Burned for a lot of money

[Jean-Claude]

A month ago I responded telling him, in short, cash up front, contract in hand and a price. If he wants more than initially requested, the price will go up and another contract will be written and it must be paid in advance.



He didn't respond until today. He wants to move forward.



My guess is he tried to find someone to do it and couldn't find that right someone and wants the sweet life back. /facepalm

 

[Ron Ketcham]

Run! Forrest! Run!!!

LOL! This guy is still going to be nothing but grief in short order.

Drop him like a stink bomb, you won't regret it when the smoke clears.

Grumpy

 

[usdm]

Run! Forrest! Run!!!

LOL! This guy is still going to be nothing but grief in short order.

Drop him like a stink bomb, you won't regret it when the smoke clears.

Grumpy

what he said.

 

[lland]

You may have a contract and payment up front but he will probably never be satisfied, finding fault after fault, no matter how minor or imagined. He'll have you fixing and re-doing until you've done the job twice. Better off finding a new client to cover his time.



LL

 

[(901)]

I had a guy kinda like this... Was on a weekly contract to have his 750Li washed once a week. The price was $200/month and he even signed a contract and everything. He kept skipping weeks where it was harder of a job plus longer in between payments. I got him to sign a revised contract where he could only miss one appointment per month because I can't reserve a spot for him every wed afternoon and then get left out to dry. I loose his $ plus the $ I could have made working somewhere else. So if he wasn't there after the first miss, it cost him a week of washing. He got outraged once he noticed what he signed and what was happening to his washes. He said that I was "stealing" washes from him and threatened to call the police on me (I was 17 at the time). I told him if he wants a detailer, I was his man. If not, theres a tunnel wash 2 min from your work (where I did his car). I wasn't rude, but had to stand up for myself and wasn't gonna take crap like that for all that I did for him...

Good for you AJ. Sometimes you gotta lay this plan out "Gomer Style" to some ppl. If not, they will continue to walk all over you. It will actually only become worse

 

[Jean-Claude]

I ended up telling him no in so many words and he got really nasty. For a 60 year old bank VP he sure did act like a child.

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

I ended up telling him no in so many words and he got really nasty. For a 60 year old bank VP he sure did act like a child.

Wait.... a 60 year old?!



From the very start of this thread I thought we were talking about some spoiled punk 20-something :lol:

 

[mikenap]

Wait.... a 60 year old?!



From the very start of this thread I thought we were talking about some spoiled punk 20-something :lol:

Sometimes it takes a while to mature to that level of d-baggery.

 

[WAS]

I am not a business owner nor a professional detailer, but how is this not a "business" point of view? Non-payment/under-payment means banishment from most commercial establishments. You think you could have somebody at Subway make you a footlong sandwich, and then only pay for a portion of it, steal the sandwich, and then come back next time acting like nothing happened? I bet most managers wouldn't even let you in the store!

This is COMPLETELY different from a fast-food restaurant like Subway. In a fast-food restaurant, the customer knows what the price is right off the bat because it's listed on the wall. Second, if the customer takes the sandwich without paying for it in full, that's theft of a tangible item. In this scenario, the customer didn't know what the price was going to be, nothing was signed, and work was completed prior to any payments being taken. If a customer stole a bottle of polish from your shop, then yeah, kick them out and tell them never to come back. The situations are NOT the same in this case.



Bottom line, if the customer was willing to pay the entire amount up front, sign an agreement of service, and act like a mature adult (not being insulting or rude), then I don't see why the work couldn't be completed.