Which one are you?

[C.J.]

Which one are you? Do you give your customer the pickle or do you follow the letter of the contract. The West Coast always expected something for free. The pickle. Down South you don’t get what you don’t pay for. Two very different schools of thought. Which one do you subscribe to? I’m not opposed to giving away pickles as long as I’m being compensated for them. This weeks job the painter is asking for multiple pickles. I accommodated them last week, this week there are no free cookies.

 

[Floorist]

I always did the best I could and that is what I promised. Extras on a job, cost extra. I did some free jobs occasionally too.

 

[highup]

If I didn't give away so many pickles I'd have a decent vehicle.
.....and have enough money left over to buy a lock for my Ruger single 6, 22 revolver, which as of recently I'm required by law to put one on it.
Maybe I don't need a lock on my revolver because I lost it in a boating accident...... If you repeat a lie off enough people will believe it.
I've always givin away pickles.
I've also never written a contract as far back as I can remember.
If I tell the customer I'm going to do something, that's what I do. If they ask for an estimate, that's what I will do it for unless something really weird and unexpected comes up. Like honey bees in the floor that I don't know about until I pull the pad up...... stuff like that.
My focus in this trade as always been to make the customer happy with my work. I bet well over 95% of the customers I worked for I will work for again at some point if I haven't already. A large portion of the work that I do is for previous customers for recommendations from those customers to their friends.
Slam bam thank you ma'am, doesn't get many good returns.

 

[Floorist]

If I didn't give away so many pickles I'd have a decent vehicle.
.....and have enough money left over to buy a lock for my Ruger single 6, 22 revolver, which as of recently I'm required by law to put one on it.
Maybe I don't need a lock on my revolver because I lost it in a boating accident...... If you repeat a lie off enough people will believe it.
I've always givin away pickles.
I've also never written a contract as far back as I can remember.
If I tell the customer I'm going to do something, that's what I do. If they ask for an estimate, that's what I will do it for unless something really weird and unexpected comes up. Like honey bees in the floor that I don't know about until I pull the pad up...... stuff like that.
My focus in this trade as always been to make the customer happy with my work. I bet well over 95% of the customers I worked for I will work for again at some point if I haven't already. A large portion of the work that I do is for previous customers for recommendations from those customers to their friends.
Slam bam thank you ma'am, doesn't get many good returns.

For years, all I did was referrals.

 

[highup]

For years, all I did was referrals.

That's the only way to go in small towns. I can't imagine everyone referring to me as, "don't hire him"

 

[C.J.]

If I didn't give away so many pickles I'd have a decent vehicle.

That is my whole point. I’m not saying F the customer (well, maybe just a little) but at what point in life do you get tired of driving an old shitty vehicle so you start to say no to certain things. One pickle per customer? 5? What about bending over backwards to accommodate other trades? They certainly aren’t the customer. At what point do you draw a line in the sand and say no because there is definitely no shortage of people out there willing to bleed you dry.

And for the record I live in a small town. I love my small town, but I also don’t work in my small town because I got tired of driving a shitty ol truck.

 

[Csason]

I work out of a blue chip showroom halfway between Orlando and Tampa. My crew has done roughly twenty churches , and hundreds of offices and houses in the last five years - we do it all by the book and we charge accordingly. All other customers are shunned . If I was rebuilding a v8 and someone asked me to skip replacing something because of “costs” I’d shun that too.

 

[Csason]

Sometimes the best thing I do is say no and walk.

 

[MSLI]

Sometimes the best thing I do is say no and walk.

In other words, no pickle for you ! Like the soup knot-see from Signfeild tv show. That’s a nice place to be in, you have enough customers who value your craft or Love your soup, that you can politely or rudely shun/ shoo them away. I use to be that person, but then, someone gives the mouse a cookie and before you know it, the mouse / customer is running the show and pulling all the strings. NO COOKIE FOR YOU ! Gr8t topic CJ .......be very careful who you give your pickle to

 

[highup]

That is my whole point. I’m not saying F the customer (well, maybe just a little) but at what point in life do you get tired of driving an old shitty vehicle so you start to say no to certain things. One pickle per customer? 5? What about bending over backwards to accommodate other trades? They certainly aren’t the customer. At what point do you draw a line in the sand and say no because there is definitely no shortage of people out there willing to bleed you dry.

And for the record I live in a small town. I love my small town, but I also don’t work in my small town because I got tired of driving a shitty ol truck.

If after the installation is started it's decided that custom wood trim or transition needs to be installed, I certainly wouldn't do that for free.
That said, I would most likely suggest that before the material was even ordered and tell the customer how much it would cost to do it.
I'm My own worst enemy because I nitpick over things that may not need it. You can't stop me

 

[MSLI]

You can't stop me

I here ya man, you un-intentionally give out pickles and yes if it’s your nature, it will be difficult to change. And that’s Ok, you’re OK ! ...o god I sound like my mother

 

[Csason]

Lately, manufacturers are requiring so much from installers, we can’t afford to give squat away. NONE of these floors are “flat” according to common Installation instructions on 99% of the product out there. 1/8 of an inch over ten feet is common tolerances that will get you failed on inspection, recently installers got saddled with inclusion of putting a 7mm vapor barrier down or don’t even try to submit a failure claim !
What a crock so I pour just about every job and charge for the encapsulation plastic too or we ain’t putting no floor down

 

[highup]

I here ya man, you un-intentionally give out pickles and yes if it’s your nature, it will be difficult to change. And that’s Ok, you’re OK ! ...o god I sound like my mother

Wasn't that, "I'm okay you're okay"
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/im-okay-youre-okay/7457004/I think it's an OCD situation.
That's a very poor trait for this line of work. I should have done work for the highway department for the county, and saved my affliction for a woodworking, metalworking or car detailing side business.
I'm approaching 64 so I think it's a little bit too late to go back in time and work for the county.

 

[MikeAntonetti]

I will assume you assume I will drop a charge on your asked work to be performed, you surprise me, I surprise you. Note - I didn’t watch the video but I get your point.
One lady asked for couple of minor demo spots, shower curb, then a tiled window sill, a chunk of concrete came out which I saw other sills were cracked so not my fault but they didn’t want to pay, my first lawsuit I was eager to start because one should have experience full scope, plus it makes me stronger on my contract writing. Didn’t get the chance as she had a relative tile setter look at it and another guy I just worked with on a previous job the slab he leveled throughout the the house was inches off level.

depends on what altitude your flying at, if 100$ + an hour I can take a little turbulence, when I’m getting to 80, there’s concern, 50 and there’s big problems and I’m charging extra for “things”

 

[C.J.]

depends on what altitude your flying at, if 100$ + an hour I can take a little turbulence, when I’m getting to 80, there’s concern, 50 and there’s big problems and I’m charging extra for “things”

What altitude your flying at makes all the difference in the world. I don’t drop my price anymore because I’ve found those people are the worst offenders to deal with when it comes to wanting/ expecting free stuff.

Good thinking on learning how to write a better contract. I’m a strong believer in the contract. You buy a house, you sign a contract. Credit card, contract. Finance a vehicle, contract. Insurance policy, contract. Corporations aren’t giving anything away for free so why should I and yet there is no shortage of people lining up to give corporations their money. I think it’s interesting how people will gladly pay a box store 2 to 3 times, or more, what I charge for the same thing and they are OK with it. Shit, they will even finance it at 29.9%. Yet somehow when they find out I made $100/ hr they feel like they overpaid. Where is the disconnect in logic. It’s OK for a corporation to charge you up the ass but when dealing with an individual they feel like they are being taken advantage of.

 

[Mark Brown]

I give away pickles all day long every day and you know what I am ok with it. I do this job because it makes me feel good and feeling good is really all I want to do. I make an ample amount of money and frankly I believe I do so because I work hard and treat people well and with as much respect as I can. If I take a bath on something I presume it is just the universe telling me I did something wrong or something good will come my way. There is a distinct possibility that I am incorrect however I find the times that this trade really frustrates me the most is when I concern myself with the money involved and not the job at hand. Again, I am fairly sure I am insane but what can I do about that other than carry on being crazy.

 

[C.J.]

I give away pickles all day long every day and you know what I am ok with it. I do this job because it makes me feel good and feeling good is really all I want to do. I make an ample amount of money and frankly I believe I do so because I work hard and treat people well and with as much respect as I can. If I take a bath on something I presume it is just the universe telling me I did something wrong or something good will come my way. There is a distinct possibility that I am incorrect however I find the times that this trade really frustrates me the most is when I concern myself with the money involved and not the job at hand. Again, I am fairly sure I am insane but what can I do about that other than carry on being crazy.

I was at the airport last week and went into a gift shop to buy something. The clerk was an older lady who was cleaning some glass shelves, cussing and mumbling to herself. My wife was telling me about this later on and my reply was ‘She’s working things out’. I do it too. Always awkward when I turn around and there’s the customer watching me as I’m deep in the middle of working things out myself. Maybe crazy people aren’t really crazy, they’re just in the middle of some sort of self therapy session. I’m driving down the road bout a month ago and I see some homeless guy punching himself in the head. Damn near crashed my van laughing but I suppose he was just working things out too. Prolly job costing all the pickles he’s givin away

 

[Mark Brown]

I like it Chris. Sometimes I think that I am about 2 shoeshines away from full blown crazy myself.
Funny aside, almost every customer I have ever had has come to me to let me know that I am talking to myself. They politely come over and ask "do you know you are talking to yourself" or "you sure talk to yourself a lot" at which point I exclaim, "Really?? I didn't know"

 

[highup]

I like it Chris. Sometimes I think that I am about 2 shoeshines away from full blown crazy myself.
Funny aside, almost every customer I have ever had has come to me to let me know that I am talking to myself. They politely come over and ask "do you know you are talking to yourself" or "you sure talk to yourself a lot" at which point I exclaim, "Really?? I didn't know"

I'm hoping that I don't do that.
......well, not all the time.
When I was in first grade I recall a teacher came over to me during class and asked me to stop humming. We were doing some sort of artwork maybe drawing a flower or something I don't know.
I think she came over three times to ask me to stop humming. I remember telling her that I wasn't.
The third time she threatened to wash my mouth out with soap. I don't think they can do that these days.
...... Side note, I stopped humming.
Actually on my current job, I know that I've talked to myself out loud. I'm frustrated beyond words at the poor workmanship of the carpet installation, ....the pad, tack strip, and stretching. I always try to go way overboard and I know that's typically not necessary but I don't know any other way. The work done prior to my seaming, and the stretching done afterwards, makes me think that I'm totally wasting my time being there.
They and I don't have a choice. Nobody else is available that knows how to, or wants to know how to, or has the patience to trim and seal seams in woven carpet.
My only fear when talking to myself is there is a chance that as I'm mumbling and cursing at the crappy work the installer that's doing all the damage will walk into the room and hear me.

 

[C.J.]

My only fear when talking to myself is there is a chance that as I'm mumbling and cursing at the crappy work the installer that's doing all the damage will walk into the room and hear me.

If I know who did the crappy work I always ask them if they’re going to sign their name on it. You gotta own what you do!