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On friday someone called saying he had bought all his own materials for moving his water heater and a drain pipe. He asked what I charge by the hour, and I explain him I charge flat-rate for everything. He then says that he was going to do it himself but decided he needed an experts 'touch' and that he'd like to pay me by the hour and 'help' me to do the work.
Well, something snapped inside me:furious:....first of all its illegal to do drain work or water-heater work here in NC without a plumbing license, so his DIYer ideas are illegal. Secondly he has already purchased all the material and wants to 'help' me and pay me by the hour, so its quite obvious to me that his goal is to cut out virtually ALL MY PROFIT FROM THE JOB! And the funny part is he is all friendly on the phone like he's my best friend and I should be so thankful that he has graced me with this opportunity.
So I snapped, "Sir, I have been doing this for 11 years, I am a licensed professional and I DO NOT work with strangers. This is not a hobby for me, I do this for money! I will be glad to look at the job and give you a price to complete it, but I won't be charging by the hour and you WILL NOT BE HELPING ME DO THE JOB!":hammer:
He agreed to an appointment that afternoon, but when I called to tell him I was on my way, he muttered, "umm, I have made other arrangements." Of course no courtesy call from this asswipe to cancel the appointment.
I just said, "Oh you have it taken care of then, thats good!" I was relieved to not have to deal with this customer. It never ceases to amaze me that some people think they are the only customer on earth and that I should be happy to do whatever they want and even get paid on THEIR terms instead of my own! I guess this guy has no idea of how busy I am and how many customers I have that are easy to work for and actually pay me for my work on MY TERMS!:thumbsup:
Anyway, I just wanted to vent about this and I am sure some of you can relate.:cursing:
Well, something snapped inside me:furious:....first of all its illegal to do drain work or water-heater work here in NC without a plumbing license, so his DIYer ideas are illegal. Secondly he has already purchased all the material and wants to 'help' me and pay me by the hour, so its quite obvious to me that his goal is to cut out virtually ALL MY PROFIT FROM THE JOB! And the funny part is he is all friendly on the phone like he's my best friend and I should be so thankful that he has graced me with this opportunity.
So I snapped, "Sir, I have been doing this for 11 years, I am a licensed professional and I DO NOT work with strangers. This is not a hobby for me, I do this for money! I will be glad to look at the job and give you a price to complete it, but I won't be charging by the hour and you WILL NOT BE HELPING ME DO THE JOB!":hammer:
He agreed to an appointment that afternoon, but when I called to tell him I was on my way, he muttered, "umm, I have made other arrangements." Of course no courtesy call from this asswipe to cancel the appointment.
Anyway, I just wanted to vent about this and I am sure some of you can relate.:cursing: