The good news is, you were right Paul..
The bad news is… I fixed it myself.
In so many words, that was my morning. Last week I went to look at a very small job that included a small plumbing repair and the mystery smell that I posted about earlier. I had told the homeowner my guess as to the cause and told him I’d be back this morning to handle both. When I got there he said “well, you were right… I did what you were going to do and the smell’s gone”. I was ummmm… not happy of course but set about the other work and will be going back in the next day or two to finish up. The wife asked me for a rough price in total and after thinking about it, I added 300 to what I’d have normally charged for the remaining work. The way I see it, if this guy wants to do his own repair that’s fine… what I’m charging for was the correct diagnosis.
You may refer to me in the future as “Dr.Paul”
Replies
like a mechanic told me, " Its a dollar to pull the needle out of the haystack, but $1182 to find the needle"
good going...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
So you went back to Fugum Mall.
Edited 10/26/2009 5:00 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter
Nah... that's not really my style. But I've always been a firm believer that what we should be charging for (in any business I've been in) is our knowledge, not how hard we can swing a hammer or how much lumber we can carry etc. I was called in to solve a problem and I did. I won't charge him as much as I would have to actually do the work but I spent too long learning what I know to give it away... (Mike Smith will be proud :P ).
But I will tell you that it's the last time I'll lay out exactly what I plan to do in advance... if I hadn't been coming back to do other work I'd have gotten shtupped entirely.PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
I will tell you that it's the last time I'll lay out exactly what I plan to do in advance...
Yeah, that's one of my typical mistakes too. I gave away a nice big repair job like that once. Could have boosted my annual income by ten percent or more during a slow period.
After that I decided to be more circumspect when asked how I would go about making repairs...or anything else for that matter...until after the first payment was in my account.
Sooo, after deftly handling smelly sewer pipes, does a grand career in proctology await?
View Image
Is Dr. Paul our friend or our enema?
(I've been cleaning and repairing sink drains recently)
Edited 10/26/2009 5:36 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter
SInk drains aren't bad... unless they're connected to a disposal. About as I ever came to barfing in a client's home was pulling off a drain connected to a disposal that had been sluggish for a long time. Ughhhhhhhhhhhh...PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
Well, God knows I'm racking up lots of experience dealing with...
PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
So Paul, take this with a grain of salt.......
You came here and asked about the smell?
Did what was said here help solve the problem?
Well then in your own words, you pay for the knowledge.
You be buy'n.
thanks.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
LOL... touche Cal... drinks on me.PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
And I'm not talking siiiibbbberbeeer.
Real McCoy big boy.
Whoever sees him in person.............he buys.
If he ever shows up at a JLC swar-ay............he buys.
And pray tell, if ever seen at a Fest............he buys.
thanks.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Stop that Cal... you know what it does to me when you call me big boy...
(still want that drink?)PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
Shoot yeah I could go for one right now.
But remember, none of that faux #### you send via the forum.
I'm talking real, honest to goodness-Bombay and Tonic.
Saphire if you got it.
I can wait for the mail.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
I'm thinking of you as I sip some ice cold Wild Turkey...PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
I get these things called Cluster Headaches. They come, last a few months, then leave for maybe several months to a year. When I'm in this cluster phase I don't drink a drop-it triggers the excruciating pain.
Well, seems like when I'm in the phase, everybody and their grandmother wants to buy me a drink. After I come out of that phase, everybody and their gramma vanish.
That's what I'm going to be thinking about when I think of you.
Probably not, but I'm going to try to remember. A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
I know them, and all headaches well... my sympathies. I am (or was) the headache poster child, was even on a TV show about migraines long ago. Used to get them almost daily... sorry guy.PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
With your experience you might know that they're easy to forget once gone. I've been lucky lately to have sometimes a yr or more between them going and coming. The downside, the last series lasted 3 months. Everynite about 1 a.m. Again luckily, I've been using Oxygen, so waking up out of a very deep sleep I stumble in the other room, suck on the tank for 10 minutes and they go away b/4 getting even close to real. But that 3 month ruining of the sleep pattern knocked me out.
Used to get them recurring with only 3 months between. That and the dope I took to numb them sucked bigtime.
Ah well............A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
I assume you're going to a specialist... it does make a difference of not. I went to New England Center for Headache when they were just starting out, great people. Thank God I don't get them very often anymore. In the end after trying all kinds of stuff including clinical trials, about all they could do is tell me most people get fewer migraines as they get older. But there are so many new treatments now... Get a referral to NECH or Yale and I'll take you out for that drink... maybe even buy dinner too ;)PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
Next time in Ct. I'll be sure to give you a call.
We'll have a time! Maybe we'll get that young curmudgeon Firebird out there too.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Maybe we'll get that young curmudgeon Firebird out there too.
...easy there pappy..........
"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking." — Sherlock Holmes, 1896
He only thinks he's a curmudgeon...PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
Saw a sign at my mechanics today.
Answers- $1.00
Answers that require thought- $2.00
Correct answers- $5.99
Mike
Small wheel turn by the fire and rod, big wheel turn by the grace of god.