Cheeky customers should I respond

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How would you guys handle this,


just this minute finished a 5x4m living room and a 3x3 dining room for a customer of mine, who has changed the job twice and I have had to make a couple of site visits to check these changes.


both rooms had heavy stippled artex with coving, they wanted to keep the coving so it was Reskim all the way. The skirting line also wanted bonding out.


price was £810.00 all in.


I got it done in 3 solid days, it said approx 4 on the quote.


just finished, looks very smart and tidy, customers just said to me, we thought we had you for 4 days, and started questioning the 'day rate'


i told them I don't work on day rate, I work on price per job, he and his missus were adamant that I was taking home 'too much and if I had put 3 days on the quote he wouldn't have used me'


i could have easily stretched the fooker out for another day, but decided to go for it so I could go out pricing work up tomorrow.


the problem I have with day rate, is when customer gets you on a day rate they start to think you work for them, start to think they can tell you when to start and when to finish, how long you can have a brew for and when said brew can be supped.


the one thing that determines how I work and how long I work is the plaster or render on the wall.


i just tried to explain that the money taken goes into a business account with relevant overheads taken off ie tax, mats etc and I pay myself £200.00 per week.


Funny thing is I told his missus yesterday I was going to get stuck in so I can finish it sooner as I was/am really busy and she was over the moon and her words were "that would be fantastic"


You can't win with some of these pricks, the want the website, nice cards, nice flyers he had fookin 3 quotes out of me and 2 site visits before I even got my tools out.


It was the end of the day, i was a bit shocked to be fair but it has fooked me off, they haven't paid yet because I invoice after the jobs are finished, which I will do tomorrow.


basically they were happy with job, but because I got it done sooner than expected the started questioning the price

im pretty tempted to send an email with the invoice, just explaining that I do not charge a day rate and that I was pretty disgusted with their comments at the end of a nicely left job which had been pretty fooking tough over 3 hot days and how I go about my business is note of theirs.

they accepted the price to have 2 x rooms patched and skimmed, that's what they got.
 
I wouldn't say anything ti the money's in your pocket if it had ran into an extra day would they give you extra?
 
mac_plastering said:
How would you guys handle this,


just this minute finished a 5x4m living room and a 3x3 dining room for a customer of mine, who has changed the job twice and I have had to make a couple of site visits to check these changes.


both rooms had heavy stippled artex with coving, they wanted to keep the coving so it was Reskim all the way. The skirting line also wanted bonding out.


price was £810.00 all in.


I got it done in 3 solid days, it said approx 4 on the quote.


just finished, looks very smart and tidy, customers just said to me, we thought we had you for 4 days, and started questioning the 'day rate'


i told them I don't work on day rate, I work on price per job, he and his missus were adamant that I was taking home 'too much and if I had put 3 days on the quote he wouldn't have used me'


i could have easily stretched the fooker out for another day, but decided to go for it so I could go out pricing work up tomorrow.


the problem I have with day rate, is when customer gets you on a day rate they start to think you work for them, start to think they can tell you when to start and when to finish, how long you can have a brew for and when said brew can be supped.


the one thing that determines how I work and how long I work is the plaster or render on the wall.


i just tried to explain that the money taken goes into a business account with relevant overheads taken off ie tax, mats etc and I pay myself £200.00 per week.


Funny thing is I told his missus yesterday I was going to get stuck in so I can finish it sooner as I was/am really busy and she was over the moon and her words were "that would be fantastic"


You can't win with some of these pricks, the want the website, nice cards, nice flyers he had fookin 3 quotes out of me and 2 site visits before I even got my tools out.


It was the end of the day, i was a bit shocked to be fair but it has fooked me off, they haven't paid yet because I invoice after the jobs are finished, which I will do tomorrow.


basically they were happy with job, but because I got it done sooner than expected the started questioning the price

im pretty tempted to send an email with the invoice, just explaining that I do not charge a day rate and that I was pretty disgusted with their comments at the end of a nicely left job which had been pretty fooking tough over 3 hot days and how I go about my business is note of theirs.

they accepted the price to have 2 x rooms patched and skimmed, that's what they got.
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Say as little as possible,basically you have no need to justify yourself.if it had taken five days,would they pay extra ?
they wouldn't have paid extra. You worked hard ,just invoice ask normal.take the money,fook them
 
Thanks lads, hope your all well and busy iv not been on for a while.

Must be fooking silly season again, a guy the other night asked me to skim a 40m room for £3 per m2 inc mats on 5th floor of a block of flats, ha, he was a cuntface
 
Based in sheffield john, but booked up until October with work and I just stick to domestics now.

retired electrical engineer who was bragging about his 2k bifold doors this morning.

say no more
 
We are so fn busy now, I am trying to be relaxed but everyone's ringing me,that's our game feast or famine..I am never really booked up but never really stopped either,very hard to get people to take on work, the good guys are always busy
 
As others have said Invoice as normal get ya money and thank them with a smile and a handshake, not worth getting annoyed over, but my advice is "do not put how many days job will take on your quote" just give a price once agreed do the job if it takes 4 days so what, if it takes 2 days that's your BONUS
 
I made a similar mistake the other week by stating i think the job should take 4 to 5 days and gave a price.I had to move furniture to other rooms and half way through was given 2 more walls to do. I got it all completed in 4.5 days and sent my invoice. I got the response of clearly he is not paying me the full amount because I did a half day so He should save. After a couple of emails i just thought b*ll***s to this have your saving. Lesson learnt . He has more work to be done in the future. And how im looking forward to pricing it :RpS_laugh:
 
johniosaif said:
We are so fn busy now, I am trying to be relaxed but everyone's ringing me,that's our game feast or famine..I am never really booked up but never really stopped either,very hard to get people to take on work, the good guys are always busy
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Aye it's madness round here, you could work 10 days a week and still not have enough time
 
Tempted to send this after he pays.

Thanks you for payment ***

regarding your comments on 'day rate' I would like to remind you I do not operate on a day rate basis due to this possibly leading to confusion on start times and finish times and job length.

I would also like to remind you of the 3 quotations (2 x revised quotes) you received and extra site visit needed, which amounts to an extra 4 hours work approx.

The works duration time on the quote is not exact and can vary depending on various situations, if I was on day rate, and worked slower and stretched the job out an extra 5th day, would you have paid me and extra days labour on top of the price I quoted?

On the Tuesday while working at your property I decided to put more gear on the wall and spoke to your wife regarding this to get it finished sooner, to which your wife seemed pleased at.

The price quoted was for a patch and Re-skim to the living room and dining room including ceilings, that is the service MAC Plastering has provided you with, the price is for the works, not for the time.

I am sorry you do not like the way I operate my business, and in future, I respectfully request you use a "plasterer" that will work on a day rate for you and not a small plastering and rendering business operating on a block price per job basis.

shall I ?
 
mac_plastering said:
Tempted to send this after he pays.

Thanks you for payment ***

regarding your comments on 'day rate' I would like to remind you I do not operate on a day rate basis due to this possibly leading to confusion on start times and finish times and job length.

I would also like to remind you of the 3 quotations (2 x revised quotes) you received and extra site visit needed, which amounts to an extra 4 hours work approx.

The works duration time on the quote is not exact and can vary depending on various situations, if I was on day rate, and worked slower and stretched the job out an extra 5th day, would you have paid me and extra days labour on top of the price I quoted?

On the Tuesday while working at your property I decided to put more gear on the wall and spoke to your wife regarding this to get it finished sooner, to which your wife seemed pleased at.

The price quoted was for a patch and Re-skim to the living room and dining room including ceilings, that is the service MAC Plastering has provided you with, the price is for the works, not for the time.

I am sorry you do not like the way I operate my business, and in future, I respectfully request you use a "plasterer" that will work on a day rate for you and not a small plastering and rendering business operating on a block price per job basis.

shall I ?
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No, take the money, hopefully you receive it all,forget about it, make the next wage, move on move on
 
wait for the cheque to clear first :RpS_thumbup:

i work on a similar basis. i'll give them a price for the job. thats what customers want. they dont want to be charged by the day in case you're swinging the lead. i'll tell them it should take so many days, but if it takes less time its the same price, if it takes more when there is no extra work involved its the same price. sounds like a complete coont. instead of being happy at getting a good job hes moaning about a price hed already agreed on.

woman i was working for today and the rest of the week started crying when she came to see how i was getting on at dinnertime. shed had that many arseholes come and go she was overjoyed to be getting the work done properly at last. the builders and spreads who had been before were shocking. dont know how they sleep at night. got another weeks work out of it for later in the month as well. i felt good about myself. spreading a little happiness. like that guy in highway to heaven who used to travel around helping those in need.
 
In that situation I say if it took me 5 days would you have paid me more? They asked for and accepted a set price. End of story.
 
A month or two back, I accepted a day rate plus mats as the bloke kept changing his mind on a job. Anyway, I quoted £x per day, per man plus materials. I detailed on the quote an estimate of 2 man days were required. Anyway, me and another spread smashed the job out on a Saturday, took us a full on day, think it was 3 big sets in all...about 13-14 bags plus the dubbin out etc

So, I arrive at house a few days later to collect payment and miss prim was sat in the X5 whilst mr charisma was cleaning his golf clubs in the garage. I'd told them on the phone what the bill was by text, so I was somewhat amazed that they were about 55% short. Now normally, I don't count the cash however fir some reason I did..... Then, the argument started, 'you said £x per day and you were only here for one day and my mate told me this job should only be 5 bags of plaster'....... Even though I'd given them a receipt for mats used and hadn't taken the pi55.

So, I had to pull up their quote and draw their attention to the 'per day, per man' bit which, they could not get their orange faces over.....thing is, if I'd done it on my own it'd taken me 3 days and they wouldn't have battered an eyelid.

By by the looks of their house, cars, car their teenage kid was driving they weren't short of a bob or two so why do they think I will work for peanuts?

Really boiled my sh1t..... Especially as I had to go back again to collect the rest of the cash.
 
mac_plastering said:
Tempted to send this after he pays.

Thanks you for payment ***

regarding your comments on 'day rate' I would like to remind you I do not operate on a day rate basis due to this possibly leading to confusion on start times and finish times and job length.

I would also like to remind you of the 3 quotations (2 x revised quotes) you received and extra site visit needed, which amounts to an extra 4 hours work approx.

The works duration time on the quote is not exact and can vary depending on various situations, if I was on day rate, and worked slower and stretched the job out an extra 5th day, would you have paid me and extra days labour on top of the price I quoted?

On the Tuesday while working at your property I decided to put more gear on the wall and spoke to your wife regarding this to get it finished sooner, to which your wife seemed pleased at.

The price quoted was for a patch and Re-skim to the living room and dining room including ceilings, that is the service MAC Plastering has provided you with, the price is for the works, not for the time.

I am sorry you do not like the way I operate my business, and in future, I respectfully request you use a "plasterer" that will work on a day rate for you and not a small plastering and rendering business operating on a block price per job basis.

shall I ?
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Do not send this, just take the money with a smile mate.

His response to the second paragraph would be " but you offer free quotations".

You will never win against people like this, move on to the next one mate, you'll soon forget about it.
 
you shot yourself in the foot when you added 4 days required in your quote. your clients are like plastering contractors that you sub off, the harder you work the less money you receive.
 
OK so what I am learning here is never give a quote that says how many days. Wait until the customer asks and say, "Well I can never tell for certain because some work days are longer than others so if I say approximately two days I can't guarantee it as it depends on what happens on the job."

Good to know, you wouldn't think people would be such c***s but then you are not really thinking about it, because if you were you'd realise nah of course they are always definitely going to be c***s!
 
Hairybear said:
A month or two back, I accepted a day rate plus mats as the bloke kept changing his mind on a job. Anyway, I quoted £x per day, per man plus materials. I detailed on the quote an estimate of 2 man days were required. Anyway, me and another spread smashed the job out on a Saturday, took us a full on day, think it was 3 big sets in all...about 13-14 bags plus the dubbin out etc

So, I arrive at house a few days later to collect payment and miss prim was sat in the X5 whilst mr charisma was cleaning his golf clubs in the garage. I'd told them on the phone what the bill was by text, so I was somewhat amazed that they were about 55% short. Now normally, I don't count the cash however fir some reason I did..... Then, the argument started, 'you said £x per day and you were only here for one day and my mate told me this job should only be 5 bags of plaster'....... Even though I'd given them a receipt for mats used and hadn't taken the pi55.

So, I had to pull up their quote and draw their attention to the 'per day, per man' bit which, they could not get their orange faces over.....thing is, if I'd done it on my own it'd taken me 3 days and they wouldn't have battered an eyelid.

By by the looks of their house, cars, car their teenage kid was driving they weren't short of a bob or two so why do they think I will work for peanuts?

Really boiled my sh1t..... Especially as I had to go back again to collect the rest of the cash.
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bastardos :RpS_cursing: its always the better off ones. they rarely give tips either. walking around with their fcuking noses in the air so they dont have to smell the sweat of the working man.
 
Jurek said:
bastardos :RpS_cursing: its always the better off ones. they rarely give tips either. walking around with their fcuking noses in the air so they dont have to smell the sweat of the working man.
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I know. On the other hand, I did a job two weeks ago, float and finish a chimney breast. Guy hands over the cash and a dozen eggs......:huh: I say thank you politely, thinking he's thinking I'm on the bread line and he marches me down the garden to his chicken coupe where these little fellas had just been laid :RpS_thumbsup:

was well chuffed!
 
Hairybear said:
A month or two back, I accepted a day rate plus mats as the bloke kept changing his mind on a job. Anyway, I quoted £x per day, per man plus materials. I detailed on the quote an estimate of 2 man days were required. Anyway, me and another spread smashed the job out on a Saturday, took us a full on day, think it was 3 big sets in all...about 13-14 bags plus the dubbin out etc

why give a quote per day per man then work like that, 3 big hits ?
the client must have thought that he had found himself a pair of monkeys pratts!
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johniosaif said:
No, take the money, hopefully you receive it all,forget about it, make the next wage, move on move on
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take the money put it down to experienced gained - it would only make you bitter and twisted in the end - and take you down to their level :RpS_thumbsup:
 
price the job, no need for the time it will take, you can give them a rough idea, but stating ie. 4 days, isnt a good idea, as some people are T***s..
 
malc said:
Hairybear said:
A month or two back, I accepted a day rate plus mats as the bloke kept changing his mind on a job. Anyway, I quoted £x per day, per man plus materials. I detailed on the quote an estimate of 2 man days were required. Anyway, me and another spread smashed the job out on a Saturday, took us a full on day, think it was 3 big sets in all...about 13-14 bags plus the dubbin out etc

why give a quote per day per man then work like that, 3 big hits ?
the client must have thought that he had found himself a pair of monkeys pratts!
Click to expand...

Because, as it went I then got loads of work on and needed to get this job out the way.........:RpS_crying:
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mac_plastering said:
Tempted to send this after he pays.

Thanks you for payment ***

regarding your comments on 'day rate' I would like to remind you I do not operate on a day rate basis due to this possibly leading to confusion on start times and finish times and job length.

I would also like to remind you of the 3 quotations (2 x revised quotes) you received and extra site visit needed, which amounts to an extra 4 hours work approx.

The works duration time on the quote is not exact and can vary depending on various situations, if I was on day rate, and worked slower and stretched the job out an extra 5th day, would you have paid me and extra days labour on top of the price I quoted?

On the Tuesday while working at your property I decided to put more gear on the wall and spoke to your wife regarding this to get it finished sooner, to which your wife seemed pleased at.

The price quoted was for a patch and Re-skim to the living room and dining room including ceilings, that is the service MAC Plastering has provided you with, the price is for the works, not for the time.

I am sorry you do not like the way I operate my business, and in future, I respectfully request you use a "plasterer" that will work on a day rate for you and not a small plastering and rendering business operating on a block price per job basis.

shall I ?
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cutting your nose off to spite your face ,don't burn bridges , don't put time, profit or anything they can use against yourself on invoice/quote
 
Tell them to shove it up there arse.



After you have been paid.

Had this happen to me. Smashed a 3/4 day job out by doing 2 12 hour days. Came to pay and was like you said four days. Pointing out the 12 hours each day I did I took the money and walked off. had to wuote for more work so inOver priced the rest of the house and didn't get it. Thank god.
 
mikeadams1985 said:
Tell them to shove it up there arse.



After you have been paid.

Had this happen to me. Smashed a 3/4 day job out by doing 2 12 hour days. Came to pay and was like you said four days. Pointing out the 12 hours each day I did I took the money and walked off. had to wuote for more work so inOver priced the rest of the house and didn't get it. Thank god.
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Done that few times what matter with people
 
Calm down mate, don't send the email. Just be polite to the customer and move on, reputation is more important.

If it helps the way we price jobs is on an hourly rate, we tell the customer our day rate is £loadsofmoney! for 8 hours if we go over it's £loadsofmoney! per hour. Picking up materials is part of our day so charged for.

This has always worked for us, we supply all our materials at trade.

You don't lose out this way.
 
Always say it's a "FIXED PRICE" give them a rough idea of time if they ask, but say it may take less it may take more but you only have to pay the "FIXED PRICE". :RpS_thumbup:
Unless extras are added & quoted for of course :RpS_wink:
They can't argue with that, but if they do smash em in the face :-)

They wouldn't go to pay a bill at a mechanics garage & saying hang on £270?? It only took you 2 & a half hours I'm not paying that, would they? :RpS_wink:
 
As said, never EVER put the amount of time in writing, but if you have to then be prepared to spend the stated time on the job. For something like this if I thought it was gonna be 4 days (or 3 harder days) I'd just tell them - verbally - that it would be done in 'about a week'
 
I give a price but also say I estimate it will take 3-4 days etc. Did a job mon Tuesday where I quoted board 2 ceilings and cove and said 3 days as there was a lot of furniture to move and was on my own. Went flat out and finished it in 2 days (as it should) plus he had moved all the furniture out. When I had finished the first ceiling on first day he said about me coming back Wednesday and I said I won't need to as will finish tomorrow. The look on his face was as if I was committing daylight robbery. Anyway paid up before I had finished on Tuesday and booked me in for more so couldn't be too pissed off.
 
It's part of a plasterers arsenal of cliches when pricing, you have to be prepared for these questions. Non committal statements always work best, never ever give a timeline if you can help it.
 
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