Grrr... venting

[ishium 80439]

Have a neighbor who needs some work done on her place. She is a renter who has a real good relationship w/ the landlord. She is also a good friend of our family.

I went over to her place, took a look at what needed to be done, wrote a proposal and she forwarded it to him. I set up an appointment w/ him for "between 9 and 9:30" (and that's what I had written in my notes).

I went over to her house and he was not there. I called him at his home(approximately 15-20 minutes away) at 9:22 and he said he had just left because I was not there. I explained that I was within the time frame we established and asked when his next availibility was. He responded that he had found someone else who wanted the work more.

What do you do with this? I'm a big boy and can accept not getting a job, but why do you schedule someone when you don't even intend to meet them?

As I wrote before- Grrrr

 

[iMuse97]

Maybe I missed something. Was he never there?

Anyway, you've just got to ignore it and move on. He knows someone, and chose them.
Happens to me many times; always be professional in your communications, bidding, etc.,
and some of the best ones will remember you in the future, when they really need a professional.

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

Isium
Life is too short to worry over this situation. Sit back and try to enjoy your weekend.

 

[76nemo]

Have a neighbor who needs some work done on her place. She is a renter who has a real good relationship w/ the landlord. She is also a good friend of our family.

I went over to her place, took a look at what needed to be done, wrote a proposal and she forwarded it to him. I set up an appointment w/ him for "between 9 and 9:30" (and that's what I had written in my notes).

I went over to her house and he was not there. I called him at his home(approximately 15-20 minutes away) at 9:22 and he said he had just left because I was not there. I explained that I was within the time frame we established and asked when his next availibility was. He responded that he had found someone else who wanted the work more.

What do you do with this? I'm a big boy and can accept not getting a job, but why do you schedule someone when you don't even intend to meet them?

As I wrote before- Grrrr

My question IS....what was the proposal for??? I am not a fan of trying to pay bills by side jobs for family or friends. ALTHOUGH, I am a definite sucker:roll:

Your proposal was to point out problems and justify cost? Rentals are different. You may offer a free estimate, but why should you or would you show the renter first? She footing the bill??????


Hope you aren't scarred too badly, this surely won't be the first

 

[ishium 80439]

I believe he may have shown up, waited in his car for a few minutes and than left. The tenant said she never knew he was there.

I'm not really taking this one too hard. Really the drag is that the tenant is an older woman who really needs this work done and is a close friend of our family. I originally bid this back in July and the owner was out of town for the summer. It is starting to look like he just doesn't want to spend the money.

From a profesionnal perspective I understand that you win some and you lose some. However I wish he didn't waste my morning by waiting to meet him.

From a personal perspective it ticks me off that he is stringing this woman along with the promise of getting the work done when it seems that he has no intention of getting it done.

Again, no real point, just venting....

 

[brantmacga]

In the future, don't schedule jobs within a window like that. If you think there's a chance you won't be there by 9, you say 9:30. If you think you'll be even a minute late, you call 15 minutes early and inform the customer you will be a minute late and apologize. You have to value the customers time, and even more so, prove to them that you do by being there when you say you will.

 

[480sparky]

It may very well be that "9:00 to 9:30" did not mean you would show up in that time frame, but it meant to the customer that you would show up at 9:00 and spend a half hour there doing the job.

But odds are, he took your bid and shopped it until he found someone else who would rather eat CheesyMac and hot dogs every night.

 

[ishium 80439]

My question IS....what was the proposal for??? I am not a fan of trying to pay bills by side jobs for family or friends. ALTHOUGH, I am a definite sucker:roll:

Your proposal was to point out problems and justify cost? Rentals are different. You may offer a free estimate, but why should you or would you show the renter first? She footing the bill??????


Hope you aren't scarred too badly, this surely won't be the first

The biggest issue is power to the detached garage (there are also some interior GFCI issues and the like). The problem here is that the is about a 40' walk w/ no lights. Part of the proposal was light on the garage from an interior switch. She had been in contact w/ the owner about this and he agreed that it was an issue. The time I spoke w/ him on the phone he reiterated that to me.

She is 65+ and here at 8000'+ above sea level the snow and ice comes in October (3' storm last week) and doesn't leave until late May. It can be a treacherous walk for her to get to her car.

 

[LarryFine]

I went over to her house and he was not there. I called him at his home(approximately 15-20 minutes away) at 9:22 and he said he had just left because I was not there.

Where were you when you called him? It's possible he really was there, but you may never know.

He responded that he had found someone else who wanted the work more.

Sounds like a cover for not telling you sooner about the better price he got elsewhere with your proposal as ammunition. (Wanted the work more; yeah, right! :roll

I say that because he knew when you called him he found someone else. I doubt he arranged other estimates in 22 minutes.

You could always ask your friend (the tenant) if any other electricians have been in the house to look around.

What do you do with this? I'm a big boy and can accept not getting a job, but why do you schedule someone when you don't even intend to meet them?

If life was fair, what would you consider to be justice? I agree with you, by the way, but I may have a little more experience and a couple of suggestions:

1. Call as you're leave to meet him. I never make a trip without confirming that each of us is on time. Keep differences in travel time in mind.

2. When you're meeting an owner to go over needed work, keep your estimate until you meet, go over the details, then present your proposal.

As I wrote before- Grrrr

When I saw "Grrr... venting", I thought you were griping about running exhaust duct.

 

[LarryFine]

In the future, don't schedule jobs within a window like that. If you think there's a chance you won't be there by 9, you say 9:30. If you think you'll be even a minute late, you call 15 minutes early and inform the customer you will be a minute late and apologize. You have to value the customers time, and even more so, prove to them that you do by being there when you say you will.

Sage advice. If you want to make an impression on someone, always be waiting when they arrive, even if you have to lie about your expected arrival time.

More than once, I've called a customer while on the way, but still a bit behind, and they apologized for running late before I even had a chance to say anything.

I just tell them it's not a problem, and I don't mind waiting. If they might beat me, I tell them not to rush, I'm going to run and get gas and be back shortly.

 

[boboelectric]

It may very well be that "9:00 to 9:30" did not mean you would show up in that time frame, but it meant to the customer that you would show up at 9:00 and spend a half hour there doing the job.

But odds are, he took your bid and shopped it until he found someone else who would rather eat CheesyMac and hot dogs every night.

I could live on that meal!

 

[mcclary's electrical]

Have a neighbor who needs some work done on her place. She is a renter who has a real good relationship w/ the landlord. She is also a good friend of our family.

I went over to her place, took a look at what needed to be done, wrote a proposal and she forwarded it to him. I set up an appointment w/ him for "between 9 and 9:30" (and that's what I had written in my notes).

I went over to her house and he was not there. I called him at his home(approximately 15-20 minutes away) at 9:22 and he said he had just left because I was not there. I explained that I was within the time frame we established and asked when his next availibility was. He responded that he had found someone else who wanted the work more.

What do you do with this? I'm a big boy and can accept not getting a job, but why do you schedule someone when you don't even intend to meet them?

As I wrote before- Grrrr

YOu should have been there at 8:45,,,,period

 

[cruzJD]

I?m 10 minutes early as a rule, if I can?t be there 5 minutes early (unexpected traffic) then I call and tell them where I?m at and apologies. I stop down the road if I need to and get my stuff together. Sitting in my truck talking on the phone or getting my stuff together for a meeting is a sign of weakness if it takes you more than 2 minutes.

 

[SEO]

Sometimes people like that are even harder to find when trying to get your check. A quote I heard is "there is no such thing as being on time your either early or your late".

 

[satcom]

YOu should have been there at 8:45,,,,period

No you needed to process the credit card payment they gave you for the dispatch fee, then they would of had a reason to be there, remenber your in business and your time is money. Just about every service I have come to my home wants a credit card payment in advance even before they come out to look, because that know on residential calls they would go broke if they chased every call without an up front small charge.

 

[growler]

I set up an appointment w/ him for "between 9 and 9:30" (and that's what I had written in my notes).

I believe he may have shown up, waited in his car for a few minutes and than left.

I'm thinking that there was a lack of communication between you and the owner. I would think that the appointment was for 9:00 AM and that you would need thirty minutes of his time to explain the job and to justify the cost.

When you weren't there at 9:00 the owner starts to get upset because property owners don't like to spend money on rental property in the first place and you gave him an easy out. He was probably planning to use cost as a reason not to do the work but when you were late it was an even better excuse.

It's hard to get a job to do something that the renter wants, it's better to wait and let the property owner call you. If they ever decide that they need to spend some money for any reason then you at least have a chance of getting the job.

 

[satcom]

I'm thinking that there was a lack of communication between you and the owner. I would think that the appointment was for 9:00 AM and that you would need thirty minutes of his time to explain the job and to justify the cost.

When you weren't there at 9:00 the owner starts to get upset because property owners don't like to spend money on rental property in the first place and you gave him an easy out. He was probably planning to use cost as a reason not to do the work but when you were late it was an even better excuse.

It's hard to get a job to do something that the renter wants, it's better to wait and let the property owner call you. If they ever decide that they need to spend some money for any reason then you at least have a chance of getting the job.

So true, that is why we use the credit card, and secure a dispatch fee, for these jobs, we screen out the serious buyers, from the low bid shoppers, and we usually end up with a pretty good base of landlords willing to pay for good service.