 miles from her.
Again, we waited.
She called last week and wanted us to meet with her again to go over some details. She was extremely impressed with the references. This appointment occured today.
Before we went to the appointment, we made out a list of things to go over. The first thing was to explain that we may not get ALL of the stain off. We always tell our customers that when they have a solid stain applied on their deck and that we suggest a solid re-stain. She wanted a semi-transparent, and we said okay, but it would bring the price up about 25 cents per sq.ft. SHE HAD A FIT! We brought the price up to cover any labor intensive sanding that we may encounter. (This cost will be waived if the sanding is not neccessary.) She looked at the estimate sheet and on there we have checkboxes of what will need to be performed. One of the boxes was checked and that was the "Detailing; sanding/defurring, hammering down any nail heads or screws" box.
She then decided to tell us "I want you to know what kind of person I am...you gave me an estimate at a set cost and I expect you to do all the work you have checked off on the estimate sheet in the price you gave me. This estimate was given to me a month ago and now you want to charge 25 cents extra?"
We tried explaining to her that that kind of sanding/defurring was detail work and will happen if any fuzzies show up. She saw it as sanding as a complete REMOVAL of the product if the stripper was not effective. I don't think she got it.
Anyway... we told her we will stick with a solid restain and if we are lucky and the stripper takes off EVERYTHING (its only one layer of Sherwin Williams Latex Solid Stain) then we can consider doing a semi-transparent for the price we gave her. She was okay with that.
The thing that bothered me was.... she really took control of the whole thing. We have never had a problem with other customers. This was the first time and she is not your average human being. She has some sort of weirdness in her that really makes you tense.
Anyway... the stain is peeling bad. It was applied in 2002 by a guy who owed her laundering money. He couldnt pay back or something so they made a deal that he would clean her house and deck. What was on it before was a clear coat and it was grey, ugly and dirty. She said he took it all off to bare wood and applied the Stain in November. It peeled when it was not even a year yet.
When we told her we may not be able to remove it all, she asked if we used a pressure cleaner. When we said yes, she laughed and said, it'll come off and told us about her story with the other guy who did it. It seemed like it was going in circles and she wants us to do it and do whatever it takes to get it ALL off....BUT... she wont pay the extra if I encounter labor intensive sanding if she is set on the semi-transparent even though she said she is fine with the Solid Re-stain.
She was ready to sign contracts and give us the deposit, but we told her we wanted to talk about it more first and do a test patch. I am sure it will come off with HD-80 or F-18 with no problem since it is only one layer, but becasue of the kind of person she is.... well... We are not sure if we want to commit on this job. Laughter was what we got when we told her what we wanted to do. "It will come off!! *laughing*"
As professionals, I beleive we should make sure before making any commitment especially with someone who is picky and I don't care if she is like "I told you so" when my husband has done the test patch.
Has anyone ever had a customer like that? There is more to the story but this is basically what happened. How do you handle customers who are like that? Should we go ahead and do the job or turn it down? I know we can choose our customers. We used the we'll talk about it and do the test patch excuse to buy more time. This is one person who really can cause tension miles away.
Even though she has the tendency to change her mind, we should be safe writing on the invoice/contract our agreement and she can't change that right?
And one last thing.... HD-80 or F-18 WILL take this thin layer off right? She really got to me. My husband is okay, but I'm not.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Sturgisjr's wife
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