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View Full Version : Problem customers?



cocoy
03-16-2009, 03:25 PM
Wow. Seems like the majority of you have to deal with some PITA customers.

Maybe I've been lucky or haven't been in business long enough. 2 years so far. But I haven't coma across these PITA or the so called "cheap" clients.

I've never had anyone ask for a discount. I did lower my price once when a client asked. They also lowered their fee for this specific project to compete for a bid. No big deal. After that I charged my normal fee and continued on.

I've done 20% off direct mailings for first time orders to attract new clients and have had them come back for my normal price afterwards. Did I attract cheap clients? Maybe...but I can't really verify that. They seemed to be happy and I made money.

Guess I'll just sit and wait for that PITA customer so I'll have a story to tell and learn how to deal with them when they appear. :D

vangogh
03-16-2009, 03:56 PM
It's nothing unusual to have clients and customers who are less than the best. Sometimes it's the client and sometimes it's two people not connecting. For the most part I've had great clients over the years, though I've had the occasional client I was happy not to work with again. Sometimes I've had a rocky start with a client only to realize one or the other of us might have been having a bad day when we first spoke and everything was fine after.

Hopefully you don't get any of those customers, but if you do you aren't alone.

huggytree
03-16-2009, 09:07 PM
ive only had a couple real bad customers...all of them have paid me, so maybe my 'bad' isnt that bad...

in my business i have alot of people who cant make up their minds and make constant changes...id love to charge for them and maybe someday i will, but right now no one would accept it.

after dealing with new people every day i am amazed how many people are out there who are crazy...ive had customers who talk to themselves all day, one left fake dog poop on a jobsite and laughed at me like a 8 year old, one change their fixtures on a new house 8x-each time back to the exact same expensive fixtures only to find out they are expensive and bring them right back to the original ones, one ordered 3 different whirlpool tubs..each time paying restocking..she paid double for the tub she accepted in the end....

my worst customer slammed the door in my face because i charged him $200 for an emergency call on a Sat....he knew the $ before i came, but thought because the job wasnt hard enough I should lower my price...he lived on a lake and had a Lexus & an Acura in the driveway. most of the plumbers who would be available on a Sat. for emergencies would have charged $500

bizcard
03-20-2009, 08:16 AM
ive had customers who talk to themselves all day

That's really funny. I used to be a supervisor in a call center a few years back and I had this one agent who talked to only one (1, uno) client for the entire 8-hour shift.

vangogh
03-20-2009, 11:30 AM
Was that one client a friend of his?

huggytree
03-20-2009, 08:19 PM
I kept saying 'what?' to this lady who was in the other room...i had my head under the sink & toilet and kept hearing her talk...i assumed it was to me....

the main contractor showed up and while outside i said ' she's alittle different?'....he said 'did you catch her talking to herself?'

maybe she's talking w/ spirits....

vangogh
03-20-2009, 10:17 PM
Who's name was on the check? The lady or the spirits?

huggytree
03-21-2009, 08:59 AM
i dont know because the check came from the contractor....as crazy as she was she was a great customer and nice to deal with....she liked talking to me about her cats...she loved highend products....she had a stamped concrete driveway with a 5' turtle in the middle of it....the thing that didnt fit with her is the fact that she was married. I usually find the crazy ones to be middle aged and single..living alone for too long seems to make people loopy..i wonder if her husband liked having 3 way conversations with the spirits & his wife.

seema
03-30-2009, 04:38 AM
Lowering the price once for anyone else may decrease the value in the market.But it do not means that only a particular group of client will attract.And what i think you did not do anything to worry about, its all business