Just curious,.....

[76nemo]

I have a couple of gas guys here replacing the rental water heater. I offered them drinks which they gladly accepted. I am happy to be of in any assistance. Just wondering, do any of you other guys accept offers of the such from customers?

I tend to stray away from it, no hard feelings, I thank them immensely, but I tend not to accept. How about the rest of you???

These guys are great, I have the day off, they liked my music, so I cranked it for them. They are very clean about the job and would gladly make them lunch. I'll see if they accept. Would you as professionals in the trade????????

 

[76nemo]

No lunch, they brought their own obviously. Super clean job, no needing to clean after them. Too bad all service tech's weren't that good!!!!

Others ask on how to start/run a business, here's a great example.

 

[tkb]

I would take a drink from a customer if offered.

What about using the bathroom?

 

[billsnuff]

Usually just myself and son. Refreshment, yes. Lunch, nada. But, I agree, clean as you go and clean when done, part of the job.

 

[Besoeker]

I have a couple of gas guys here replacing the rental water heater. I offered them drinks which they gladly accepted. I am happy to be of in any assistance. Just wondering, do any of you other guys accept offers of the such from customers?

I tend to stray away from it, no hard feelings, I thank them immensely, but I tend not to accept. How about the rest of you???

These guys are great, I have the day off, they liked my music, so I cranked it for them. They are very clean about the job and would gladly make them lunch. I'll see if they accept. Would you as professionals in the trade????????

If a customer wants to offer me a cup of coffee when I'm on his site, I would have no great problem with that.
In a similar vein, if we have suppliers on our site, I'd reciprocate.
Anything more than that would depend entirely on circumstances. And culture.

 

[76nemo]

I would take a drink from a customer if offered.

What about using the bathroom?

I'll try to fix almost anything in front of me. With furnaces and water heaters, I prove it's a fuel supply problem and step away. I did my part, let a licensed person come in for gas work. If they need to use the bathroom, than no problem. If you want to track mud throughout my house, than I learned a hard lesson, and I will NEVER call you again!!!!!

I have thee utmost respect for customers. I would like to get in return:wink:

 

[Besoeker]

I'll try to fix almost anything in front of me. With furnaces and water heaters, I prove it's a fuel supply problem and step away. I did my part, let a licensed person come in for gas work. If they need to use the bathroom, than no problem. If you want to track mud throughout my house, than I learned a hard lesson, and I will NEVER call you again!!!!!

I have thee utmost respect for customers. I would like to get in return:wink:

Quite.
Do as you would be done by.

 

[celtic]

When we have people working at the house, our SOP:
- Coffee and donuts at the ready...7AM
- Water/gatorade/soda/coffee all day
- Lunch is always offered....if the guys "seem iffy" about it...we get it anyway ~ subs or pizza
- Bathroom is at the top of stairs

I try my hardest to NOT offer any help - when I work, I prefer no customer help ~ I do know what I am doing ....I know the feeling and don't want to offend them.

 

[stickboy1375]

What kind of drinks are we talking about? :grin:

 

[iwire]

As the customer I would offer them drinks, bathroom etc. When I had my roof done I brought the guys beers for after work.

When I am the one working I pretty much refuse anything from the customer. Maybe drinks. We used to do a lot of service calls to 'Starbucks' and I never once accepted the offer of free drinks.

 

[electricalperson]

i get offered beers all the time at work but never take it. if im really working hard and the customer asks if i want water or coffee or whatever i take it. sometimes they even give homemade cookies and brownies and i have no problem eating them :grin: personally if someone offers me something i will take it so i dont offend them.

i worked at an italian couples house once and they made us breakfast. cookies, fruit, cerial and some hard biscuit thing you get at coffee shops. they made us sit down and eat

 

[celtic]

.... some hard biscuit thing you get at coffee shops....

:-?
Don Vito Corleone just rolled over in his grave

It's called "Biscotti"...

...even a non-coffee-drinking Irishman knows that :grin:

 

[electricalperson]

:-?
Don Vito Corleone just rolled over in his grave

It's called "Biscotti"...

...even a non-coffee-drinking Irishman knows that :grin:

i forgot what they were called since i hate those and never really ate them

 

[Besoeker]

I'm an old guy and have been round the block a few times.
Sometimes ridden rough and put up wet as my pretty southern belle would say.:grin: And sometimes given VIP treatment.

A couple of contrasting incidents.

I went to France to fix a VSD on a plastics extruder. I had to make my own way to the obscure location, find a hotel etc. It came to lunchtime and everyone was shuffling off. Someone realised that I was there and a bit of a problem - even though I was there to help them.
M. Leclerc will take you to lunch. OK. We drove to a restaurant. He dropped me off and said he would return in an hour to pick me up.

I went to Spain to look at a problem on a VSD in a steel mill.
The engineer picked me up from the airport, gave me a room in his own house, took care of all meals, transport, etc.

 

[celtic]

i forgot what they were called since i hate those and never really ate them

I hate them too...and as an added bonus my wife (Sicilian) told I said it wrong...she said: "It's Biscotti...not Biscotti ."
:-?

So now I am in trouble...thanks pal.

 

[ceknight]

I hate them too...and as an added bonus my wife (Sicilian) told I said it wrong...she said: "It's Biscotti...not Biscotti ."

I never much cared for them, too dry and crunchy. Then I discovered on a recent road trip that bakeries in places like Sylva NC and Belmar, NJ don't make them dry and crunchy. They're quite nice when they aren't over-baked.

Re the OP: I've been known to schedule service calls around tea time for my customers that make good tea.

 

[tonyou812]

I almost always refuse, unless the person absolutely and positively insists, like last week I was finishing a home studio and the person absolutely insisted that I try his homemade humus. He didn't take no for an answer. It was delicious non the less. And about a year ago I did a bunch of add ons at a Chinese lady's house and she would not take no for an answer so me and my friend had some of the best homemade Chinese food ever.
The only time Ill accept an offer is if I run out of water and its been a really hot day.

 

[wawireguy]

Free drinks... Yep, no alchohol unless I"m running the show.. Free food, if it's made and handed to me. You bet. Customer has to make it. Nope.

 

[76nemo]

More replies than I thought. As kind of a rule, no......, not pride, I don't accept. I want to work for Bob,....beer when the job is done?:wink: I have been offered that but we all know we can't. I thought some of you might agree with me on not accepting. This time I was on the giving end. These guys were very kind and curtious. I would of had them for lunch anytime.

I didn't have to clean a single thing after they left!!!!


Thanks for the replies guys:wink:

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

Food, coffee, something to drink, absolutely not...




Cash..................small bills, untraceable, in an envelope and passed through the back window of my car as I am leaving...no problem :wink: :grin:



When I was much younger, I worked with my father, who had worked for his father, who was right off the boat.
My father told me that respect of the customer is #1. If they offered you food or drink, do not say no, they may never offer it again.
While working for my father, we never bought lunch to the job, his customers knew it was an "unwritten rule" to serve the boys (me an my identical twin, the twin thing always and still is a lot of fun).


Today, I will not take a thing from anyone on the job, as we all know what people will be thinking.