Worst customer of all time - Woodworking Talk

TheRecklessOne · 09-17-2009, 11:18 PM

Sometimes I'm too nice. It's bites back sometimes.

I'm not going to bash this lady, but short story long I was referred by my good friend who is a contractor. He built the addition that I built and installed this entertainment center and book shelves in. The homeowner and my friend had a falling out to say the least, but I did the job she hired me to do. When I finished she told me to leave her house before she called the cops. I had to do put a mechanics lien on her house to get paid. Here goes!

hubaseball · 09-18-2009, 12:01 AM

The project looks great. I have not had that problem with any customers thank god.

firehawkmph · 09-18-2009, 12:08 AM

Reckless,
Those type situations are a no win. Sounds like she was taking out her anger on you instead of totally on your buddy. It's tough when you get caught in the middle. Nothing you do will make them happy when they are like that.
Mike Hawkins

hubaseball · 09-18-2009, 12:17 AM

Did the lady say she had a problem with your work?

thekctermite · 09-18-2009, 02:29 AM

As a city building inspector I see this a lot. Homeowners often try to drag the inspector in as an advocate for them on stuff like this when it is part of a permitted project. Nothing gets me to clam up faster than a homeowner who obviously just doesn't want to pay...And wants me to help them justify it. They'll ask to fail the inspection based on things that aren't code-related, or things that just aren't a big deal. It makes a joke of what I do and is completely unfair to the craftsman most of the time, and gets me pretty mad pretty quick.

Looks like some great work to me, sorry you're having to deal with somebody like that.

rcp612 · 09-18-2009, 08:44 AM

I'm confused,,,

Just why did she order you out of her house ?
I would think there was a reason stated, not just "get out".

Julian the woodnut · 09-18-2009, 09:02 AM

If you do this long enough, you'll come across these types of homeowners. It's the risk in business that we take. I ran a framing crew for 10 years and had quite a few of terrible homeowners that I had to deal with. I trimmed all the housed I framed on the side, and that's when the nitpicking homeowners would take out their aggression on me, whether it was actually me they had a problem with or not. You're one of the last trades to come through the house, so they feel the need to take it out on you.

cabinetman · 09-18-2009, 09:22 AM

It seems like you have a habit of taking on problem jobs from other workers. I would only take that kind of work out of shear desperation. The usual story is how unqualified the "other guy" was, and how shoddy the work was. You'll also hear about the "money" problems.

I would take on one of those, but the money can't be a problem, and it usually is. The client does not want to lay out any more, and is hesitant to give a deposit. All the conversation in the world won't change anything. Not a good way to start. In many instances if there is a money problem in the beginning, there will be a money problem at the end.

TheRecklessOne · 09-18-2009, 12:41 PM

I have taken on a couple jobs that were unfinished in the past, but they've turned out great. The customers were great, and they paid on time.

This woman is the wife of a Navy ship captain. He is out to sea and she was overseeing this entire project. Her and my friend got in an argument over $600 (mind you this renovation was a $100,000 project), and he left with some unfinished work. He was totally unjustified in not finishing. He was 3 months late on the project deadline. He is my friend, but he didn't do what he was supposed to.

She hired me before all this mess, and I did the work she hired me to do plus some! I helped here install some closet shelving that my friend left uninstalled for free. Anyway, The day I finished I asked for my final payment and she was like hold on. Went to her office, called her neighbor to escort me out, and said that if I didn't leave she was going to call the cops.

She was definitely doing it out of spite since the contractor is a good friend of mine. That's the only thing I can think of. I was blown away. The only thing that got me paid is the mechanics lien that kept her from refinancing her house. It was a total mess.

Thanks for the kind words fella's, and I hope you guys don't have to deal with any of this mess ever!!

John in Tennessee · 09-18-2009, 03:18 PM

Looks great but the only thing I see wrong is putting a larger screen TV in just ain't gonna work. :)
Thats a shame that people pull stuff like that.

b00kemdano · 09-18-2009, 07:21 PM

This is one reason why I don't like to do commissioned work. I'd much rather take my chances selling the things that I've already made at a show or something. :\

firehawkmph · 09-18-2009, 10:29 PM

Reckless,
Most people are honest that I have dealt with. Every once in awhile you get blindsided. It's hard to say whether that lady would have done the same thing had you buddy been on time with his work and not gotten into the argument. She may have pulled the same trick. There are a small minority out there that know the game and know how to try and screw you out of money. You did the right thing with the mech's lien. However, if she hadn't been in a hurry to refinance, you might still be waiting for your money. Most of the time you can feel people out at the first meeting. Once in awhile someone will rub you the wrong way and you will sense it. Time to politely walk away. Most of the time, if you explain things well up front, talk about the payment schedule, and do what you tell the people you are going to do, you will have a happy customer. Good luck,
Mike Hawkins

Kenbo · 09-19-2009, 10:34 AM

Wow! That really sucks man. I'm glad to hear that it all worked out in the end and that you ended up getting paid. Sometimes, it's just better to keep your cool and deal with the issue from a legal standpoint. I think that you handled the situation correctly and came out of it with exactly what you were entitled to. Glad to hear you didn't jujitsu her @$$ to kingdom come.

Nice job on the work by the way, it looks great.
Ken

nicewood · 09-19-2009, 12:04 PM

You meet all kinds

What ever the problem was, from the photos I doubt it was with your work

That cabinet looks really well

ihackwood · 09-19-2009, 09:07 PM

i'm the guy that feels sorry for the people and seeing as i am a finish carpenter, i always do more than i need to, i think it's because i liketo take pride in my work, and it gives them something that makes them feel, they got they're moneys worth,

i almost always do custom trim in my houses, i feel it keeps the hacks away, if it isn't store bought , they can't get it, ususally end up eating some trim, haha

but i always do a nice front door trim,

TheRecklessOne · 09-19-2009, 09:12 PM

Thanks everyone!

Ken..The only thing that kept her un-jiujitsu-ed was that she was a she.

Kenbo · 09-20-2009, 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRecklessOne

un-jiujitsu-ed

Is that in the Webster's dictionary?

TheRecklessOne · 09-20-2009, 11:48 AM

I'll jiu-jitsu Webster until it is!

**TexasTimbers** · 09-20-2009, 12:53 PM

The reason she became a witch is because she spent $100K on a remodel job while her old man was at sea. She's probably gonna have to go through a nasty divorce now and figured she might as well save every last penny she can . . . . young bucks be damned. She doesn't see you as a young man trying to provide for his family. She see's you as a stepping stone. A navy wife spending $100K on a home, unless it is their retirement home can in no way be justified in terms of an ROI in this market. No way no how.

I'm thankful that I never had a customer like this. It was part luck, but it was also mostly because I was real picky about who I worked for. I was in the remodel biz until 2005 and landed some large jobs over the years, but I also declined to bid on several because I always did background work on the prospective customer if I did not know them. There's one in particular that I could tell you about that turned out to be a disaster for one of my buddy/competitors who did take it, against my advice.

Be real picky from now on Reck. Have a written contract no matter how small the job, and always, always, always use contracts that have a "Change Orders" clause, and use those change orders any time they ask for something that wasn't spelled out in the contract. Customers will not balk when you cover this aspect with them. I never had a single customer express hesitation when this issue was covered before the job commenced, and looking back over the years I lost a lot of money those first several years where I signed contracts that didn't even mention a change order. But once I started using them, they made me lots of money. I'm convinced there were some customers who asked for changes just to spend more money, crazy as that sounds.

firehawkmph · 09-20-2009, 04:43 PM

I'm convinced there were some customers who asked for changes just to spend more money, crazy as that sounds.[/quote]

TT,
I think people do this once they get past the initial point of deciding to spend a large chunk of money on a project. It's kind of like when you go to look at a new car and figure on buying a dodge shadow and end up with a fully loaded 4WD pickemup truck. Don't ask me how I know this.
Mike Hawkins