I was thinking of the favorite sayings discussion today and was wondering if you had any favorites out of your customers mouths.
Two I hear a lot:
“when can you start” followed by “when will you be done” (usually right after you start)
I was thinking of the favorite sayings discussion today and was wondering if you had any favorites out of your customers mouths.
Two I hear a lot:
“when can you start” followed by “when will you be done” (usually right after you start)
The best tool for straight, splinter-free cuts is made even better without a cord.
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Replies
After submitting a bid.
What they say:
"Looks real good, I just have to discuss it with my wife/husband".
What they mean:
"This is a lot more than I expected, don't expect me to call"
"Nothing fancy, just basic stuff."
"This won't take long"
"As long as you're here..."
"Can you do me a favour?"
> I have one customer who answers my questions requiring a decision by saying, "Let me get back to you on that" which generally means, "Let me ask my wife what I think"
On the larger projects i usually have a "as long as your here" line item in my bid.
My favorite and it has always got me in trouble is, "We can do that ourselves.."
"My brother-in-law..."
Excellence is its own reward!
Hey, wait a minute. My sister-in-law always uses that one.
gl
I've told you a billion times not to exaggerate.
"While we're at it we might as well .... "
"We want to add some things and get the price down .... "
"We're spending all this money so we expect .... " (additional, no-cost items)
"I could do this work myself but .... "T. Jeffery Clarke
Quidvis Recte Factum Quamvis Humile Praeclarum
While you're at it, could you-------?
We saw those a lot cheaper at H. D.
This won't take you too long.
Dana
Reading the above, I'd like to add this to what seems like a tape recording of the last 30 yrs. "We'd just like to bump out the kitchen a bit." __________________________________________
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
"Gee, this turned out better than I hoped."
"You weren't the cheapest guy we talked to, but we feel like we really connected with you. Can you put us on your list?"
"Of course we'd rather not have to wait a year for you to do the work, but we will if we have to. You're the guy we want to deal with."
Hey, you DID ask for "favorites", right?
Come on jim, you musta heard this one too: "How bout you fit us in when you're not busy". Translation: When you'll do it for cheaper cuz you need to eat.__________________________________________
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
You hear those ones when the moon is waxing, right?Excellence is its own reward!
Calvin - I always wondered what that one meant.
piffin - I think I hear those when the moon is in uranus.
M'arse is where my moon is.
Excellence is its own reward!
And I thought it was just me that heard that !!!!!!!! geez
Holy shi_t, how much ?
Or about 18 variations on that.
carpenter in transition
Edited 5/17/2002 10:22:28 PM ET by TIM_KLINE
Well, if you can get it done for that much...Excellence is its own reward!
My favorite when looking at a project.
"We'll be remodeling the _______ next year."
or
"We'll have more projects after this one is completed."
We were hoping to be in by Christmas.
Reply:
No problem, I didn't have any plans that were important.
carpenter in transition
Yeah, as told on Dec. 24 th.
" I've heard you're expensive"
" Just a little remodeling, shouldn't cost much ( Complete interior & exterior renovation)"
" Can you give me a quick price on a 2500 sf. house, - no I don't have any plans or specs)"
Cant you just reuse the old _____ I mean the old one is still good we just bought 5 or 6 years ago... Darkworksite4: When the job is to small for everyone else, Its just about right for me"
Here's one from two weeks ago, from a customer who is his own "general contractor";
Customer: Those Andersen doors that I supplied from Home Desperado and that you installed look very nice. I'm glad I saved the $75 over you ordering them from the lumberyard, since HD told me they were the same product. But I do have a question. Why are the indside jams shy of the wall surface, now that they've drywalled.
Jason: As I pointed out in our contract, when you supplied the doors, you needed to get jamb extensions, and you didn't. So...they are 1/2" shy, since this is an SIP wall, which is 1/2" thicker than a 2x4 standard wall.
Customer: Yeah, I know you said that, but this isn't the way [and this is the god's honest truth here, people] that Dean and JoJo did it on Hometime. All their doors and windows fit perfectly, and they didn't have to do anyting. What's a jamb extension?
Jason: A jamb extension is a piece of matching wood that you use to extend the window or door jamb to be flush with the wall surface, so you can put trim on.
Customer: I don't know....they didn't mention that at Home Dildo. Are you sure this is correct and you didn't install the door wrong?
Jason: Yes, I installed the door correctly, and here are the instructions if you'd like to check. When you specced out these doors, I got a quote from my supplier, which was $175 more. You didn't want to pay that, even though that included screens, which HD didn't "give" you, or jamb extensions, which you have to make now, since my quote included factory-installed extensions.
Customer: Well, I'm sure that this wasn't [yes...this WAS the conversation] mentioned on the show. I guess you'll do what's best, and put those on.
Jason: Yes, I'll be more than happy to. However, it'll take two weeks to get true Andersen extensions, and will cost a lot more than the $175 you saved.
Customer: You mean that's not part of the cost? Why should I have to pay for these things? Your job is to install the door correctly!
Jason: Yes, it is my job to install it correctly, but HD neglected to inform you of all the parts you need to install it correctly. We need more pieces than they gave you.
Customer: [and finally, Yes, this is what they said]; that's absurd. Tom Silva or Norm could fix this up in less than five minutes. Five minutes can't possibly cost $175! Your just trying to gouge me since I'm handling this, and taking away those huge profits you always make on these jobs!
Oh, and I have stories that are identical for the deck, sunporch, shingles, and on, and on, and on. Thank god everything's been documented, particularly since I had to go back for the jamb extensions (that were paid for), and saw the excellant job done with the one coat of paint ("we don't need primer...that's what they told us at Lowes"), and what I'm sure will be a great job on the wood floor ("why would we hire this out...they give you instructions in the box!").
"Why don't you just pop out and take a look?"
followed by:
"Just do a quick sketch while you're here."
All EXPECTED to be done for no charge.
Ken Hill
Hey thats a neat tool, can I borrow it for a little while so i can do this........ Ill becareful...... Darkworksite4: When the job is to small for everyone else, Its just about right for me"
excellent, excellent......
we don't deal with too many people who want to supply their own stuff. in fact we pretty much refuse to let homeowners supply their own materials. always a missing part which costs us money. i once heard of a plumber that intentionally dropped all homeowner supplied fixtures while still boxed. "i'm sorry sir, this one is broken, you'll need to return it. " certainly not my cup of tea, but i can understand where the frustration comes from on his part. i find it a little disrespectful on the part of the client. would you ask your heart surgeon if you could supply your own parts for your upcoming surgery ? if you think the markup on HD's stuff is bad, talk to your local heart surgeon about the hospital's markup on OR supplies !
carpenter in transition
EXACTLY! - on the HO supplied stuff. Sorry, no warraty on any customer supplied material installed by us.
Ken Hill
Yup. it's a standard clause in all my written agreements. The warrenty does not cover labor or materials on any customer supplied materials. Comes right after the sentence stating what the mark-up is on any materials I supply.
I'm especially careful to include this in any agreement with another contactor I am subbing for. They are famous for expecting subs to "run over to the cabinet shop and pick up that prefinished trim we had to reorder".
Truth of the matter is, most customers are very easy to deal with compared to pencil pushin', one per cent chisellin', back chargin', $40.00 lunch eatin' GC's. Son a bitches give honest tradesmen a bad name.
Edited 5/18/2002 11:08:47 PM ET by jim blodgett
Isnt such a big deal cause its my own house but my wife ran over to HD to get window grills for our Andersons with exact window sizes. She went back, picked em' up....brought em' home. Wrong sizes. Brings em' back again WITH the grills from the windows we already had....same size. They measure them......She goes back again. Wrong again. Can you imagine? Sure you can.....So now.....shes gone back witht he grills we need dupicates of AND the window # and reordering.....Gonna call when they come in and make them measure tip to tip before she goes back.
A customer of mine wanted to save money on sheetrock so they bought a cpl a dozen boards from HD. I go to put em' up (onthe damn ceiling) and the ten footers were actually 471/2 inches wide.....8 footers were 48". Was pulling whats left of my hair out trying to figure out why they weren't lining up till I finally threw a board to the ground and took out my tape measure....grrrrrr..... I told the homeowner and they asked if I'd mind exchanging them. LOL....yeh sure. I said HD charges $30 for a delivary and since it would be two ways....return and rebuy...It'd cost them $60 for my delivary and another $200 for my time. End of story.....They paid me an extra $200 to deal with the sheetrock as it was.....LOL
MAkes ya start hating people doesnt it?It's not who's right, it's who's left ~ http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Andy, I acttualy had a HD field salesman come to a job and tell me he measured the wall. He knew that six foot frech doors would fit. When I took him outside to measure, he still could not get it. A abbutting stairwell offset, and a adjacent bathroom wall made the installation impossible. It took two hours of sketching, meassuring, and explaining, before I could convince the idiot and the homeowner that it was not going to happen. Then the sob ask me to bring the door back to the store for an exchange. I'll let you guess where I told him to pack his door.
Dave,,,,,Whats unbeliveable is that HD sent someone out of free,,,,,the rest is way beliveableIt's not who's right, it's who's left ~ http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
more more! this is the stuff I want to steer clear of