lawnguy3211
06-08-2006, 02:49 AM
Just when I thought I had lived/heard/read everything....Be prepared, you'll shake your head at the end of this one...
Got a call from a potential new customer wanting an estimate for some flowerbed work. Typical "I am about to put my house on the market. Can you perform a miracle?" type. I listen patiently as she proceeds to tell me she whats some hedges trimmed, 7 other hedges removed (dug out completely) and color added in their place. She asks for Begonias, but does request that they be mixed. In addition to the plants, she wants two topiaries planted in front of her front pillars. Fine..."Oh, and could you also put some BLACK edging around both beds?" To which I reply, I can, but it will not be metal - Our supplier only carries metal in brown and green...black would be plastic. "That won't work. It won't match my house...No, definitely black." At this point you are thinking, "Where's the drama?" We all SEEM to be on the same page. Hedges removed. Remaining ones trimmed. Begonias and topiaries planted. Edging install. Few hours, including all the before (I agreed to make all purchases) and after driving (debris disposal). Easy day, right? Read on to be a witness to the day I met world's craziest customer...
I put together an estimate of 600.00 flat for all materials and labor (tax included of course), which I then email to her. She calls within a few minutes stating that she was unable to open the ENTIRE attachment, but was able to see the bottom line and she would like to have it done as quickly as possible...I tell her I really would like for her to see the estimate in its entirety, so I will resend. She calls back after I resend and says she wants on the schedule...Leading me to believe that she got the estimate and fully understands what is so plainly written...She's lucky, I had promised my wife I would help move furniture one afternoon, so I bank on the fact that she will forgive me and schedule this nut...On Saturday I agreed to "come out Wednesday afternoon and take care of everything" To which she replies, "that's fine. I will be gone until 5:30, but afterwards I will meet you to CHECK YOUR WORK" That should have been a red flag, but no, I still agree to do her work....Fast forward to today (now at this point it was yesterday) but any way...Fast forward to Wednesday....I show up, dig out the hedges, trim, and start to plant...The trees go in pretty fast, but as the begonias go in I start finding all sots of buried stuff...Control boxes, concrete, large rocks, big chucks of hard clay...Stuff I definitely didn't charge to remove and frankly didn't like digging through, but I made the best of it and planted in as many places I could- all while keeping some conformity to the bed. The begonias were fresh and had only a few buds, making the bed look pretty empty for the time being - but a few weeks out they would fill out and really look nice...And out of the kindness of my heart I dumped some mulch that I had on the trailer to really make everything look nice...not full at the moment, but nice....By the time I finish it's around 4:15pm and she's not home until 5:30 - since I live close by I decide to leave and return to get paid...In the meantime, she calls the office at 4:30 asking if I am done and complaining that the job looked "half-finished" and that I left a mess on her driveway that needed to be picked up...To which my office manager replies, "He is scheduled to meet you at 5:30 and having not seen the work I would feel more comfortable having you discuss the situation with him in person." So at 5:30 I pull up and she immediately starts in..."She can't believe that 600.00 got her this? She wanted the bed FULLLLLLL of color....Like you see in front of businesses....She got other estimates for 200.00 labor & materials and those guys told her her bed would be FULL....She wanted metal edging...She is completely unsatisfied with the work...Will you please remove everything and plant over - only this time bigger plants, maybe some orchids (ORCHIDS? I'm thinking) I just want this house to have so much curb appeal. It goes on the market on Saturday" Oh, And by the way..."since I am not have with the work I authorized, can you do all of this for free? Plants included?" It is at this point where I must have had a look on my face that said I was in no mood to hear this crap from her - especially after spending an afternoon in a shadeless yard when the temp was 100 today...So she proceeds to tell me that she is unhappy and wants to talk about my charges, which I am open to doing. This crazy loon then picks apart the ENTIRE job and has the nerve to ARGUE prices that she had emailed to her days earlier. She tells me I charged inflated prices for materials. I charged inflated prices for labor and all the estimates she got were "way cheaper" to which I respond "You should have used those companies Ma'm" This goes on for two and a half hours because she refuses to pay if I don't redo the job for free. At one point my business partner tried talking to her and she went crazy then too saying she would report us to the BBB...She will tell everyone she knows about this...She is a respiratory therapist and her husband in an executive and she will not stand for this...Like I care what they do for a living????? So any way, she finally writes the check but tells me "I'll write this now, but you'll see" To which I respond, "If this check doesn't clear, I will slap a lien on your home for unpaid services. Then see how quickly you are able to sell!" Then see goes whacko...Telling me I accused her of being a dirtball, etc, etc, etc,
I then get in my truck, check in hand (by now the bank is closed) and drive off while she and my business partner stand in the front yard and continue to discuss the situation. When I got back to the office I emailed her, pointing out what I tried to say in our face-to-face...You authorized the work...The flowers I charged you for were planted...Everything on the estimate was delivered and performed...BLAH, BLAH, BLAH....However, being a good business owner I would like come to terms (I would also not like stop payment on the check) Is there anything we can do, short or redoing at our expense to remedy the situation? I even offer to plant her new flowers at a dEEEEEp discount if she pays for materials. She emails me back and basically tells me I am stupid and incompetent and my work is sub par....She will hire someone else to perform the work.
Am I wrong for thinking she is a f'in idiot or wrong for not doing anything to make the customer happy? I have never had this problem arise before...
Sorry for the long post, hopefully some of you stayed with it...I think I just needed to vent, so thanks.
Got a call from a potential new customer wanting an estimate for some flowerbed work. Typical "I am about to put my house on the market. Can you perform a miracle?" type. I listen patiently as she proceeds to tell me she whats some hedges trimmed, 7 other hedges removed (dug out completely) and color added in their place. She asks for Begonias, but does request that they be mixed. In addition to the plants, she wants two topiaries planted in front of her front pillars. Fine..."Oh, and could you also put some BLACK edging around both beds?" To which I reply, I can, but it will not be metal - Our supplier only carries metal in brown and green...black would be plastic. "That won't work. It won't match my house...No, definitely black." At this point you are thinking, "Where's the drama?" We all SEEM to be on the same page. Hedges removed. Remaining ones trimmed. Begonias and topiaries planted. Edging install. Few hours, including all the before (I agreed to make all purchases) and after driving (debris disposal). Easy day, right? Read on to be a witness to the day I met world's craziest customer...
I put together an estimate of 600.00 flat for all materials and labor (tax included of course), which I then email to her. She calls within a few minutes stating that she was unable to open the ENTIRE attachment, but was able to see the bottom line and she would like to have it done as quickly as possible...I tell her I really would like for her to see the estimate in its entirety, so I will resend. She calls back after I resend and says she wants on the schedule...Leading me to believe that she got the estimate and fully understands what is so plainly written...She's lucky, I had promised my wife I would help move furniture one afternoon, so I bank on the fact that she will forgive me and schedule this nut...On Saturday I agreed to "come out Wednesday afternoon and take care of everything" To which she replies, "that's fine. I will be gone until 5:30, but afterwards I will meet you to CHECK YOUR WORK" That should have been a red flag, but no, I still agree to do her work....Fast forward to today (now at this point it was yesterday) but any way...Fast forward to Wednesday....I show up, dig out the hedges, trim, and start to plant...The trees go in pretty fast, but as the begonias go in I start finding all sots of buried stuff...Control boxes, concrete, large rocks, big chucks of hard clay...Stuff I definitely didn't charge to remove and frankly didn't like digging through, but I made the best of it and planted in as many places I could- all while keeping some conformity to the bed. The begonias were fresh and had only a few buds, making the bed look pretty empty for the time being - but a few weeks out they would fill out and really look nice...And out of the kindness of my heart I dumped some mulch that I had on the trailer to really make everything look nice...not full at the moment, but nice....By the time I finish it's around 4:15pm and she's not home until 5:30 - since I live close by I decide to leave and return to get paid...In the meantime, she calls the office at 4:30 asking if I am done and complaining that the job looked "half-finished" and that I left a mess on her driveway that needed to be picked up...To which my office manager replies, "He is scheduled to meet you at 5:30 and having not seen the work I would feel more comfortable having you discuss the situation with him in person." So at 5:30 I pull up and she immediately starts in..."She can't believe that 600.00 got her this? She wanted the bed FULLLLLLL of color....Like you see in front of businesses....She got other estimates for 200.00 labor & materials and those guys told her her bed would be FULL....She wanted metal edging...She is completely unsatisfied with the work...Will you please remove everything and plant over - only this time bigger plants, maybe some orchids (ORCHIDS? I'm thinking) I just want this house to have so much curb appeal. It goes on the market on Saturday" Oh, And by the way..."since I am not have with the work I authorized, can you do all of this for free? Plants included?" It is at this point where I must have had a look on my face that said I was in no mood to hear this crap from her - especially after spending an afternoon in a shadeless yard when the temp was 100 today...So she proceeds to tell me that she is unhappy and wants to talk about my charges, which I am open to doing. This crazy loon then picks apart the ENTIRE job and has the nerve to ARGUE prices that she had emailed to her days earlier. She tells me I charged inflated prices for materials. I charged inflated prices for labor and all the estimates she got were "way cheaper" to which I respond "You should have used those companies Ma'm" This goes on for two and a half hours because she refuses to pay if I don't redo the job for free. At one point my business partner tried talking to her and she went crazy then too saying she would report us to the BBB...She will tell everyone she knows about this...She is a respiratory therapist and her husband in an executive and she will not stand for this...Like I care what they do for a living????? So any way, she finally writes the check but tells me "I'll write this now, but you'll see" To which I respond, "If this check doesn't clear, I will slap a lien on your home for unpaid services. Then see how quickly you are able to sell!" Then see goes whacko...Telling me I accused her of being a dirtball, etc, etc, etc,
I then get in my truck, check in hand (by now the bank is closed) and drive off while she and my business partner stand in the front yard and continue to discuss the situation. When I got back to the office I emailed her, pointing out what I tried to say in our face-to-face...You authorized the work...The flowers I charged you for were planted...Everything on the estimate was delivered and performed...BLAH, BLAH, BLAH....However, being a good business owner I would like come to terms (I would also not like stop payment on the check) Is there anything we can do, short or redoing at our expense to remedy the situation? I even offer to plant her new flowers at a dEEEEEp discount if she pays for materials. She emails me back and basically tells me I am stupid and incompetent and my work is sub par....She will hire someone else to perform the work.
Am I wrong for thinking she is a f'in idiot or wrong for not doing anything to make the customer happy? I have never had this problem arise before...
Sorry for the long post, hopefully some of you stayed with it...I think I just needed to vent, so thanks.