Your number is way out of line !!!! (again!)

[charlie b]

I think most customers will be able to see right through a lie, or at least you should presume that they will. So I would not recommend making up the next customer who is waiting for you to arrive as soon as you finish this job.

Here is another way you could look at this type of situation:

The one who wins is the one with the better ?BATNA.?

I learned this many years ago, and it has, on occasion, come in handy. The acronym stands for, ?Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement.? It is a fancy way of asking, ?Who has the better fall-back position?? It works like this:

(1) If you don?t come to an agreement on a price, and therefore you don?t do this job for this customer, then what will you do instead, and how attractive or unattractive is this going to be to you?

(2) If you don?t come to an agreement on a price, and therefore you don?t do this job for this customer, then what will the customer do instead, and how attractive or unattractive is this going to be to them?

(3) Which is worse to the affected party, item (1) or item (2)?

 

[emahler]

Spoken like a true engineer

 

[ELoss]

Try adding a jerk fee

Try adding a jerk fee

Every contractor has this story to tell and everyone of them ends the same way. They regret that they ever cut the price or did something extra ordinary. The best strategy is to hold your ground. Blame the boss or if you don't have a boss, make one up and blame him. Years ago I got tired of having this conversation with some of my customers. When I sensed this conversation coming on I imediately taked on a jerk fee. By adding some compensation for dealing with people like this I either chased them away or had something built in to give back or pay for what ever difficulty they created.​

 

[Rich R]

One thing I noticed is that the majority of the time the Referrals you get from a cheapskate customer are usually going to be other cheapskates.

These people have the mindset that they are doing you a favor. They are allowing you the opportunity to put shoes on your childrens feet.

They want you to do the job as cheap as possible and then go back home to your barefoot wife and hungry crying kids and be thankful you can eat this week.

How dare you try to make enough to buy your kids a lollipop.

When they refer you to someone it is not about the quality of work you did, it is more about how you dropped your pants when they haggled the price with you. " Oh Yeah, Joe does good work, and cheap too!! Just make sure you complain about the price and you will get him down"

 

[growler]

I think most customers will be able to see right through a lie, or at least you should presume that they will.

Anyone caught lieing to a customer just needs more practice or perhaps their pants really did catch on fire ( dead give away, I carry a fire extinguisher ).:grin: :grin:

 

[powerslave]

One thing I noticed is that the majority of the time the Referrals you get from a cheapskate customer are usually going to be other cheapskates.

These people have the mindset that they are doing you a favor. They are allowing you the opportunity to put shoes on your childrens feet.

They want you to do the job as cheap as possible and then go back home to your barefoot wife and hungry crying kids and be thankful you can eat this week.

How dare you try to make enough to buy your kids a lollipop.

When they refer you to someone it is not about the quality of work you did, it is more about how you dropped your pants when they haggled the price with you. " Oh Yeah, Joe does good work, and cheap too!! Just make sure you complain about the price and you will get him down"

The way I always put it is you do the work for the cheapos and they tell you," Now go crawl back in your cardboard box till I need you again.":grin:

 

[SPARKS40]

My response to difficult customers has always been " You may get it done for less, but it will cost you more if i have to come back to fix it ".

 

[LLSolutions]

We've all heard that line before, more work in store if i get a break now. I get this on almost every emergency call and i'll be honest its at least $300 if you wake me up even if its to reset a gfci next door. I tell them i'll give you that price break on the next job sometimes i get more work sometimes i don't, but it keeps me from feeling like a used up contraceptive method.

 

[LarryFine]

I had a call from a guy who said he had a rental house in which he wanted all of the smokes R&R'ed. I gave him a decent per-house price, and he asked for a price break, saying he'd have me do a second house when the time came.

I naturally said I'd give the discount "when the time came." He understood and agreed on my offered price, saying he would call and I'd give a discount. Sure enough, a couple of months later, he did, I did, and we were both happy.

It was well worth it for the security of a good past paying record and an appreciative and pleasant customer. He was a gentleman, and will receive priority attention should he ever call again.

 

[danickstr]

Here in Seattle I have found that other EC companies charge (on retail calls) 125/half hour and 60/half hour after that.

 

[electricmanscott]

"You're being penny wise and dollar foolish. If you need help I can have one of my guys help you. You and I are done doing business with each other."

That's as far as I would have gone with the conversation. As I walked away I would have cracked "Enjoy your party......."

Who needs this loser.