Last time I do work for "little old ladies"

[kwired]

I agree with this. So far I haven't seen anything the OP posted that said all these problems were/are directly caused by "little old ladies."

If you keep dropping customers based on assumptions eventually you may find yourself without any.

I dropped a customer based on assumptions yesterday.

Guy says POCO cut the service drop - supposably they wanted meter moved and point of attachment moved. I'm guessing they gave plenty of notice to have this done but was not important until they actually cut the power, to top it all off he says it is his brothers house and his brother is in jail right now... would you rush right over there to help him, I can call him back and give him your number.

 

[cowboyjwc]

Could be something as simple as a neighbors tree blowing or even the neighbor himself. My next door neighbors light comes one every time I take out the trash.

 

[Joethemechanic]

I think Joe was on the right track ...

Does Granny have / feed cats? Leave food out? Raccoons in the area?

I've never had any luck with older folks being happy with motion sensors for security lighting. Even my own family members. They are just so totally convinced that those things are wasting energy. They will climb out of bed in the middle of the night and risk breaking a hip in the dark if a stray cat or whatever sets the thing off.

You try to explain that at their KWH rate that the light might use maybe 1/5 of a penny worth of electricity every time it detects motion and turns on for a couple of minutes,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

And they tell you "It adds up",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

It's just an attitude and perception they have. I'm sure all of you guys my age with depression era parents/ aunts/ uncles have seen. Eating day old bread, driving 25 year old cars, and when they die, you find out they had 500,000 or a million in the bank.

 

[growler]

Guy says POCO cut the service drop - supposably they wanted meter moved and point of attachment moved. I'm guessing they gave plenty of notice to have this done but was not important until they actually cut the power, to top it all off he says it is his brothers house and his brother is in jail right now... would you rush right over there to help him, I can call him back and give him your number.

If he has cash I would. The only thing that would bother me in this situation is the reason they didn't have the meter and point of attachment moved is they may not have the money (big problem).

If they have they means to pay and are willing to pay up front I don't care if his mother is in jail and his sister works for the entertainment industry.

It never hurts to ask, maybe his brother is in jail for drug dealing and they have plenty of cash laying around.

 

[kwired]

I've never had any luck with older folks being happy with motion sensors for security lighting. Even my own family members. They are just so totally convinced that those things are wasting energy. They will climb out of bed in the middle of the night and risk breaking a hip in the dark if a stray cat or whatever sets the thing off.

You try to explain that at their KWH rate that the light might use maybe 1/5 of a penny worth of electricity every time it detects motion and turns on for a couple of minutes,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

And they tell you "It adds up",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

It's just an attitude and perception they have. I'm sure all of you guys my age with depression era parents/ aunts/ uncles have seen. Eating day old bread, driving 25 year old cars, and when they die, you find out they had 500,000 or a million in the bank.

And the cost of your service calls are more than the cost of energy the thing will use in its useful lifetime. Maybe you could suggest they just hire someone for 10 bucks an hour to turn the light on whenever someone comes by.

I would rather talk them into using something with compact fluorescents that runs all night instead of this genuine piece of %^& that is never on when you want it on. It is more reliable, and costs less in long run. If they don't want that I will install their piece of junk but will not warranty anything outside of the supply to the thing if I installed the supply.

 

[Strife]

Ok, this is very late, I almost forgot about this post.
Anyway, here's the CLOSURE:
I went there couple days later DURING THE NIGHT.
However before I went there, she calls me again claiming her sprinkler pump's not working anymore(anyone see the reason a little more clearly why I said :"Last time I do work for little old ladies"?
So anyway, I go there during the night. As far as the sprinkler.... she turned off the breaker, OF COURSE she claimed she didn't. Pump's working, timer's working.
I turn on the breaker for the lights(had them set for one minute), they go on, a minute later they go off. I did it about 5 times. Each time they go off in a minute.
And keep in mind, this was after going there two times and replacing the light once.
So YES: THIS IS THE LAST TIME I DO WORK FOR LITTLE OLD LADIES.
Cost me more in gas than what I got for the whole job.
And NO, it wasn't my FAULT like other suggested.

So strife- what did you find out? We need closure...

 

[Sparky555]

The unit is everything in MD lights & RAB Stealth sounds familiar. The installation price includes at least one call-back for an evening fine-tuning and the occasional bulb or unit replacement. Before I switched to RAB I had an old favorite that developed problems at one house only and I replaced it four times in three years at no cost. I don't recall any issues with RAB.

 

[ramsy]

THIS IS THE LAST TIME I DO WORK FOR LITTLE OLD LADIES.
Cost me more in gas than what I got for the whole job. And NO, it wasn't my FAULT like other suggested.

I'm encountering more pensioners who are alone, vulnerable, and easily taken by the scammers that ring my phone all day. The most suspicious and demanding of these can be retired ladies living alone, with no help for anything around the house.

For hanging a flat screen, one lady beat down my price and completely refused to compensate for ridiculous overtime needed for a digital-cable network reset, then expected me to move heavy furniture, planters, & take out the trash.

Trying to cry about it, I soon felt like the worst service contractor every encountered. I finally got away with some payment, but the deaf husband she abused to the point of tears was stuck there. My lasting impression is employees don't survive trying to explain such un-billable delays, one of these and your done.

More pensioners will need extra help, with diminishing Social Security, cut entitlements, and 401k's now lawfully pillaged by corporate bankruptcies, especially if alone and among the frailer sex. If service contractors must screen these pensioners without time for such courtesy, that leaves small owner operators, who can't fire themselves, as the only fools still willing to help these people.

 

[Gac66610]

had one tell me to go easy on her cause she was on a "fixed income" .... I told her she was lucky, I wasn't guaranteed a dime

 

[templdl]

I'm encountering more pensioners who are alone, vulnerable, and easily taken by the scammers that ring my phone all day. The most suspicious and demanding of these can be retired ladies living alone, with no help for anything around the house.

For hanging a flat screen, one lady beat down my price and completely refused to compensate for ridiculous overtime needed for a digital-cable network reset, then expected me to move heavy furniture, planters, & take out the trash.

Trying to cry about it, I soon felt like the worst service contractor every encountered. I finally got away with some payment, but the deaf husband she abused to the point of tears was stuck there. My lasting impression is employees don't survive trying to explain such un-billable delays, one of these and your done.

More pensioners will need extra help, with diminishing Social Security, cut entitlements, and 401k's now lawfully pillaged by corporate bankruptcies, especially if alone and among the frailer sex. If service contractors must screen these pensioners without time for such courtesy, that leaves small owner operators, who can't fire themselves, as the only fools still willing to help these people.

Have you ever considered that her husband wasn't realy deaf at all? Sounds like with a wife like he has faking being deaf may be the way to go.

 

[GUNNING]

I like working for little old ladies. They are courteous.
Its the 50 yr old houses with the 2 wire that gets me.

I think the flood has a reversed polarity.

 

[ritelec]

I like this post..............always had OK results with motions, till a few months back. Yes, these particular sensors beat me up a bit.............should have stuck with the RABs.


Just to note................this week a darn electronic door chime beat me up.....................ate 4 hours for a 1 dollar diode.


INSANE!

 

[K8MHZ]

I like this post..............always had OK results with motions, till a few months back. Yes, these particular sensors beat me up a bit.............should have stuck with the RABs.


Just to note................this week a darn electronic door chime beat me up.....................ate 4 hours for a 1 dollar diode.


INSANE!

Diodes fail in those quite often. Next time it will only take you five minutes.

 

[cowboyjwc]

Diodes fail in those quite often. Next time it will only take you five minutes.

Because you'll just replace the $20 chime.

 

[satcom]

Have you ever considered that her husband wasn't realy deaf at all? Sounds like with a wife like he has faking being deaf may be the way to go.

It looks like the ones that really need the help are the young couples with a home and children, a large number of the retired seniors have incomes that go off the scale, granted there are the few that are really in need but they usually pay, and never a complaint, you have to deal with the little old ladies on a case by case basis, so you can help the ones in true need, and charge the proper amount to the 6 figure plus, complaining seniors.

One little old lady up the road from me, had just about every contractor doing work for her, and they all fell for the poor little old lady act, and helped rebuild her home, so you can imagine the reaction of the contractors when she passed and left behind a huge estate, her son told one of the neighbors, wow the house really looks great. So you can never tell if someone is in true need or faking, we usually give try get them help if they are in real need, there are many programs out there to help seniors in need with home maint and repairs, and in many cities you can hook them up with an agency that will help, the agency will shake out the fakes and help those in need. we do a lot of small jobs and charge them a few dollars to make them feel they are not getting a free ride. most people are honest, it's the few rare ones that will try to get over on you.

 

[Strife]

Because you'll just replace the $20 chime.

And that why when someone calls me about their emergency light not working I tell them: "I'll pick a new light on my way"
20 dollars or so for a battery is not worth a 30-40 dollars fixture when you have to go back a week later because it was actually the charger.

 

[jaylectricity]

And that why when someone calls me about their emergency light not working I tell them: "I'll pick a new light on my way"
20 dollars or so for a battery is not worth a 30-40 dollars fixture when you have to go back a week later because it was actually the charger.

Are you telling them how much it will be for you to come do the work? Or do they just trust you and pay you whatever you tell them to?

That's fine, if they're willing absorb the extra 10-20 dollars without evening questioning you. What you should be saying is, "Do you want me to bring just the battery at the risk of it not being the battery and you paying me a second time to come out to replace the fixture? Or would you rather just spend the extra $20 now and have me replace the fixture right now?

And even that calls into question whether or not they need a new fixture. What if it IS only the battery? Then they just wasted $10-20 by calling you.

 

[kwired]

And that why when someone calls me about their emergency light not working I tell them: "I'll pick a new light on my way"20 dollars or so for a battery is not worth a 30-40 dollars fixture when you have to go back a week later because it was actually the charger.

Are you telling them how much it will be for you to come do the work? Or do they just trust you and pay you whatever you tell them to? That's fine, if they're willing absorb the extra 10-20 dollars without evening questioning you. What you should be saying is, "Do you want me to bring just the battery at the risk of it not being the battery and you paying me a second time to come out to replace the fixture? Or would you rather just spend the extra $20 now and have me replace the fixture right now?And even that calls into question whether or not they need a new fixture. What if it IS only the battery? Then they just wasted $10-20 by calling you.

You need to know what battery is needed or you will be making a second trip anyway.

 

[ritelec]

Not to get too off topic.........maybe the person that sent me this is a little ole' lady?

A out of state relocation company.... sent this to me for a few electrical things that need to be done in a house a couple of towns away.......

How do you "bid" on something so stupid?



We are in need of the following repairs to the home. Please submit your bid to me with the following information:
1) Please provide a bid ($ amount) for each item listed below. Please reference number of each repair under each category.

2) Please include your company?s full name, address, contact information and license numbers on the bid form.

3) Please include your estimated available start times for the repairs.

4) Please indicate your payment terms (50% down, etc).


Electrician Repairs:
1) There are double tapped neutral wires at the main panel buss bar and one double tapped circuit breaker in the sub-panel. There are two basement wall outlets which had no power when tested. One garage switch/junction box is not secured to the wall.


SOLUTION: ELECTRICIAN: Have an electrician make all repairs.



:blink:


INSANE!

 

[stevenje]

had one tell me to go easy on her cause she was on a "fixed income" .... I told her she was lucky, I wasn't guaranteed a dime

I got to remember this one!